Country: France, Bordeaux, Saint Estephe
Grape Varieties:  57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot

Scores
95 Wine Enthusiast
Produced in the magnificent new cellars at Montrose, this big, tannic wine is powerful and concentrated. It has something of the classic severity of a wine from this estate, but that’s mitigated by the ripe, generous blackberry fruitiness and the final freshness of 2012. A great success, to drink from 2022.

94 James Suckling
Fascinating aromas of blackberries with cacao and buttery notes. This is a full-bodied red combining well-rounded tannins, lovely acidity and a mouth-watering finish. Yet turns firm and powerful. Drink in 2020.

Viticulture: The harvest lasts about a month. It starts with the Merlot and ends with the Cabernet Sauvignon on the Great Plateau. The technical staff tastes the berries every day in order to decide which order to harvest the parcels in. All the grapes are hand-picked in open crates by an experienced team of pickers who have been coming to Montrose for several generations. Every year for the past 40 years, over 70 pickers from the same village, Pruna in southern Spain, have come to Château Montrose for the harvest. Housed at the estate for the duration, they complement the efforts of the Château staff with the precision and efficiency of their picking.

Winemaking: After an initial selection in the vineyard during picking, the grapes are brought to the vat-house. ll, the vineyard work of tasting the grapes and harvesting them parcel by parcel is continued in the winery. The vat-house contains 70 temperature-controlled stainless steel vats of different sizes, meaning that wines can be made to measure. They`re vinified with complete respect for the grapes. Each stage in the process is designed to reveal the expression of the terroir and obtain a particular style, that of Montrose. The wines are vatted for 25 days at most, respecting the fruit and the substance. All the lots are kept separate after running-off so that all the different profiles of the vat wines are available for blending.

Matured for 18 months in 60% new French oak barrels, the premium wine accounts from 35 to 40% of the total production of Château Montrose.

Tasting Notes: Dense and profound colour. Complex nose delivering aromas of morello, blond tobacco and chocolate. Slightly wooded. Long and full on the palate with aromas of morello, raspberry, mocha. Supple and long finish on neat and coated tannins. Balanced and harmonious. The tasting was very homogeneous, soft and silky.

Food Pairing: Beef and Venison

Case Bottles: 6