Winemaker Notes
Considered one of the top Saint Estephe, Montrose is prized for its classic Claret style, big fruit and full, well-structured taste.
Deep purple color. Complex on the nose, delivering aromas of leather, black fruit, liquorice. Silky and fresh on the palate, with notes of brown tobacco, dark chocolate, grounds of coffee, blackberry, blackcurrant, and slight leather. The tannins are fine, elegant, and melted.
Blend: 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 8% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A classic effort, the 1998 Montrose exhibits a dense purple color in addition to a sweet nose of jammy cassis, licorice, earth, and smoke. It is a powerful and full-bodied wine with well-integrated tannin. Given Montrose's tendency to shut down, it is performing better out of bottle than I expected. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2030.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Deeply colored, concentrated, and distinctive, St. Estephe is the go-to for great, age-worthy and reliable Bordeaux reds. Separated from Pauillac merely by a stream, St. Estephe is the farthest northwest of the highest classed villages of the Haut Medoc and is therefore subject to the most intense maritime influence of the Atlantic.
St. Estephe soils are rich in gravel like all of the best sites of the Haut Medoc but here the formation of gravel over clay creates a cooler atmosphere for its vines compared to those in the villages farther downstream. This results in delayed ripening and wines with higher acidity compared to the other villages.
While they can seem a bit austere when young, St. Estephe reds prove to live very long in the cellar. Traitionally dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon, many producers now add a significant proportion of Merlot to the blend, which will soften any sharp edges of the more tannic, Cabernet.
The St. Estephe village contains two second growths, Chateau Montrose and Cos d’Estournel.