Château Montrose, 2ème Cru Classé, St Estèphe, 2024

Name: Château Montrose, 2ème Cru Classé, St Estèphe
Brand: Château Montrose
Price: 507 GBP

Available Vintages

all 1996 2003 2010 2014 2016 2018 2019 2020 2021 2023 2024

justerini & brooks tasting note

The Montrose 2024 unfurls with classical, Cabernet aromas of violets and stones, leading to dark blackberries, kirsch, and plum, with suggestions of scorched earth and cedar. This is very enticing and precise, segueing neatly to a powerful, muscular palate, packed with layers of ripe cassis mixed with black cherry and cocoa nibs, hints of cherry pip mingled with sage and rosemary, lifted by a touch of violet. There’s a real verve to the fruit: pure, seductive and tingling with energy, with a creamy note weaved throughout. As one would expect from this high flying super second, the tannic framework is superb, providing a detailed finale of pure brambles fruit, sous bois, and an intriguing scent of tilled damp earth. Whilst this doesn’t possess the scale of blockbuster years like 2022, it is mighty impressive an immaculately constructed example that will be a treat to come back to over the next twenty years.

critic reviews

95-97/100Lisa Perrotti-Brown,The Wine Independent

Deep garnet-purple colored. Prances out with energetic notes of black raspberries, black currant jelly, and kirsch, leading to hints of wet slate, mossy tree bark, dried mint, and forest floor, with a touch of rose oil. The light to medium-bodied palate is like a tightly coiled string, revealing great tension and firm, fine-grained tannins to support, finishing very long and minerally. Nicely done!

DRINKING WINDOW 2029 - 2059

date of review 05/2025

94-96/100Neal Martin,Vinous

The 2024 Montrose has a little more Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend due to the yields in various parcels. It was picked between September 23 and October 7 and matured in 60% new oak. The well-defined and very able nose demonstrates classicism, fine delineation and a little more florality than the Terrasse III. The palate is medium-bodied with very finely chiselled tannins and a keen line of acidity. This symmetrical Saint-Estèphe is blessed with an elegant, sapid and reassuringly precise finish that the estate seems to have honed in the last few years. It does not have the unbridled ambition of, say, the 2020 Montrose, but it is exceptionally well crafted and will become a fine Saint-Estèphe.

DRINKING WINDOW 2032 - 2058

date of review 05/2025

95/100Jane Anson,Inside Bordeaux

Beautifully deep colour, this shows chalk, violet flowers, peony, fragrant and enticing floral profile compared to so many in the vintage, this is excellent, cocoa bean, cassis, depth, layers and concentration - one of the wines of the vintage. 15% press wine, a little more than usual. Harvest 23 September to 8 October, Pierre Grafeuille estate director.

DRINKING WINDOW 2032 - 2050

date of review 04/2025

93-95/100William Kelley,Robert Parker Wine Advocate

A blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc, the 2024 Montrose is a serious, muscular effort that numbers among the wines of the vintage. Unwinding in the glass with notes of cassis, burning embers, cigar wrapper and iris, it's medium to full-bodied, dense and layered, with a lively spine of acidity, rich structuring tannins and a long, penetrating finish. With both the highest proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon recorded at Montrose and a rather low pH of 3.55, it will surely number among the longest lived 2024 Bordeaux.

date of review 04/2025