Château Montrose 2022

Stunning, deep, noble and super-complex, with cassis, cherries, dark berries and a peppery spice, topped with violets; the palate shows hardly fathomable concentration and structure, massive, perfectly ripe tannins, crisp fruit, an almost endless finish. Monolithic, sublime, built for long ageing.

This is laden with gently steeped black currant, black cherry and blackberry fruit, inlaid with flashes of licorice snap, singed alder, chestnut and gunpowder tea. A flash of lilac skirts the edges, adding subtle energy and lift. The long finish offers an alluring feel, with an echo of warm earth lingering amid the fruit. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Best from 2026 through 2045.

A deep, heady nose filled with fragrant black fruit, liquorice, tobacco and violets. Sumptuous and seductive, this walks a fine line between expressing the vintage with a heady, charged palate full of sun-kissed fruit and lashings of liquorice spice, with pristine cherries and blackcurrants and a vein of salty, crushed-stone and iron minerality. Gorgeous acidity keeps the profile lifted and almost airy before the density of the aromatics and flavours comes into play. So well constructed, this has muscle and serious power, but within a sleek frame and a delicate chalky touch on the finish.

Great depth on the nose, drawing you into its core of blackcurrants, pencil shavings, graphite, tar, inkpot and cassis. Full-bodied and very tight, this flexes its polished muscles, showing form and tension. Compacted. From organically grown grapes. 66% cabernet sauvignon, 25% merlot, 8% cabernet franc and 1% petit verdot. This needs six to seven years to come around.

The 2022 Montrose has a wonderful bouquet, beautifully defined with mineral-rich blackberry and bilberry fruit and a light touch of the Gironde Estuary in the background. The palate is medium-bodied with finely chiselled tannins, well judged acidity, focused and poised, with a finish that is just quintessential Saint-Estèphe. The pedigree of this wine is so obvious. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting in London.

Power and elegance in balance and harmony are what you need to know here. This sublime wine pops with its display of blackberries, black currants, black cherries, flowers, and a kitchen full of spices. The level of depth on the palate is almost off the charts, yet the wine remains light on its feet with a seamless finish that holds your focus for more than 60 seconds! This is one of the great vintages of Montrose, and a contender for wine of the vintage. The wine blends 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot. Drink from 2030–2065.

Dark ruby in colour with an opaque core, purple reflections, and subtle brightening on the ochre rim. On the nose, a hint of tar, black fruits of the forest, and a hint of reduction, needs plenty of air. The taut, tightly woven palate is sweet, complex and opulent, a behemoth with somewhat demanding tannins, a hint of dark chocolate, seems a little closed and is still austere, will benefit from bottle ageing, has great promise for the future. Will certainly need 10 years before it is drinkable, patience is required here. (25/1, +50, PM).

One of the greats of the vintage, the 2022 Château Montrose is deep ruby-purple and offers a massive perfume of sweet crème de cassis, sappy tobacco, and freshly sharpened pencils. With incredible purity and precision to its aromatics, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a layered, powerful yet somehow still elegant mouthfeel, ultra-fine tannins, and a great finish. Based on a classic blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot, it spent 18 months in 60% new French oak. As I wrote during En Primeur, it has the essence of a Montrose-like character. While it’s not a massively backward or austere example of the château, it nevertheless deserves 10–12 years of bottle age and should have at least half a century of longevity. It is, without a doubt, in the same league as 1989, 1990, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2016, 2018, and 2020.

66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot, 30 hl/ha. Densely interwoven, profound bouquet, a full load of dark graphite, exotic noble wood and delicate lilac perfume. On the second nose, fresh black mountain pepper, olive paste and wild cherry. On the complex palate with silky texture, grainy extract, good drive, and energetic verve. Perfectly reflects the DNA of Montrose with its demanding tannic framework and muscular body with perfectly defined muscles. In the concentrated finish, black-berry contours, deep terroir spice and fine-grained astringency. Truly grand Montrose cinema, nothing less than top marks. As so often here, patience is required.

Powering through what was a hot dry vintage, this is luscious, full of flavour, squid ink, cocoa bean, espresso, tapenade, fragrant smoked spices, dried herbs, powerful blueberry and cassis, taking the challenges of the growing season fully in its stride. Hervé Berland's last vintage, with Pierre Graffeuille arriving to take over as estate director, technical director Vincent Decup. Bouygues family owners. Harvest September 2 to 22, 60% new oak.

The nose, deep and brooding, opens with ripe black fruits, promising lovely succulence, enriched by heady notes of warm earth and forest floor. An aromatic symphony that bursts on the palate like fireworks. The wine shines with brightness and generosity, combining lusciously ripe fruit with chocolate and café au lait notes. Complex and delectable, it captivates with perfectly controlled power and velvety tannins. A delight.

From the outset, Montrose stands with imposing calm. It plays on several registers, opening windows devoted to maturity while revealing nuances of élevage and, ultimately, notes of black berries, morello cherries, licorice, and tea leaves. On the palate, the wine underscores its breadth, yet it also shows saline grip on the attack, which champions its freshness and its ability to channel opulence. The suave tannins go hand in hand with fine bitters that enhance the freshness and stretch the persistence of the finish. An inviting, precise, and powerful Montrose that we can follow for decades to come.

A lovely deep, dark colour. An intense, refined, pure nose, fruity and complex. It deepens as the glass is swirled, with a hint of liquorice. Supple on entry, especially aromatic through the mid-palate, with great class to the texture; the wine melts across the palate—magical, powerful, subtle and airy. The finish never loses its precise tactile finesse and delivers great depth of flavour. Bravo!

This is a powerful wine with bold tannins and a rich structure. The wine's ripe blueberry aroma and dense texture go well with the concentrated black fruits and opulence. The wine will take its time: drink from 2029.

From barrel, I wrote that 2022 Montrose was so compelling that assigning it a bracketed score seemed a mere formality, and so it has proven. Unwinding in the glass with a deep and brooding bouquet of cassis, wild blueberries, violets, pencil shavings and burning embers, it's full-bodied, deep and dense, somehow marrying all the tannic authority that has long been such a signature of Montrose with a suavity and purity that represents the quintessence of contemporary Bordeaux. The broad, palate-staining finish lasts for more than a minute. This is a profound young wine that readers aren't going to want to miss.