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Montrose 2017

RegionBordeaux
Subregion France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > St Estèphe
ColourRed
TypeStill
Grape VarietyCabernet Sauvignon/Merlot

This great second growth vineyard is majestically situated overlooking the Gironde in the Southern section of St Estephe. Recently purchased and re-invigorated by the Bouygues family, Montrose is on top form. Hervé Berland, formerly of Mouton Rothschild, is now in charge and large amounts of money have been spent on stunning new facilities.

View all vintages of this wine | View all wines by Château Montrose

Label

Tasting Notes

The 2017 Montrose is one of the most compelling wines of the vintage. Wafting from the glass with aromas of cherries, sweet berries, rose petals and pencil shavings, it's medium to full-bodied, velvety and seamless, with an enveloping core of vibrant fruit, supple tannins and a perfumed finish. This is an unusually suave, youthfully approachable vintage of Montrose that will offer a broad drinking window.

95
William Kelley, Wine Advocate, December 2023

Tasted blind. Deep ruby colour. Good fleshy red fruit and some cassis on the nose with vanilla bean. Fruit and tannin together in a smoky, rich structure. Increasingly muscular but matched by an impressive core of brambly fruit and hints of sweet spice. Long and fine on the finish. Will need a little time.
Drink 2026 – 2039

17.5+
Thomas Parker MW, JancisRobinson.com, October 2021

Extremely aromatic with currant, wild-herb and fresh-violet aromas. This is regal cabernet sauvignon at its finest. The palate has unwaveringly long and defined tannins that carry such fresh, piercingly pure, redcurrant and cassis flavors. A twin to the superb 2015? A blend of 76% cabernet sauvignon, 20% merlot, 3% cabernet franc and 1% petit verdot.

97
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com (June 2019), January 2020

The 2017 Montrose is composed of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot. Deep garnet in color, it skips out of the glass with bright, vibrant, and wonderfully pure notes of kirsch, redcurrant jelly, fresh blackcurrants, and black raspberries, leading to a fragrant undercurrent of lilacs, licorice, underbrush, and allspice. The medium-bodied palate is so bright and elegant, with jaw-dropping intensity and firm, fine-grained tannins, finishing with impressive length and energy. 2026-2056

97
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent, September 2023

This has more Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend this year, the highest level since 2006, because the Merlot didn't quite make it through the September rains unscathed. The wine is correspondingly powerful with a robust accompanying acidity that promises a long life. The fruit character is savoury, succulent and extremely persistent, with fleshy blackberry alongside touches of redcurrant and a pulsating freshness that keeps on coming. Harvested 12-29 September with twelve days spent actually picking, compared to sixteen days over the last few years, with more hands on deck. They have never been affected by frost, as far as they can remember, and 2017 was no exception. The wind is always such a benefit here. A normal yield of 45hl/ha, 37% of which was for the grand vin. 60% new oak.
Drinking Window 2025 - 2040

96
Jane Anson, Decanter.com, April 2018

Good, deep crimson. High-toned nose with lots of life but not aiming for concentration. Still pretty inky without a real middle of flesh. Does a good job of the framework but it needs to take on quite a bit of flesh to be a really alluring prospect. Competent rather than thrilling. Though I appreciate the transparency. Bone-dry, stony St-Estèphe finish.
Drink 2027-2040

16
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, May 2018

Deep crimson. Sober but intense black fruit. On the palate, elegant and attractive dusty character, incredibly fine tannins, so supple, refined, juicy and long. Not opulent but not at all dry. Should have a long drinking window.
Drink 2025-2045

17.5
Julia Harding MW, JancisRobinson.com, April 2018

Concentrated flavours rich black fruits the nose has depth the palate brooding black fruited power. There is balance the rich mix underpinned by bilberry but it fills out at the back with generosity dark chocolate richness. 2026-41

92/95
Derek Smedley MW, DerekSmedleyMW.co.uk, April 2018

Very commanding and linear on the nose, this is a focussed and direct wine with masses of intent and it takes no prisoners on the nose and palate. There is a chiselled feel to Montrose with enormous length and determination and no trace of fat or glycerol to be found on its lean, taut frame. It is interesting to see here what happens when there is no disease pressure, no particular hydric stress and also a dry and temperate summer. The organic viticulture at this Château allows the soils to express themselves fully through the vines and so this is perhaps one of the most ‘naked’ and unadorned Montrose vintages in a long time. It will mature slowly and always retain a degree of drama and minerality, reflecting its elevated position in Saint-Estèphe.

18+
Matthew Jukes, Matthew Jukes' Blog, April 2018
Read more tasting notes...

This is pure and tight with gorgeous cabernet sauvignon character of blackcurrants, blueberries and crushed stones. Full-bodied, yet compacted and polished. It shows a long and beautiful tannin texture at the end. Just rolls off the palate.

96/97
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, April 2018

In 2017, Montrose did not suffer from the frost and it was an early vintage. A blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot gives a medium to deep garnet color. It rolls out of the glass with perfumed notes of lilacs, stewed red and black plums, and cinnamon toast, plus suggestions of wild sage and cassis. Medium-bodied the palate is very tightly wound with loads of fragrant black fruit layers, supported by fine-grained tannins and compelling tension, finishing on a lingering ferrous note. The 2017 is beautifully poised and very impressive!

97
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent, December 2022

A blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot, the 2017 Montrose is deep garnet-purple colored. It wafts out with the most gorgeous perfume of chocolate-covered cherries, wild blueberries, and cassis, plus hints of lavender, tilled soil, wood smoke, and crushed rocks. Medium-bodied, the palate is tightly wound and so finely grained, delivering energetic black and red berry flavors with fantastic tension and a long minerally finish.

94
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent, May 2022

Composed of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and a 1% splash of Petit Verdot, the 2017 Montrose wine was run off into 60% new and 40% one-year old barrels where it was aged for 18 months. The grand vin represented 37% of the estate’s total production. Deep garnet-purple in color, the nose takes some time to unfurl before revealing an impressively flamboyant core of black cherry preserves, warm cassis and baked plums with hints of red currant jelly, dark chocolate, licorice, cardamom and chargrill plus a gentle waft of candied violets. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has fantastic intensity with a very elegant, modest weight, featuring super-ripe, finely-grained tannins and tons of freshness to lift and show-off a stunning array of gorgeous black fruit and fragrant sparks, finishing very long and refined. This is an incredibly classy, poised and sophisticated Montrose! Drink: 2022-2060

98
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (March 2020), March 2020

The 2017 Montrose is a blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. Deep purple-black in color, the nose is a little closed at first, but with coaxing, it opens to reveal remarkable earth and exotic spice notes of crushed rocks, black truffles, star anise, cassia and fenugreek over a core of crème de cassis, blackberry preserves, violets and blueberry pie with touches of cigar box, charcuterie and black soil. Medium-bodied with a rock-solid frame and an exquisitely ripe, very fine-grained texture, it has wonderful freshness with electric energy and a very long, minerally finish. Possessing great poise and intensity, this is one of the greatest Montrose's I have tasted!

96/99
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (236), April 2018
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.