Early harvest at Monte Bello had, for the first time ever, all varietals ripen in one month—September. We reduced whole berry fermentation time to accommodate the fast-paced harvest, yet extraction of color and tannin was abundant. By taste, the most approachable lots were selected at assemblage. This superb vintage aged in american oak, and was bottled at twenty-two months, once tannins had softened. It will show well over the next ten years.