Bordeaux 2024: Château Montrose

The undisputed king of St Estephe, Chateau Montrose has released at £507 per six, a 28% discount on the 2023.

The technical team decided to declassify all the fruit from Terrace III into a new label to ensure the Grand Vin is the purist expression from the heart of their terroir. It’s certainly done the trick. This is a hauntingly beautiful Montrose with exceptional precision, exquisite flavours and a glorious structure. Our team was most impressed. It’s clearly one of the most profound wines made on either side of the Gironde.

“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.” 93-95/100 – William Kelley, The Wine Advocate

“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". 2032 – 2058. 94-96/100 – Neal Martin, vinous.com