Montrose - Saint-Estèphe 2020

Vinous

97,5-97,5

byNeal Martinthe2/28/2025

The 2020 Montrose has a gorgeous bouquet with black cherries, raspberry coulis, crushed stone and floral scents. It's quite decadent yet nicely controlled. The palate is very structured with layers of blackberry and bilberry fruit and a touch of white pepper, building toward a spicy and very persistent, almost burly finish. This will need serious cellaring. Outstanding. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.

Wine Advocate

100

byWilliam Kelleythe4/6/2023

Surpassing the 2019 and rivaling the 2016 as this estate's finest vintage of the last few decades, the 2020 Montrose is a monument in the making. Wafting from the glass with aromas of violets, dark berries, licorice, loamy soil, black truffle and subtle spices, it's full-bodied, deep and layered, with a seamless, elegantly muscular profile, terrific purity and energy, beautifully powdery tannins and a long, resonant finish. It checks in at 13.7% alcohol, the same as the superb 2009, but it is even deeper, more vibrant and more complex than the 2009. This will be worth a special effort to seek out and only confirms Montrose's status as one of the contemporary Médoc's leading estates and a de facto first growth.

Wine Spectator

95

byJames Molesworththe3/31/2023

Gorgeously rendered for the vintage, with a well-endowed core of loganberry, mulberry and cassis flavors that roll through and are laced with a cast iron hint, while tobacco, warm stone and black tea accents swirl in the background. The long, authoritative finish steadily melds the fruit with the cast iron edge. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Best from 2026 through 2040.

Jeb DUNNUCK

98

byJeb Dunnuckthe3/30/2023

The Grand Vin 2020 Château Montrose is brilliant and unquestionably in the lineup of the truly greats from this château, including the 1989, 1990, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2018, and 2019. With an IPT of 80 and a natural alcohol of 13.4%, its deep, saturated purple hue is followed by quintessential Saint-Estèphe notes of pure cassis, graphite, tobacco leaf, acacia flowers, and loamy earth. Full-bodied, concentrated, and powerful, it nevertheless stays incredibly pure, elegant, and seamless, with perfectly ripe tannins. A blend of 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot, is shines even today for its purity and balance, and it should be in the early stages of its prime drink window within a decade.

The Wine Cellar Insider

99

byJeff Levethe3/22/2023

This is just about off the charts, and could hit triple digits in a few years if it keeps developing. Inky black in color, the wine explodes aromatically with its blackberries, blueberries, boysenberries, and tobacco, and that's before you get to its deeper nuances of Indian spice, chocolate, and cigar box scents. But the real fireworks are when the wine coats your palate with its multiple layers of dark red fruits, blackberries, and cocoa. Even with all of its richness, there is ample lift, making it easy to get lost here with all the depth, and concentration. The wine is just about seamless on the palate, lingering, building, and expanding for close to 60 seconds. One of the great vintages of Montrose is the swansong of Herve Berland at the helm of the estate. Drink from 2029-2065.

Wines Critic

97

byRaffaele Vecchionethe3/10/2023

Extremely elegant and refined showing notes of lavender, hibiscus, flowering geraniums, hawthorn, elderflower, linden, gardenias and rosemary. In the background nuances of lime and bergamot emerge which are always most enjoyable. Full bodied, perfectly mature tannins and a linear, tasty finale which is very engaging from the start. Better from 2025.

Vinous

99

byAntonio Gallonithe2/24/2023

The 2020 Montrose is epic. Dark, rich and brooding, the 2020 possesses remarkable intensity, and, yet it is somehow not excessively heavy. Time in the glass brings out the wine's more elegant sophisticated side. All the elements are so well-balanced. Red/purplish fruit, lavender rose petal, gravel and spice are all accented by veins of intense minerality that lend shape and energy. The 2020 is a modern-day classic for Montrose and one of the great wines of the Left Bank.

Vinous

99

byNeal Martinthe2/15/2023

The 2020 Montrose was bottled in July 2022. The alcohol is 13.4%, a whole degree less than the previous year but with the same concentration (IPT is 80). It has a fabulous bouquet that delivers on all that promise from when I finally tasted the wine around a year earlier from barrel, a cornucopia of blackberry, bilberry, crushed stone, Indian ink and loamy/undergrowth scents. Very mercurial in the glass, it seems to shapeshift with every minute. The palate is medium-bodied with such a precise entry. This is far more detailed than either the 2019 or 2018, a symmetrical Montrose with unerring detail and mineralité, its silky texture belying the power underneath. This is unequivocally a brilliant wine and a benchmark in recent years. Contender for wine of the vintage.

Wine Spectator

95

byJames Molesworththe11/30/2022

Gorgeously rendered for the vintage, with a well-endowed core of loganberry, mulberry and cassis flavors that roll through and are laced with a cast iron hint, while tobacco, warm stone and black tea accents swirl in the background. The long, authoritative finish steadily melds the fruit with the cast iron edge. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Best from 2026 through 2040.

Vinous

98-100

byNeal Martinthe2/17/2022

The 2020 Montrose was picked September 10-29; the clusters between 10% and 20% smaller than normal. It has an intense nose that is even more powerful than the 2019, revealing layers of blackberry, briar, cedar, pencil shavings and smoke that evolve wonderfully in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied, precise and poised, with unerring symmetry and perfect salinity. Very harmonious, almost pixelated on the finish. This is simply brilliant.

Decanter.com

98

byJane Ansonthe5/25/2021

A serious wall of blueberry and blackberry compote, and a ton of savoury Cabernet sinew and freshness. This is a great Montrose, inky, broad-shouldered and structured. It needs time to aerate and open in the glass, then you see the precision, the heft, the chiselling of the fruits with a ton of graphite, cigar box and campfire smoke - huge persistency. This will need a long time and will reward patience. One of the few where a 1986, 2016 and 2010 comparison makes sense. A yield around 30hl/ha. 1% Petit Verdot, 3.86pH, IPT 80. 45% of the overall production.

Anthocyanes

96-98

byYohan Castaingthe5/11/2021

Magnifique nez très frais, légèrement café et moka, complexe et plein. Très beau toucher de bouche juteux, dense, savoureux avec des notes de fruits noirs, de graphite et d'épices. Un Montrose à la fois dense et très long. Très beau toucher de tanins ciselés. Un vin qui confirme son évolution stylistique vers une puissance contenue et satinée. La tension du 2016 et la texture charnue et les arômes du 2019. Une grande bouteille.

Bernard Burtschy

96-98

byBernard Burtschythe5/10/2021

Falstaff

95-97

byPeter Moserthe5/10/2021

Im Duft Lakritze und Veilchen, einiges Neuholz, dazu intensive florale Noten und würzig-mineralische Aromen. Im Mund mit körniger Dichte, abgeklärt trocken, der- zeit sehr verschlossen und in sich gekehrt, aber erkennbarerweise ein ganz klas- sischer Montrose ohne Umschweife und unnötigen Ballast. Trotz der virilen Tannine trocknet der Wein nicht. Kultivierte Säure, ausgezeichnete taktile Mineralität.

My Bettane + Desseauve

98

by Bettane & Desseauvethe5/7/2021