The VAULT

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The 1989 Montrose, from a very warm, dry year, is made from 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, and 10% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-brick in color (holding its color amazingly!) it sky-rockets from the glass with flamboyant notes of black cherry compote, blueberry pie, and blackcurrant jelly, followed by notes of star anise, peonies, crushed rocks, and tar, plus exotic hints of cardamom and cumin seed. The medium to full-bodied palate is rich, opulent, and well structured, delivering firm, grainy tannins and just enough freshness to support the generous, wonderfully pure fruit, finishing long and earthy. This is textbook MontroseThe Wine Independent | 100 TWIThis was yet another wine I drunk with wine collector friends in Bangkok – the city is truly buzzing when it comes to wine and when you know where to look! On the nose, there were intense aromas of iron, pot iron and dried fruits, as well as hints of nuts and wet earth. On the palate, it showed a gorgeous texture of ripe tannins and lots of spicy and currant fruit character. A full-bodied, very soft and silky Bordeaux with lots of flavors and a superb finish. Just right now – indeed it seems to be getting younger with age, not older! Decant an hour before. I think it’s better than the legendary 1990. It’s certainly cleaner and more consistent quality.James Suckling | 99 JSThis was not in the tasting at the chateau, but I opened two bottles on my return home, because this is another near-perfect wine from Montrose. It is an unusual two-grade blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Merlot. The wine emerged from another very hot, sunny, dry growing season, with early, generous flowering. Harvest in Montrose took place between September 11 and 28. The wine has never had any issues with brett, making it a somewhat safer selection than the more irregular 1990. Like a tortoise, the 1989 has finally begun to rival and possibly eclipse its long-time younger sibling, the 1990. The wine is absolutely spectacular and in auction sells for a much lower premium than the 1990. That should change. This is a magnificent Montrose, showing notes of loamy soil undertones, intermixed with forest floor, blueberry and blackberry liqueur and spring flowers. It has a full-bodied, intense, concentrated mouthfeel that is every bit as majestic as the 1990, but possibly slightly fresher and more delineated. This great wine should drink well for another 40-50 years.Robert Parker | 98+ RPThe 1989 Montrose is a magnificent wine and this represents one of the best bottles I have encountered – one that was purchased on release and not moved from Berry Brothers’ cellar since. I have encountered perfect bottles of the 1989, and this flirts with that magic figure. It is blessed with a captivating bouquet of blackberry, raspberry, sous-bois and black truffle, the veins of blue fruit just toned down a little compared to previous bottles. The palate is supremely well balanced with those filigreed tannins that in some ways are atypical of Montrose. It delivers silky-smooth texture and an intense finish that glides across the senses. I cannot give a perfect score on this occasion, but without question, this is one of the great Montrose releases. Tasted at the 1989 Bordeaux dinner at Hatched in London.Vinous Media | 98 VMIntense aromas of crushed blackberry and mineral turn to dried flowers and dried fruits, staying fresh on the nose. Full-bodied, offering big, round tannins and loads of ripe, seductive fruit. This is decadent and wild, turning nutty and fruity. A beautiful bottle. This is very close in quality to the legendary 1990.--’89/’99 Bordeaux blind retrospective (2009). Drink now. 22,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 96 WS(Château Montrose) The 1989 Montrose may not be quite as deep as the 1990, but it is a purer wine of precise definition and classic proportions. The superb nose offers up a refined mélange of cassis, dark berries, cigar ash, gravelly soil tones, espresso, fresh herbs and cedar. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and shows off excellent mid-palate depth, with ripe, beautifully-integrated tannins, tangy acids and outstanding focus and grip on the youthful, pristine and old school finish. Some may prefer the more overtly powerful style of the 1990 Montrose, but for me, though the two vintages are qualitatively equivalent, I prefer the superior transparency and more elegant profile of the 1989. The wine is certainly approachable today, but I would still give it another five or six years’ worth of bottle age to really allow it to fully blossom (Drink between 2019-2070)John Gilman | 94 JG

