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Stunning and nearly pure perfection, the 2000 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou is fully mature and smack in the middle of its prime drinking window. Currants, tobacco, spices, dried flowers, and hints of truffle all emerge from the bouquet, and it’s medium to full-bodied on the palate, with a pure, graceful, layered mouthfeel, ripe tannins, and a gorgeous finish. I love everything about this wine. It probably has another 40 years of life, but why wait? Drink 2026-2066.Jeb Dunnuck | 99 JDComposed of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Merlot, the medium to deep garnet-brick colored 2000 Ducru-Beaucaillou charges out of the gate with flamboyant scents of baked black currants, raisin cake, prunes, Chinese five spice and eucalyptus plus touches of cigar box, new leather and cast iron pan. Medium-bodied, the palate is remarkably refreshing with all these decadent spice and dried berries layers coating the palate, textured by soft, powdery tannins, finishing long and mineral laced. Stunning!Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96 RPMoccha, pine and mushroom notes emphasise the development almost 25 years since the vintage. There is still masses of sweet, dark currant fruit on the palatae with plenty of acidity to keep the wine fresh and alive. Concentrated and long, this is a fine wine which is now well into its drinking phase. Perhaps the tannins give the age away a little, with a leafy, slightly drying finish, suggesting that the wine is not going to improve substantially, but will hold well.Decanter Magazine | 96 DECI must admit that I was a little unimpressed with the Ducru 2000 in the beginning when I tasted it after bottling in 2003. But it’s clearly outstanding now and seems to get better and better with age. It shows wonderful aromas of roses and currants with hints of mint. It’s full body yet very finely textured with pretty fruit concentration and length.James Suckling | 96 JSIt had been more than a decade since I last tasted a bottle of the 2000 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou and time has certainly been kind to this beautiful wine! It is starting to stir nicely and really shows a level of complexity and breed that only First Growths routinely exude. The bouquet is still youthful, but pure, complex and refined, wafting from the glass in a mix of cassis, sweet dark berries, violets, a fine base of gravelly soil tones, tobacco leaf, a suave framing of new oak and lovely smokiness in the upper register. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and impeccably balanced, with a rock solid core of sweet black fruit, stunning soil signature and grip, fine-grained tannins and a long, focused and utterly seamless finish. This wine still needs a good decade in the cellar to further soften up its tannins, but it is now very easy to read its future greatness. It is borderline criminal that Ducru and Pichon-Lalande are not First Growths! (Drink between 2033-2100)John Gilman | 96 JGThis has mature hints, but there’s great focus as the cedar, bay and leather notes race along with, rather than pull away from, the core of fig and blackberry fruit flavors. The long, bittersweet cocoa–dusted finish provides a solid bass line.—Blind 2000 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2015). Drink now through 2023. 17,500 cases made.Wine Spectator | 94 WSThe 2000 Ducru-Beaucaillou is very deep in colour. Surprisingly, the nose is very backward in this example with quite intense black cherries, boysenberry, prune and fig aromas, gaining clarity and vigour with aeration (serious decanting is advised for this millennial.) The palate is medium-bodied with saturated tannins. Stocky, but not muscular, this has a firm backbone, grainy tannins, liquorice-tinged black fruit with a grippy, almost menthol finish. I adored this wine a decade ago, but ten years on, has it really evolved as well as other vintages? Tasted at the Ducru Beaucaillou vertical at the château.Vinous Media | 93 VM

A blend of 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot, the 2000 Montrose is medium to deep garnet in color, with a touch of brick. It charges out with ready-to-go notes of juicy plums, black cherry compote, and wild blueberries, opening out to a perfume of candied violets, camphor, rose oil, new leather, and fragrant soil. The medium-bodied palate is elegant and very fresh with soft, velvety tannins and bags of vibrant black and blue fruits, finishing long and perfumed. Gorgeous!The Wine Independent | 98 TWIThis estate has frequently hit the bull’s eye over recent vintages, and the 2000 Montrose is the finest effort produced since the compelling 1990 and 1989. This gigantically sized, tannic, backward effort boasts a saturated inky purple color followed by a huge nose of acacia flavors, crushed blackberries, creme de cassis, vanilla, hickory smoke, and minerals. Extremely full-bodied, powerful, dense, and multi-layered, this unreal Montrose should last for 30+ years. A blend of 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot, this is a special wine that has exceptional purity and length. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2040.Robert Parker | 96 RPThe 2000 Montrose is a straight-up gorgeous bottle of wine that while, still young, is offering up tons of pleasure. Classic Saint Estèphe notes of blackcurrants, damp earth, tobacco leaf, cedar, and hints of truffle all emerge from this dense, concentrated, powerful red that has the classic 2000 structure and richness. With sweet tannins, full body, impeccable balance, and a great, great finish, it’s at the early stages of its drink window and has another 3+ decades of longevity ahead of it.Jeb Dunnuck | 96 JDJust starting to open, it shows beautiful spices and dark fruit on the nose and palate. It’s full-bodied with ultra-fine, integrated tannins and an extremely complex, refined finish. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 96 JS(Château Montrose, Cabernet Sauvignon, St-Estèphe, Bordeaux, France, Red) Just beginning to soften and open after a stubborn few decades. Tobacco and crushed mint leaf sit against blackberry and bilberry fruits that continue to be held by a firm frame of tannins. A stately Montrose that has a long future ahead, and is packed with the power and finesse that is so signature to this estate. Harvest September 22 to October 7. First year in the new stainless steel vat room. 2% Petit Verdot completes the blend. (Drink between 2022-2035)Decanter | 95 DECStill extremely young, feels significantly more closed than the 1996, with a geater emphasis on spicy black pepper and cassis, and still firm tannins. You feel the tannins pressing in on the close of play, whereas in the 1996 the tannins are now like spun silk, fully integrated. I last tasted this wine two years ago, and it is clearly starting to move into the next phase now after a stubborn beginning, coming out of itself and showing the finesse and the elegance of the vintage. The tobacco and crushed mint leaf notes emerge after five minutes of swirling and sniffing, and this has a long future ahead and is packed with appellation typicity. Harvest September 22 to October 7. First year in the new stainless steel vat room with bigger capacity and smaller sized vats covering 50hl, 80hl, 100hl, with just a few 200hl vats for the blend (previously entirely 200hl wooden vats).Jane Anson | 95 JAFull red-ruby. Roasted, smoky aromas of blackberry, blueberry and licorice. Plush, dense and large-scaled; expands impressively in the mouth. Chocolatey-ripe but kept fresh by nicely integrated acidity. Offers lovely sweetness without going over the top. Finishes with big, dusty, horizontal tannins and lovely aromatic persistence. Offers extraordinary texture and depth of flavor for a wine with just 12.8% alcohol.Vinous Media | 94 VMThis has a relatively polished feel, with rounded tannins, though they are substantial enough to give the core of tobacco, black currant paste and warmed fig flavors a nice loamy tug through the finish. Rather refined and with noticeably more depth than AOC colleagues in this vintage, with a very alluring hint of fresh bay at the very end.--Blind 2000 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2015). Drink now through 2023.Wine Spectator | 93 WSNo written review provided. | 92 W&S