The 1999 Montrose is a vintage that I have tasted several times over the years. To be frank, there is not much between the Grand Vin and Deuxième Vin at 20 years, with similar blackberry and graphite aromas on the nose. The medium-bodied palate delivers supple black fruit and a fine line of acidity, but clearly not the complexity of more recent vintages. It still has that Pauillac-like finish, but what is missing is a sense of excitement and personality. Tasted from an ex- château bottle at the estate.

The 1999 Montrose is drinking very well, offering up rich aromas of black fruits, pipe tobacco, loamy soil and sweet new oak, followed by a medium to full-bodied, ample and open-knit palate that's nevertheless framed by chewy, somewhat old-school tannins. With its serious structure, it's one of the more muscular, concentrated (and likely long-lived) wines of the vintage, though it naturally doesn't exhibit as much depth as vintages such as 1995, 1996 or 2000.