CHATEAU MONTROSE 2eme Grand Cru Classe, Saint-Estephe 2020 Bottle

Description

Château Montrose 2020 is a striking Bordeaux that exemplifies elegance and power, receiving a perfect score of 100 points from The Wine Advocate and 99 points from James Suckling. This vintage showcases bold flavours of blackcurrant, dark plum, and ripe berries, complemented by vibrant aromas of violets and subtle spices. Its palate is full-bodied, revealing velvety tannins and lively acidity that contribute to a harmonious balance. Decanter awarded it 98 points, praising its integration of blueberry compote and savoury elements. Jancis Robinson remarked on its complex floral notes and refreshing character. This exceptional wine offers remarkable depth and a long, impressive finish, making it ideal for cellaring and enjoyment from 2029 to 2055, embodying the essence of Saint-Estèphe.

*****

Château Montrose is one of the leading wine properties of St.Estéphe, and produces some of the longest-lived wines in the Médoc. Montrose had been owned by Jean-Louis Charmolue from 1962 until 2006, when it was sold to Martin and Olivier Bouygues, owner of the eponymously named construction firm Bouygues, is located in the east of the appellation, just north of the hamlet of Marbuzet, on a gravel knoll only 800 metres from the Gironde estuary. The proximity of the estuary ensures a microclimate that protects against frost, and the vines, which lie on deep clay-gravel soils, benefit from a south-easterly aspect.

Montrose's wine is typically a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc and is matured in oak barriques (30% new) for 18 months.

Montrose wines are traditionally deeply coloured, austere and powerful when young, yet possess superb ageing potential, and when mature are quintessential St.Estèphe clarets.

THE WINE ADVOCATE 100 points
Reviewed by: William Kelley
Drink Date: 2030 - 2100
Surpassing the 2019 and rivaling the 2016 as this estate's finest vintage of the last few decades, the 2020 Montrose is a monument in the making. Wafting from the glass with aromas of violets, dark berries, licorice, loamy soil, black truffle and subtle spices, it's full-bodied, deep and layered, with a seamless, elegantly muscular profile, terrific purity and energy, beautifully powdery tannins and a long, resonant finish. It checks in at 13.7% alcohol, the same as the superb 2009, but it is even deeper, more vibrant and more complex than the 2009.

JAMES SUCKLING 99 points
The nose is really fantastic with lead pencil shavings, iron shavings, blackcurrants and lavender. Full- to medium-bodied with ultra-fine tannins that run the length of the wine. Wonderful persistence and personality. Juicy and savory finish. Always classy and sophisticated at the end. Organically grown grapes. 71% cabernet sauvignon, 23% merlot, 6% cabernet franc and 1% petit verdot. Best after 2028.

VINOUS 99 points
Drinking Window 2025 - 2065
From: Thrice Is Nice: Bordeaux 2020 in Bottle (Feb 2023)
The 2020 Montrose was bottled in July 2022. The alcohol is 13.4%, a whole degree less than the previous year but with the same concentration (IPT is 80). It has a fabulous bouquet that delivers on all that promise from when I finally tasted the wine around a year earlier from barrel, a cornucopia of blackberry, bilberry, crushed stone, Indian ink and loamy/undergrowth scents. Very mercurial in the glass, it seems to shapeshift with every minute. The palate is medium-bodied with such a precise entry. This is far more detailed than either the 2019 or 2018, a symmetrical Montrose with unerring detail and mineralité, its silky texture belying the power underneath. This is unequivocally a brilliant wine and a benchmark in recent years. Contender for wine of the vintage. - By Neal Martin on December 2022

DECANTER 98 points
A serious wall of blueberry and blackberry compote, and a ton of savoury Cabernet sinew and freshness. This is a great Montrose, inky, broad-shouldered and structured. It needs time to aerate and open in the glass, then you see the precision, the heft, the chiselling of the fruits with a ton of graphite, cigar box and campfire smoke - huge persistency. This will need a long time and will reward patience. One of the few where a 1986, 2016 and 2010 comparison makes sense. A yield around 30hl/ha. 1% Petit Verdot, 3.86pH, IPT 80. 45% of the overall production. Drinking Window 2029 - 2050.

DECANTER 98 points
Tasted by: Jane Anson
(at Primeur week tastings in Bordeaux, 01 May 2021)
Part of St-Estèphe 2020 in bottle: overview plus top-scoring wines
Drinking Window: 2029 - 2050
A serious wall of blueberry and blackberry compote, and a ton of savoury Cabernet sinew and freshness. This is a great Montrose, inky, broad-shouldered and structured. It needs time to aerate and open in the glass, then you see the precision, the heft, the chiselling of the fruits with a ton of graphite, cigar box and campfire smoke - huge persistency. This will need a long time and will reward patience. One of the few where a 1986, 2016 and 2010 comparison makes sense. A yield around 30hl/ha. 1% Petit Verdot, 3.86pH, IPT 80. 45% of the overall production.

WINE ENTHUSIAST 96 points
95–97. Barrel Sample. While the wine is firm and with powerful tannins it has delicious fruitiness that is more forward than in many vintages of the wine. The fine black currant flavors are underlined by acidity while the Cabernet Sauvignon gives a fine, firm structure to this very direct wine. — Roger Voss

JANCIS ROBINSON 18 Points
Blackish purple. Complex floral nose. Freshness on palate entry and much fleeter of foot than most 2020s with the tannins kept in the background. A very serious wine with real refreshment and not over-extracted. You could almost drink it now, which is a real surprise! (JR)