Château Montlandrie 2020

Pulsing with life and energy here, delicious mouthcoating tannins, ripe but super liquorice too, giving a dark tone and savoury element to the palate. Not super-high acidity, enough to give freshness, but this is a little more serious. It's well worked, presented excellently, in balance with focus and precision. Supple fruit, lovely blackcurrant and creamy cherries alongside an iron-rich mineral tang. Well made, interesting - easy to drink with terroir on show.

Very minerally with crushed stone and limestone. Black berries and blueberries. Violets. Full-bodied with tight and firm tannins and lovely length. Tannic and firm. Needs time to soften and come together. But beautiful and solid. Try after 2026.

The 2020 Montlandrie, the Durantou family's Côtes de Castillon, is fabulous. It is another very serious wine in this range. A core of dark Merlot fruit gradually opens, releasing complicating notes of spice, leather, incense and licorice. There's real depth and gravitas. A few years in the cellar seem prudent, as there is a lot of wine here. The purity of the flavors is just striking.

Deep, dark, earthy plums, black cherry liqueur, truffles, flowers and espresso beans create the perfume. On the palate, the wine is silky, opulent and fresh, with a nice sweetness to the layers of red and black fruits that fill and linger on your palate. This is the best vintage of Montlandrie I have ever tasted! Drink from 2024-2036.

From a Castillon estate purchased and replanted in 2009, the 2020 Château Montlandrie checks in as 75% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon that was brought up in 40% new French oak. This balanced, medium to full-bodied Castillon reveals plenty of red and black fruit as well as some real limestone character in its floral, violet, and chalky rock-like nuances. I love its balance, and it has ripe tannins and the purity and precision that make this vintage so compelling. It will drink well for 10-15 years.

Kunz barrel sample 2021: (75% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14.5% vol. alcohol, production 53,000 bottles) Floral, silky, fresh bouquet, raspberries, strawberries, smoke, light tobacco. Fine, fragrant palate with sweet fruit, good tannins, elegant structure, sweet, powerful aromatics, fresh finish.

(75% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14.5% vol. alcohol, production 53,000 bottles) Floral, silky, fresh bouquet, raspberries, strawberries, smoke, light tobacco. Fine, perfumed palate with sweet fruit, good tannins, elegant structure, sweet, powerful aromatics, fresh finish. 17/20 2025 - 2038

Intense and concentrated, blueberry and blackberry fruits lifted by strands of saffron and oyster shell, austere on the finish, good stuff. 40% new oak, harvest September 18 to 25, 45hl/ha yield, 3.6pH. Noemie Durantou winemaker alongside Olivier Gautrat.

93-94

Sanguine and woody on the nose, with black and red fruits, this castillon opens delectably, then unfolds with a powerful, warm, generous, full‑bodied, spicy mid‑palate and finish, the alcohol bringing roundness, flesh, volume, and breadth. The journey continues with rich, robust tannins and a lovely peppery length.

The notion of terroir is always well conveyed by Montlandrie. It consistently shows mineral, floral and fruity nuances, with a clear emphasis on graphite and flint. The wine combines density and tension, without neglecting finesse along the way. Its velvety tannins provide a solid backbone while the structure, working behind the scenes, brings a touch of freshness through salinity. A wine of character that underlines how well the terroir of Castillon handles the whims of the weather.