Wine Advocate
byRobert Parkerthe4/30/2002
The 2001 Montrose is backward, tannic, and impressively concentrated. The wine possesses good freshness, full body, high tannin, low acidity, admirable extract, and loads of creme de cassis fruit intermixed with chocolate, liquid minerals, and earth. There is more noticeable tannin than in the blockbuster 2000. The 2001 will require a decade of cellaring to shed its tannic clout.
Montrose is justifiably proud of having fashioned one of the vintage's most powerful and concentrated wines. Yields were a mere 32 hectoliters per hectare, and the 2001 Montrose (which represents 64% of the total production) is a blend of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot, and 1% Cabernet Franc. This is a classic effort in the style, according to the chateau, "of the highly successful 1955."