2020 Chateau Montrose, Saint-Estephe, Bottle (750ml)

RP100 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.

AG99 "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." AG for VM Feb 2023

JA99 "This is up there with the best wines that I have tasted in the vintage. Beautifully balanced, classically refined but profound, delivering nuanced waves of cassis, blackberry puree, peony, pomegrante, mandarin peel, graphite, smoked sandalwood, incense. There is exceptional softness yet density to the tannins, such a confident structure overall and the build up on the tannins through the palate is so slow and careful that it is only at the end of play that you become aware of just how big a vintage it is. Clear ageing potential, easy to love, very easy to recommend. 12% press wine. Vincent Decup technical director. 40% of production in the 1st wine." JA for IB Nov 2022