| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > St Estèphe |
| Colour | Red |
| Type | Still |
View all vintages of this wine | View all wines by Château Montrose
Harvested between September 17 and October 5, this wine seems always open for business, so to speak, much like the great 1982s. The summer of 2009 was very hot and dry, which got the harvest off to a reasonably early start. The blend was 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. Jean Bernard Delmas' goal was to find perfect equilibrium between freshness and concentration, given its incredible opulence and the voluptuous character this vintage offered. That's what this wine has in abundance. With an astounding dense purple color, the wine has velvety, sweet tannins, and an extremely open-knit and opulent blueberry, blackberry and creme de cassis nose. There is scorched earth, vanilla and, again, telltale licorice and spice. It is unctuously textured - thicker and juicier than the 2010 and more forward. This wine should come into its own in another five years. And again, it has at least 50+ years of aging potential. Drink 2019-2069.
A brilliant wine that stands out as one of the high points of the vintage, the 2009 Montrose unwinds in the glass with a rich and incipiently complex bouquet of dark berries, cigar wrapper and loamy soil, framed by a deftly judged touch of new oak. Full-bodied, broad and enveloping, it's a velvety, layered and impressively dynamic wine that's deep and concentrated, exhibiting terrific balance and a long, resonant finish. While it is still five or six years away from showing all its cards, I have drunk this benchmark for contemporary Montrose with immense pleasure three times this year. In style, it's hard to find an obvious comparison (and I have drunk Montrose back to 1895), but I would be inclined to invoke a fresher, more complete and more powerful version of the estate's very successful 2003. Drink 2025 - 2060.
Blueberries, currants and Indian spices on the nose follow through to a full body, with ultra-fine tannins and a lovely finish. It's intense and refined. A beauty. It goes on for minutes. Speechless. Better and cleaner than the great 1990. Try in 2022.
Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2009 Montrose prances out with showy notes of blackcurrant preserves, blackberry pie, dark chocolate, anise, and violets with touches of menthol and fallen leaves. The medium to full-bodied is jam packed with impactful black fruit preserves, supported by firm, ripe, grainy tannins and plenty of freshness, finishing with epic length and wonderfully fragrant.
A standout wine of the vintage, Montrose 2009 rivals and at times beats the first growths. Still a deep ruby-purple colour in the glass, the fruit on the nose is powerful and dark yet impressively fresh witha graphite edge to notes of blackcurrant and cedar. Smoky on the palate with hugely intense yet focused cassis fruit, this is structured and dense. Grippy and earthy as Montrose should be, it has as much character of the property as it does the vintage. One of the tightest wines at this stage, it deserves more time in bottle but with food it is already delicious if you like a bit of bite in your wine. Unerring and profound on the finish, this may well warrant one extra point once it hits its apex. It will take over a decade to get there, and should be one of the longest-lived 2009s in Bordeaux.
Very dark purple. Fresh and concentrated. Really very luscious and beautifully balanced. This is looking most impressive now. Very Montrose and very 2009. Rich and ripe. 14%
Drink 2018-2040
Black red, smoky cassis nose with fine Cabernet spice, quite restrained yet full of power, a really precise and true vineyard wine, superb middle sweetness, a grandly classic wine. Drink 2019-45.
For the very ripe vintage this has a herbal and wet earth nose that's very cool. Then on the palate there’s a ton of ripe cassis, polished fine tannins and a tremendous freshness powering the very long dry finish. One of the stars of the vintage that's just beginning to enter its best form. This is normally a perfect wine but perhaps not a perfect bottle? Drink or hold. (Horizontal Tasting, London, 2019)
A colossal effort, the 2009 Montrose represents a hypothetical blend of the monumental duo of 1989 and 1990 combined with the phenomenal 2003. With 13.7% alcohol (an all-time high at Montrose), it is a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot and the rest tiny quantities of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Some structure and minerality can be detected in the background, but the overall impression is one of massive blackberry, black currant and mulberry fruit intermixed with forest floor, damp earth, crushed rocks and a hint of spring flowers. Full-bodied with sweet but abundant tannin, Jean-Bernard Delmas believes this is the greatest wine he has made during his short tenure at Montrose since retiring from Haut-Brion. This wine will undoubtedly shut down for a decade, then unleash its power, glory and potential perfection. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2050+.
Hallelujah—what a glorious nose! The deep garnet colored 2009 Montrose features beautiful Black Forest cake, licorice, crème de cassis and warm blueberries scents with hints of charcoal, truffles, tapenade and menthol plus a waft of star anise. The palate is full-bodied, rich, super concentrated and yet superbly harmonious with a firm backbone of ripe, grainy tannins and wonderful freshness, finishing long and mineral laced. Drink 2020-2065.
1989 and 1990 deja vu all over again? If you think the 2003 Montrose (which merited 100 points) was powerful (13.2% alcohol), keep in mind that the 2009 Montrose came in at 13.7% alcohol. There is no sense of hotness, only extraordinary transparency and precision, allied to massive fruit intensity. A blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, this super-concentrated claret possesses a style reminiscent of the sumptuous 1990 combined with the structure of the 1989. The color is an opaque purple, the pH is a relatively normal 3.7, and the finish is endless. The flavor profile bursts with black currant, blackberry, and boysenberry fruit intertwined with hints of spring flowers and crushed rocks. Huge body, sweet tannin, and wonderful freshness make for one of the all-time great wines ever produced at Montrose. I hope to be drinking this wine with great pleasure before the Man comes for me. Kudos to Jean-Bernard Delmas. (Tasted two times.)
Robert Parker added an asterisk to this wine score to signify that it is a wine he considers has the finest potential of all the offerings he has ever tasted from this estate in nearly 32 years of barrel tasting samples in Bordeaux.
Tasted at the château, the 2009 Montrose is a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot picked between 17 September and 5 October. It has a very powerful and opulent bouquet that is irresistible, blackcurrant pastilles, cedar, violets and a hint of vanilla pod. The palate is full-bodied, powerful, grippy in the mouth with layers of black fruit laced with tar and white pepper. It is a dense Montrose, heady unlike any other vintage with a spicy and purposeful finish that lingers long in the mouth. Almost knocks you sideways! This is immense. Drink 2020-2060.
Representing 72% of production, a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, cropped between 17th September and 5th October, 13.7% alcohol and an IPT of 98 and 3.7 pH. this has a ripe blackberry, boysenberry, oyster shell and briary nose that soars from the glass. Fine definition with a very tangible mineral component. The palate is full-bodied with smooth tannins, very powerful with superb definition, great sense of tension here. There is a great deal of panache in this Montrose, layers of black fruit interwoven with graphite and earthy notes towards the long finish tinged with a touch of cardamom. Sophisticated and regal. A modern day '89? Tasted March 2010.
Big and structured, delivering wild aromas of Indian spices, crushed berry, sweet tobacco and coffee. Full-bodied, with loads of velvety, chewy tannins and a long spicy finish. The château says this is like the 1990, but I think it could be even better. It's certainly better made.
Drink 2020-2035
Very intense purple. Very smart oak and certainly a fine wine but it lacks a little oomph. Was the selection not strict enough? Pretty bone dry on the finish. Sucks the flesh out of the palate. Rather obdurate at the moment, though it may get there in the end.
