| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > St Estèphe |
| Colour | Red |
| Type | Still |
The second wine of Chateau Montrose. With new owners, a new wine-making team and new cellars at Montrose, this label has benefitted greatly from a more rigorous selection process at this famous Chateau.
Very pure and attractive red cherries, plums and wild herbs on the nose here. Impressive polish and poise on the palate. The cabernet fits really beautifully into the merlot, delivering cassis, ripe red plums and spiced mulberries. A blend of 49% merlot, 43% cabernet sauvignon, 4% cabernet franc and 4% petit verdot. Second wine of Château Montrose. Drink or hold. Better after 2022.
A blend of 49% Cabernet Sauvignon, 43% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot, and 4% Cabernet Franc, the 2017 La Dame de Montrose is medium garnet-colored. It features fragrant scents of redcurrants, black raspberries, and kirsch, leading to hints of rosehip tea, graphite, and clove oil. The medium-bodied palate has fantastic tension and is tightly wound with red berry and earthy layers, supported by finely grained tannins, finishing long and energetic.
The 2017 La Dame de Montrose is attired in a newly redesigned label embossed with the roses that represent those cultivated at the end of vine rows. It has a very composed bouquet with blackberry, bilberry and briary aromas, nicely focused and with satisfying freshness. The palate is really all you could wish for in a second wine: approachable, fresh, well balanced with a slightly grainy texture. The fruit appears very clean and precise and the harmony on the finish encourages another sip. It is more approachable than some of the previous vintages, insofar that after a 12 to 18 months in bottle, this will be ready to go. Worth seeking out. 2021 - 2032.
A good year for Dame de Montrose, showing extremely well balanced plum and damson fruits, and a lovely texture. There was no frost here, as you would expect from a vineyard so close to the Garonne river. Harvest took place between 12-29 September. 4% Cabernet Franc makes up the blend given here. The cellar is now equipped with over 90 small-sized vats, and this is matured in 30% new oak. 40% of production.
Drinking Window 2024 - 2038
Deep crimson. Much more scented than the Tronquoy-Lalande, lovely dark fruit on the nose. But still with that savoury graphite quality of the grand vin. Fully ripe but not sweet. Even a touch floral. Silky texture, tannins are so supple. Lightish but juicy on the mid palate and with a good balance between fruit and freshness even in this lighter mode.
Drink 2022-2030
A large proportion of Montrose's Merlot is in the Dame in 2017. The blend is 49% Merlot, 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot. An enticing, smoky, cedar and camphor nose with plenty of dark and rich cassis fruit. The palate is pure and precise, with quite a powerful core of ripe black fruits. This pairs well with the muscular and robust tannins, which are bracing for a second wine. They are ripe however, and melt away through the finish, making the wine surprisinlgy approachable. What remains in the aftertaste is pure cassis, at a perfect point of ripeness.
The nose is firm closed the palate has structure obvious tannins. Black cherry gives richness in the middle the sweeter fruit underpinned by freshness and although tight at the back the black fruits on the finish have a richer feel. Drink 2023 - 2035.
A long and savoury style of La Dame de Montrose in this vintage and it has some sour tannins running along the flanks of both the Merlot and the Cabernet Sauvignon. There is a tart character which dampens the exuberance of the fruit and I expect it will always wear this edge of coolness and reluctance.
The 2017 La Dame de Montrose represents 40% of the total production this year. The Merlot, which constitutes nearly half the blend, occupies the driving seat on the nose with copious black cherry, raspberry and cedar scents that blossom in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with a ripe, almost confit-like entry. It feels harmonious with fine tannin, perhaps not the length of say the 2014 or 2016 La Dame de Montrose, a little more compact in style at the moment, loosening up and gaining more harmony by the time of my second visit in mid-April. It certainly has pleasing purity and it should drink well over the next decade. Drink 2019 - 2030.
A juicy and savory second wine with blackberry, blueberry and wet-earth character. Medium-bodied, tight and silky. Fresh finish.
The 2017 La Dame de Montrose is a blend of 49% Merlot, 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot, aged in 30% new and 70% one-year old barrels for 12 months. Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, it leaps from the glass with warm red currants, black cherries and black raspberry scents, followed by earthy/underbrush notions plus hints of violets, dark chocolate and pencil lead. Medium to full-bodied and firm, with loads of mouth-coating juicy fruit, it has a velvety texture and long, mineral-laced finish. It should be approachable pretty much from the get-go, although don't let its precociousness make you underestimate its aging potential. Nicely done! 2020-2035.
Composed of 49% Merlot, 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot, the 2017 La Dame de Montrose is deep garnet-purple colored with a very fragrant nose of violets, lavender and dark chocolate over a core of cassis, Provence herbs and smoked meats. The palate is medium-bodied and very refreshing with ripe, very soft tannins, elegant and refined with a perfumed finish.