The final blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc was harvested between September 14 and October 3. The spring was cold, yet summer was extremely hot and dry – one of the hottest vintages since 1949. The fact that virtually no rain fell in September served as a catalyst to get all the grapes ripe and in cellars. Some bottles of this wine have a definite brett population that gives off the notes of sweaty horses, but this one did not. The ones I have had from my cellar – where I have had it frequently – are quite pure and clean. I suspect that the brett population is in all of them, but unless the wine hits some heat along the transportation route or in storage, the wine will not show any brett. This one tasted at the chateau, as well as those I’ve had from my cellar, have been pristine and not showing the sweaty horse notes that can be in evidence in brett populations that have flourished in the bottle because of external temperatures. This wine has an incredibly complex nose of spring flowers, blackberry and cassis liqueur, scorched earth and barbecue spice. It is full-bodied, majestic and opulent, with low acidity and fabulous fruit. It is close to full maturity. The wine should continue to drink well for at least another 30 or more years, but it is showing secondary nuances in the perfume. The wine is absolutely magnificent, broad, savory and mouth-filling. This is one of the all-time modern legends from Bordeaux as well as Chateau Montrose.Robert Parker | 100 RPFull ruby-red. Wild, exotic aromas of crystallized redcurrant, leather, tobacco and minerals; distinctly exotic, even overripe. Then lush, sweet and opulent, with an atypically velvety texture for Montrose. But extremely young and structured, finishing with powerful tannins and great grip and length. Almost California-like in style; in Bordeaux, they’d refer to the fruit expression of this wine as "original," which is not necessarily high praise. Drink 2008 through 2030.Vinous Media | 95 VM(Château Montrose) The 1990 Montrose is justly famous, but in my experience, it has only been a hair superior to the underrated 1989 here, and I have never understood the price differential in the market of the two wines. This most recent bottle of the 1990 was drunk out for the night in Napa Valley, where it showed very well indeed, offering up a deep and powerful bouquet of black cherries, sweet cassis, a touch of currant leaf, dark soil tones, cigar smoke and a fair bit of toasty new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and shows off truly exceptional depth at the core, with ripe, moderate tannins, fine focus and grip and a long, well-balanced and complex finish. There is just a touch of brett on the backend here, but it is very modest and does not detract from the very serious pleasure that this wine is beginning to deliver. (Drink between 2016-2050).John Gilman | 95 JGDark in color with decadent aromas of ripe fruit, earth and amazing mint and spearmint undertones, yet there’s also an underlying meaty funkiness. Full-bodied, with layers of very ripe fruit and velvety tannins. Massive and caressing. A big, powerful wine. Like velvet.--Non-blind Château Montrose vertical. Drink now. 18,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 94 WS

The 2005 Montrose continues to show brilliantly, unwinding in the glass with notes of blackcurrant, red fruits, loamy soil, black truffles and cigar ash. Full-bodied, deep and concentrated, it’s still brooding and tannic, with lively acids and an imposing chassis of structuring—and artery-cleansing—extract. Still an adolescent, it’s one of the last unrepentantly old-school vintages of Montrose, and Médoc purists couldn’t own enough. While this remains a very youthful wine, it is now apparent that the 2005 will, at maturity, surpass the 1989 and 1990.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RP Here we are fully crossing the threshold into younger, more primary aromatics, but they are also well integrated, beautifully softened and gorgeous. This is sappy with a chalky minerality and fully pliable tannins. It’s powerful, with a smile-inducing purity of fruit expression and excellent persistency of exotic coffee notes. 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, 3.5% Cabernet Franc, 0.5% Petit Verdot. Drinking Window: 2017 - 2042Decanter | 98 DECThe 2005 Montrose is spectacular. Bright, perfumed and vertically explosive, the 2005 possesses remarkable energy right out of the gate. In 2005, Montrose doesn’t quite have the heft that it can, but that actually works to its advantage. Readers will find a wine that marries elegance with power so well. Gravel, dried herb, lavender and mocha lend striking complexity to the dark fruit in this gorgeous, regal Montrose. If anything, the 2005 still needs more time in bottle!Antonio Galloni | 97 AGThis continues to be very tight yet I loved drinking it the other night at dinner. Loads of spices, berries, meat, cloves and chocolate on the nose. Full body with soft, silky tannins and lots of rich fruit. Still chewy. This is just starting to open up now. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 96 JSThis is still a bit dark and brooding, with a charcoal frame around well-steeped fig and black currant fruit. The long finish lets a deep river of smoldering tobacco and warm stone notes course through. Austere and seemingly taciturn, yet thoroughly beautiful. May not be your style, but this is undeniable.—Blind ’01/’03/’05 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2017). Best from 2022 through 2042. 25,555 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 WSThe 2005 Montrose continues to drink beautifully, with a complex yet powerful bouquet of blackcurrants, black raspberries, new saddle leather, tobacco leaf, and spice. This beauty has a medium to full-bodied mouthfeel, a supple style, sweet tannins, and is a charming, layered and ready to go Montrose that has loads to love. It continues to be surprisingly accessible and is a beauty to drink over the coming two decades.Jeb Dunnuck | 95 JDThis is so big it is blinding, a storm of mineral tannin and plum-skin extract. The volume is turned up high, and even as the tannic noise factor begins to diminish with days of air, the wine is still closed tight. The comportment of its power shows this to be a wine from a great terroir; the property, in fact, has some parallels to Latour, with its similarly shaped gravel promontory above the Gironde. Montrose consistently grows one of the staunchest, long-lived wines of the Médoc and though accommodations have been made in recent years to soften it, the tannic index in February 2006 read at 82, a force to reckon with over the decades to come. Diageo Château & Estate Wines, NYWine & Spirits | 93 W&S