Clint Hall wrote:... Ridge "will continue to offer [Monte Bello] futures, but only to members of the [apparently new] Monte Bello Collector Program... There is no obligation.)"
Here's a little more about that (from a fellow Monte Bello fan). Calling the regulars a "collector program" is not quite new, but recent. For some 45 years this wine has been offered to anyone interested. When the new US clamor over cult wines and mailing lists and "flipping" emerged in the 1990s it apparently overlooked this wine despite relentless tasting recommendations, articles, international esteem. Every year a pre-arrival offer came out, lasting at least March to May, with a couple of public tastings at the winery along the way as parcels were assembled for the final wine; if you order then, you get a price break but it's delivered a couple of years later. I'm accustomed to ordering in May after tasting the final "assemblage." The offering did not normally sell out before then. The first time I did this was with the 1980 vintage; that futures order remained available all summer, which wasn't unusual.
Abruptly in late March 2006, the 2005 vintage pre-arrival offer sold out way ahead of usual. The 80 or so longtime customers got notices that the winery had saved them some wine (thanks!) and they were now classed as "collectors," a status also offered to all future pre-arrival purchasers. This year (2006 vintage) the early sell-out did not recur -- 06 had higher quantities too if I remember. But it seems now that a lot of people want it, a lot
more people want it as a result.* Go figure. It could also be that the "flippers" are finally a problem here too.
You can always buy the wine on the regular release a couple of years later at a higher price (I've done that too); good quantities are released then, and also you're more likely then to have tasting information or opportunities before you buy.
* (In case you ever needed another argument for finding good wines when
not everyone else wants them.)