Château Montrose, 2ème Cru Classé, St Estèphe, 2022
Following the sensational Dame de Montrose, we had lofty expectations for the grand vin, and we were not to be disappointed. This Bouygues owned chateau is now under the leadership of Pierre Graffeuille, formally of Leoville Las Cases. This is a step up. Brooding, rather introverted aromatically, with just hints of mint, sage and a well of dark black fruit. Monolithic, with a viscous texture and huge density, this broad-shouldered Montrose is mighty impressive with layers of mineral infused fruit. Although massive, there's a fluidity and tension here, and something quite flashy too, but not excessive; it carries the immense core of fruit with aplomb, encased in an impressive tannic structure, which suggests a long and distinguished future ahead. Undoubtedly a multidimensional Montrose of precision and detail, there's an assurance to the beautifully woven tannins. A real vin de garde of immense proportions and pitch perfect balance. Tremendous! 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot.
critic reviews
This accounts for 53% of production in this vintage, a high figure for Montrose, which reflects the high quality of the vintage – similar volumes were made in 2003, 2005, 2009 and 2010, says Vincent Decup. The blend is 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot;the percentage of Cabernet Franc is notable, a high figure for the grand vin, taking almost all the estate’s Cabernet Franc from at least four parcels. The élevage was in 60% new oak for 18 months, the remainder second-fill barrels. A nose of dark and polished fruits, spiced with sandalwood, toast, incense, rose and currant. Beautifully polished and broad on the palate, fresh and dark, with salted olive, currant and damson, laced with black pepper, toast and rose, with such a fine-boned spine of tannins they are barely perceptible, until the finish when they add a dense and focused frame to the length. Plenty of peppery energy here, and it is tremendously long too. So complete and harmonious, elegant yet brimming with structure, this is a Montrose with a great future. The alcohol on the label is 14.5% which matches the analysis.
There may have been concessions to the vintage with La Dame de Montrose, but there is no compromise here, and no signs of over-maturity in the character of the fruit. Inky, rich, confidently powerful structure coupled with softness to the tannins, dark peppercorn, iodine, espresso, graphite and wet stones, muscular but luscious. Hervé Berland's last vintage, with Pierre Graffeuille arriving to take over as estate director, technical director Vincent Decup. 40% 1st wine. A single point upscore from En Primeur.
The 2022 Montrose has an outstanding bouquet that blossoms in the glass. Enticing scents of blackberry, bilberry and a touch of cassis open, while violet and iris flower notes emerge with time. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-boned tannins. The 2022 retains the structure of a typical Montrose, but those tannins are so finely chiseled that it renders this wine far more approachable compared to those I was tasting just a decade earlier. There is a patina of menthol toward the finish, a consequence of that year's warmth, yet it remains a seamless Saint-Estèphe that will doubtlessly age with immense grace. Fabulous.
The 2022 Montrose is such a compelling wine that assigning it a bracketed score seems a mere formality. A brilliant terroir, impeccable viticulture, perfectly timed harvest dates and judicious extraction have aligned to deliver a monument in the making, reminiscent of a far purer, more precise, modern-day version of the 1990 vintage at this address. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of dark berries, cassis, violets, iris, pencil lead and cigar wrapper, it's full-bodied, deep and authoritative, its velvety attack segueing into a layered, elegantly muscular core that's framed by supple, powdery tannins, concluding with a long, resonant finish. A blend of 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, this only confirms Montrose's status as a de facto first growth and unquestionably one of the contemporary Medoc's very greatest estates.