Montrose 2018

St Estephe, Second Growth

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Tasting Notes
The 2018 Montrose is a blend of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Very deep garnet-purple in color, it needs a good amount of air to unlock the vibrant scents of crushed blackberries, preserved plums and cassis with suggestions of star anise, cedar chest, underbrush, Indian spices and iron ore, plus an emerging waft of violets. The full-bodied palate features the most exquisitely ripe tannins, offering a rock-solid backbone with tons of freshness lifting the taut, muscular fruit, finishing long and mineral laced. Going back to this wine over a period of hours and then days further reveals a Montrose of great opulence, richness and depth. Incidentally, the IPT level this year is 82, which indicates a very high level of tannins, and yet they are so, so ripe. The alcohol is around 14.5%. But sit back, close your eyes and forget the numbers—this is pure hedonism in its youth with a fantastic 40+ years of cellaring ahead of it, during the course of which do not be at all surprised if you are blown away by a three-digit experience. Score: 98 Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2024 - 2064 16 July 2021
Composed of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, harvested from September 17 to October 5, the 2018 Montrose has a very deep purple-black color and opens with tantalizing notes of crème de cassis, Black Forest cake, hoisin and mocha with nuances of molten licorice, fertile loam, cast iron pan and incense. Big, rich, full and powerful in the mouth, the voluptuous fruit has a rock-solid backbone of very firm, very ripe tannins to match with tons of freshness and an epically long, exotic spice finish. A magnificent monster of a Montrose! Score: 96 - 98 Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com 23 April 2019
A full-bodied powerhouse as well as a perfect wine, the 2018 Château Montrose is a final blend of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet Franc that was raised in 60% new French oak. Boasting a deep purple hue as well as awesome levels of crème de cassis and smoky blackberry fruits and notes of tobacco, lead pencil, scorched earth, and chocolate, it's deep, opulent, and incredibly concentrated on the palate, with no shortage of mid-palate depth, tannins, or length. It reminds me a little of a fresher version of the 2003, although there's more Cabernet Sauvignon in 2018 as well as less Merlot. It has that classic Montrose minerality and backward, mineral-laced style, yet I suspect this will be drinkable in just 5-6 years and should evolve into a modern-day legend from this terroir. Score: 100 Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com Maturity: 2027-77 11 March 2021
The 2018 Montrose delivers on the promise that it showed from barrel. I gave this a three-hour decant before broaching, since Montrose is always backward, albeit far less ferociously than even just a decade ago. It offers copious blackberry and blueberry scents on the nose, plus pressed violets and a light estuarine scent that becomes accentuated with time. The palate is medium-bodied with a silky-smooth texture. Finely chiseled tannins frame multilayered black fruit infused with crushed stone, and it has retained that subtle graphite element that lends it a Pauillac-like personality, though less so than out of barrel. This is a beautifully defined Montrose with entrancing symmetry, and it should drink earlier than other recent vintages thanks to a little more pliancy. Score: 96 Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2025-60 01 March 2021
Rich and deep with beautifully nuanced dark chocolate, mocha, cocoa bean and liquorice. Just full of understated power and silky tannins. This is gorgeous and among my top wines of the Left Bank. As it opens in the glass you get sweet black cherry and cassis flesh, and a sense of lilting sappiness. Great stuff from Montrose. Score: 98 Jane Anson, Decanter.com Maturity: 2026-2045 10 November 2020
72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot. Harvested 17 Sept to 5 Oct. Barrel sample. Black core with narrow purple rim. More obvious oak than on La Dame de Montrose but still with hints of violets alongside pure cassis intensity. Almost a mintiness in the ripe (but not in the least overripe) black fruit. Oak spice and fruit spice. Amazingly juicy even with the density and concentration of both fruit and tannins. Needs lots of time but has great harmony and length. Powerful without being aggressive. Very oaky at the moment but has the stuffing and the wonderful fruit to hold its own. (JH) 14.5% Score: 18 Julia Harding MW, JancisRobinson.com Maturity: 2028-2048 23 April 2019
The 2018 Montrose balances finesse and power to a degree I don't think I have seen in a recent young Montrose. The 2018 has plenty of depth, intensity and thrust - all signatures of Montrose - but it also has a striking sense of elegance. Crème de cassis, lavender, spice, menthol and licorice meld together in the glass. Although it is naturally very young, the 2018 Montrose appears to have a tremendous future. The blend is 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, which is to say more Cabernet and less Merlot than is the norm. Readers will have to be patient with the 2018, but it is a stellar wine in the making. Montrose presents an en primeur sample aged 100% in new oak (while the final wine is aging in 60% new barrels) to show a wine that is more ready to taste young. Score: 95 - 98 Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com 01 April 2019

