MONTROSE 2022

One of the greats in the vintage, the 2022 Château Montrose is deep ruby/purple-hued and has a massive perfume of sweet crème de cassis, sappy tobacco, and freshly sharpened pencils. With incredible purity and precision in its aromatics, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a layered, powerful, yet still somehow 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 the 1989, 1990, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2016, 2018, and 2020.

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.

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.

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.

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.