Chateau Montrose 2009

DECANTER: "A brilliant Montrose, and a great window into what St Estèphe can deliver. This is fresh and concentrated, with ripe cassis fruits, sweet vanilla bean and black pepper spice notes alongside robust tannins, 1% Petit Verdot completes the blend. Jean-Bernard Delmas was estate director for this wine, and is making the most of the complex soils that are gravel-dominant towards the river, with pockets of sand over clay and limestone where the Merlots tend to be planted. Starting to feel ready to drink, but is going nowhere in a hurry."

FALSTAFF: "Tiefdunkles Rubingranat, tiefer Farbkern, violette Reflexe, zarte Randaufhellung. Frische schwarze Beerenfrucht, reife Herzkirschen, ein Hauch von Mandarinenzesten, mineralischer Touch, einladendes Bukett. Saftig, elegant, angenehme Extraktsüße, feste, reife Tannine, sehr gute Frische, bleibt lange haften, mineralischer Nachhall, dunkle Beeren im Nachhall, sicheres Entwicklungspotenzial, Bitterschokofinale, schon sehr verführerisch, wird noch zulegen. Bereits antrinkbar, aber besser noch warten."

JAMES SUCKLING: "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)"

JANCIS ROBINSON: "Tasted blind. Monstrously dark! Smells of sweet tea. Very, very concentrated with a bit of alcohol on the end. The most youthful wine of the flight. Drying finish."

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "Full-bodied, powerful and concentrated, the wine clearly takes up a lot room on your palate. Opulent, as well as refined, now, you find an oceanic influence with its saltiness in the tannins. The wine has depth, freshness and perfectly ripe, soft tannins. If you are lucky enough to have a bottle of this gem in your cellar, try to wait another 10 years for it top really start opening up and displaying all of its incredible charms."

THE WINEADVOCATE: "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."

VINOUS: "The 2009 Montrose has a taut, brilliantly defined bouquet with intense black fruit laced with crushed stone, forest floor, crushed rose petals and a touch of slate. Magnificent. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannin, good depth and grip, plenty of graphite locked in here with a bravura finish that indicates that this Saint-Estèphe is in for the long-haul. It may well deserve a higher score as it evolves in bottle. Everything you wish for in a Montrose. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting."

WEINWISSER: "Ein Wein mit eindrucksvollem Bouquet, kühl, saftig-süsser Eindruck, Pflaumensaft, Blaubeerjoghurt, laktische Noten, konzentriert, etwas Minze. Modern, konzentriert, viel polierte Tannine, hohe Reife, trotzdem sehr kühler Eindruck, wiederum Blaubeeren und schwarze Johannisbeeren in Sahne; lila Wein, dichter Saft, im langen Abgang auch etwas Kokos. Viel hochreifes Tannin, wirkt unglaublich jung, kraftvoll und geschmeidig, ein Wein-Leopard in der frühen Pubertät. Irgendwie auch kalifornische Züge, in der Küche würde man von Bordeaux- Napa-Cross-over-Stilistik sprechen. In diesem Stadium schon ein Erlebnis, aber noch mit kindlichem Naturell und Teddy-Kulleraugen. Die Reifeprüfung liegt vor ihm, er wird beweisen müssen, ob er seine Anlagen in Typizität, Differenziertheit und Eleganz umzusetzen vermag."

WINE ENTHUSIAST: "Enormous tannins, dominant black fruit and a solid, dense structure. The wine, packed with dark fruits, dry tannins, very firm in character. With its huge tannins as well as fruit, this is a wine that really needs many years of aging."

WINESPECTATOR: "A bit of a brute, with a very chewy bittersweet ganache, tobacco and roasted fig core splayed open right now by a dagger of roasted apple wood, allspice and cedar. Long and dense through the finish, with a strong singed iron edge. The stuffing is certainly there, but this will take a while to come together as it's running unbridled right now. Proves you can still get classic old-school Bordeaux. Best from 2020 through 2040. 17,000 cases made."