Château Montrose, 2ème Cru Classé, St Estèphe, 2025
Montrose's technical director, Pierre Graffeuille, suggests "2025 brings together the attributes of the great vintages without any excess. Solar richness and vibrant tension unite in a contemporary expression, deeply Mont Rose". As we would expect, Montrose has judged the 2025 to perfection, resulting in a wine of harmony and easy persistence. Initially greeted by a sensational bouquet of violets, irises and a medley of cherries. Waves of pure griotte, morello cherry and crème de mûre follow, sweet yet dark and brooding, complex, evolving to reveal tobacco and sandalwood, such a nuanced and multidimensional core, brimming with energy and class, supported by a superb framework of crisp, elegant tannins that leave the mouth invigorated. One of the finest wines of the Medoc.
critic reviews
The 2025 Terrasse III was not shown, as it is not sold en primeur.
Deep and nuanced plum fruit on the opening, vivid ruby in colour with tension, lift and estate signature. An extremely classic Montrose, love the lift with the depth of cassis, cocoa bean, liquorice, crushed mint leaf, squid ink, crayon, a supremely Left Bank wine, very much in the 2023 vein for me, which was a vintage I adored. This has precision and beauty, the kind of En Primeur sample where you feel fresh and energised at the end of tasting it. 60% new oak for ageing, Pierre Graffeuille director.
A timeless classic in the making, the 2025 Montrose unfurls in the glass with notes of dark berries, black truffle, burning embers and violets, gaining in range and detail with aeration. Full-bodied, dense and elegantly muscular, it's layered and multidimensional, with a prodigiously concentrated core of fruit, exceptional quality of tannin and a long, resonant finish. The 2025 is a blend of 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc, derived exclusively from the estate's historic core on the fourth terrace situated just in front of the château itself. With a pH of 3.65 and 13.4% alcohol, it remains classically balanced despite its impressive power and intensity. Readers will have a fascinating time parsing the nuances of style and quality between the 2025, 2023 and 2022 over the decades to come!