Tasting Notes

The 2018 Montrose is a blend of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Very deep garnet-purple in color, it needs a good amount of air to unlock the vibrant scents of crushed blackberries, preserved plums and cassis with suggestions of star anise, cedar chest, underbrush, Indian spices and iron ore, plus an emerging waft of violets. The full-bodied palate features the most exquisitely ripe tannins, offering a rock-solid backbone with tons of freshness lifting the taut, muscular fruit, finishing long and mineral laced. Going back to this wine over a period of hours and then days further reveals a Montrose of great opulence, richness and depth. Incidentally, the IPT level this year is 82, which indicates a very high level of tannins, and yet they are so, so ripe. The alcohol is around 14.5%. But sit back, close your eyes and forget the numbers—this is pure hedonism in its youth with a fantastic 40+ years of cellaring ahead of it, during the course of which do not be at all surprised if you are blown away by a three-digit experience.

Score: 98

Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2024 - 2064 16 July 2021

Composed of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, harvested from September 17 to October 5, the 2018 Montrose has a very deep purple-black color and opens with tantalizing notes of crème de cassis, Black Forest cake, hoisin and mocha with nuances of molten licorice, fertile loam, cast iron pan and incense. Big, rich, full and powerful in the mouth, the voluptuous fruit has a rock-solid backbone of very firm, very ripe tannins to match with tons of freshness and an epically long, exotic spice finish. A magnificent monster of a Montrose!

Score: 96 - 98

Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com 23 April 2019

A full-bodied powerhouse as well as a perfect wine, the 2018 Château Montrose is a final blend of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet Franc that was raised in 60% new French oak. Boasting a deep purple hue as well as awesome levels of crème de cassis and smoky blackberry fruits and notes of tobacco, lead pencil, scorched earth, and chocolate, it's deep, opulent, and incredibly concentrated on the palate, with no shortage of mid-palate depth, tannins, or length. It reminds me a little of a fresher version of the 2003, although there's more Cabernet Sauvignon in 2018 as well as less Merlot. It has that classic Montrose minerality and backward, mineral-laced style, yet I suspect this will be drinkable in just 5-6 years and should evolve into a modern-day legend from this terroir.

Score: 100

Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com Maturity: 2027-77 11 March 2021

The 2018 Montrose delivers on the promise that it showed from barrel. I gave this a three-hour decant before broaching, since Montrose is always backward, albeit far less ferociously than even just a decade ago. It offers copious blackberry and blueberry scents on the nose, plus pressed violets and a light estuarine scent that becomes accentuated with time. The palate is medium-bodied with a silky-smooth texture. Finely chiseled tannins frame multilayered black fruit infused with crushed stone, and it has retained that subtle graphite element that lends it a Pauillac-like personality, though less so than out of barrel. This is a beautifully defined Montrose with entrancing symmetry, and it should drink earlier than other recent vintages thanks to a little more pliancy.

Score: 96

Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2025-60 01 March 2021

Rich and deep with beautifully nuanced dark chocolate, mocha, cocoa bean and liquorice. Just full of understated power and silky tannins. This is gorgeous and among my top wines of the Left Bank. As it opens in the glass you get sweet black cherry and cassis flesh, and a sense of lilting sappiness. Great stuff from Montrose.

Score: 98

Jane Anson, Decanter.com Maturity: 2026-2045 10 November 2020

72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot. Harvested 17 Sept to 5 Oct. Barrel sample. Black core with narrow purple rim. More obvious oak than on La Dame de Montrose but still with hints of violets alongside pure cassis intensity. Almost a mintiness in the ripe (but not in the least overripe) black fruit. Oak spice and fruit spice. Amazingly juicy even with the density and concentration of both fruit and tannins. Needs lots of time but has great harmony and length. Powerful without being aggressive. Very oaky at the moment but has the stuffing and the wonderful fruit to hold its own. (JH) 14.5%

Score: 18

Julia Harding MW, JancisRobinson.com Maturity: 2028-2048 23 April 2019

The 2018 Montrose balances finesse and power to a degree I don't think I have seen in a recent young Montrose. The 2018 has plenty of depth, intensity and thrust - all signatures of Montrose - but it also has a striking sense of elegance. Crème de cassis, lavender, spice, menthol and licorice meld together in the glass. Although it is naturally very young, the 2018 Montrose appears to have a tremendous future. The blend is 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, which is to say more Cabernet and less Merlot than is the norm. Readers will have to be patient with the 2018, but it is a stellar wine in the making. Montrose presents an en primeur sample aged 100% in new oak (while the final wine is aging in 60% new barrels) to show a wine that is more ready to taste young.

Score: 95 - 98

Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com 01 April 2019

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