The Grand Vin 2021 Château Montrose checks in as 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, and the balance Petit Verdot, raised mostly in new oak. It's an absolute classic expression of this terrior, offering pure cassis and assorted darker currant fruits that give way to more damp earth, violet, and leafy tobacco nuances. With medium-bodied richness, perfect integration of its acidity, tannins, and oak, beautiful mid-palate depth, and a great finish, it's going to benefit from 4-6 years of bottle age, and I wouldn't be surprised to see this still showing beautifully at age 30. It's a remarkable wine in this challenging vintage.

The 2021 Montrose is very clean and precise on the nose. You could almost describe it has clinical, crushed stone infusing the black fruit and briar. It is not as intense as the previous two vintages, which is to be expected, though the Cabernet Sauvignon is expressive. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit and fine acidity; a Monrose that is very tensile and focused. Moderate grip and volume, this is a more slimline version of recent vintages, a reflection of the growing season. Maybe it just misses the bravura finish that one has almost come to expect from this estate, yet it has the potential to become an aristocratic, classic Montrose.

The remarkable 2021 Montrose gets my nomination for the title of "wine of the vintage" in the Médoc. Wafting from the glass with a deep bouquet of cassis and dark berries mingled with subtle hints of mint, orange, pencil shavings and spices, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with a layered and multidimensional core of fruit underpinned by beautifully ripe, refined tannins. Concluding with a long, resonant finish, it entirely transcends the limitations of the year. This young classic, reminiscent of the estate's 1996 but far better, is a blend of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot.