100 Points Jeb Dunnuck
One of the wines of the vintage, the 2023 Château Montrose sports a vivid purple hue as well as awesome aromatics of crème de cassis, fresh blackcurrants, graphite, crushed stone, tobacco, and violets. It's medium to full-bodied and has a concentrated, layered, seamless mouthfeel, flawless balance, fine polished tannins, and a blockbuster of a finish. Based on 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot, and 4% Cabernet Franc and aged 18 months in 60% new French oak, it stays in the more aristocratic style of the vintage and is an utterly sensational, deep, multi-dimensional Montrose. It's one for the ages, yet I suspect it will be approachable within a reasonable time frame as well.
100 Points James Suckling
A new benchmark for Montrose. Extremely aromatic and beautiful, with lavender, violets, pencil shavings and black currants on the nose. Complex and medium-bodied. The muscular structure and intensity are something else. The purity of fruit is dreamy. Marks a new era for Montrose. It is now made from only 45 hectares of vineyards right in front of the chateau instead of about 60 hectares before. From organically grown grapes. 75% cabernet sauvignon, 21% merlot and 4% cabernet franc
99 Points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Just as it was from barrel, the 2023 Montrose is one of the most compelling wines of the vintage. Unwinding in the glass with a brooding bouquet of cassis, violets and burning embers, it's full-bodied, with prodigious mid-palate density and dimension, its concentrated core of fruit underpinned by abundant but ultra-refined tannins and lively acids. Broad, penetrating and persistent, it's a blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc. This is a very serious wine, carrying plenty of structure; but while it will certainly require some patience, today's more precise extraction and élevage choices mean that it will not mandate the 20-30 years of deferred gratification that were once the norm at this address, even if I'm convinced the 2023 will be just as long-lived as the classics of the past.
98 Points Decanter
So floral and aromatic, really inviting and welcoming on the nose, more aromatic than some. Smooth and intense, clearly concentrated but supple and bouncy, there’s movement to this, it’s not strict. So precise, and finessed, you can feel the edges of the fine tannins - well executed with a mineral grip underneath. You can tell there’s power here, it has muscles but sinew also. Quite demonstrative really - it’s flexing but keeps such a clear line of focus and cool blue fruit with graphite and liquorice too. Round and penetrating with an excellent weight and balance of acidity in the mouth while keeping harmony alongside a hint of sweet and just-ripe strawberries mostly with crunchy cranberry too. A lot to like here. Great effort, classy and comfortable - multi-faceted while still being so juicy and approachable. 60% new oak, ageing in barrels only for 18 months. 3.7pH. 13.6% press wine (300 barrels of press split into seven qualities). 35% grand vin in total, mainly from the old vines which is 45% of the vineyard but 35% of the crop. 48hl/ha yield. (GH)
97 Points Vinous
The 2023 Montrose was one of my favourite wines from barrel. Now in bottle since July, this fulfils its promise with an intense nose of blackberry, violet and mint, giving it a subtle Pauillac-like allure. The fruit is incredibly pure here. The palate is medium-bodied with chiselled, pliant tannins that lend this Montrose a little more fluidity than I estimated from barrel. Very harmonious, really poised and long, this remains one of the finest Left Bank 2023s.
97 Points James Suckling
Blueberries, cracked white and black pepper with dried flowers. Some crushed stone and slate, too. Full-bodied with tannins that grow on the palate and continue on. It’s polished and very fine with lovely length. Drink after 2027.
Winemaker Notes
The first tastings suggest a vintage very close to the 2016 with a beautiful structure of ripe, precise, concentrated tannins placing it among the great vintages of Montrose.Blend: 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot
