Château Montrose
Château Montrose

Château Montrose

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Château Montrose, Deuxième Grand Cru Classé of Saint-Estèphe, stands as one of the leading references of the appellation. Its single-block vineyard, situated on the banks of the Gironde, rests on deep gravel ridges ideal for the expression of Cabernet Sauvignon. The wines of Château Montrose are distinguished by their structured power, their aromatic precision and their exceptional ageing potential, making it an excellent wine for laying down.

The estate counts the 1921 vintage, 1929, the 1982 wine, 1990 and 2009 among its peaks. The 1990 vintage and the 2009 wine embody this thoroughbred power. More tightly wound, the 2010 wine extends this lineage in a more austere register, while years such as the 1986 vintage or 1996 now offer a more open expression of the cru. The estate also produces a recognised second wine, La Dame de Montrose, born of the same exacting standards and offering a more accessible reading of the terroir.

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2nd Classified Growth of the Médoc

2nd Classified Growth of the Médoc
Saint-Estèphe Appellation

Saint-Estèphe Appellation
The highest-rated wines from Bordeaux

The highest-rated wines from Bordeaux
Vintage Guide - SoDivin

Vintage Guide

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History and identity of the château

The Château Montrose vineyard was created at the beginning of the 19th century, from land cleared on a vast gravel ridge overlooking the Gironde estuary. Quickly recognised for the quality of its wines, the estate was included in the 1855 classification as a Deuxième Grand Cru Classé, confirming its place among the great names of the Médoc. Its identity has been rooted from the outset in a powerful and structured style, true to the typicity of Saint-Estèphe.

After several periods of transfer of ownership, Château Montrose entered a new phase of its history at the beginning of the 21st century with a thorough modernisation of its facilities, while maintaining a respectful approach to its heritage. This continuity in the pursuit of quality has enabled the estate to further strengthen its international reputation.

The terroir of Château Montrose: 95 hectares in a single block facing the estuary

The great singularity of Château Montrose lies in one simple image: the entire vineyard forms a single block around the château. This is rare in the Médoc, where most properties cultivate scattered plots. This unity makes it possible to follow every corner of the vineyard very closely and gives the wine a remarkable consistency of character from one year to the next.

The secret lies underfoot. At the surface, gravel mixed with sand stores the warmth of the day and releases it to the vine; deeper down, a more clay-rich subsoil retains water in reserve for dry summers. The historic heart of the estate, a wide gravel terrace situated very close to the estuary, is the sector best protected from drought, as the river's moisture never entirely disappears. This proximity to the Gironde also brings the subtle saline note so typical of the wine. In 2010, the estate moreover reclaimed some twenty neighbouring hectares that had once belonged to it.

Grape varieties and winemaking at Château Montrose: Cabernet Sauvignon in the foreground

On this terroir, Cabernet Sauvignon reigns supreme: it occupies nearly two thirds of the vines, complemented by Merlot, a little Cabernet Franc and a touch of Petit Verdot. Each variety is planted where it expresses itself best — Merlot for roundness and velvety texture, Cabernet Franc for fragrance, Petit Verdot for colour and a hint of spice. The vines are planted very densely, a high density that pushes each plant to concentrate its grapes rather than produce in quantity.

In the winery, the grapes from each plot are vinified separately in around sixty vats of varying sizes: the smallest are used to process the most precious lots apart from the rest. The grand vin then spends approximately eighteen months in French oak barrels, of which just over half are new, to give it structure without masking the fruit. This grand vin represents only a portion of the harvest; the remainder gives rise to the estate's second and third wines.

The style and ageing potential of Château Montrose wines

Montrose is not a wine to be opened in haste. In its youth, its density and tannins demand patience: one must often wait ten to twenty years before it fully reveals itself, and the greatest years can span half a century. At maturity, the glass unfolds aromas of blackcurrant and dark fruits, cedar, tobacco and pencil shavings, carried by that almost saline freshness that is the hallmark of wines born on the banks of the estuary.

This consistency at the top level has built, generation after generation, an international recognition that places Montrose among the safe values of its appellation — from a founding milestone such as 1982 through to the great successes of the 2000s. Proof of this long-standing reputation, its 1970 vintage ranked among the very top reds in a famous blind tasting held in Paris in 1976 against the finest wines of California.

Château Montrose in the Saint-Estèphe appellation 

Saint-Estèphe, the most northerly of the great communes of the Médoc, tells its story through a handful of names with very distinct characters. Cos d'Estournel, recognisable by its oriental pagodas, plays a more exotic and spicy card, driven by a more generous share of Merlot; the two estates actually share a piece of history, the Charmolüe family having owned Cos before devoting themselves entirely to Montrose. Further north, Calon-Ségur cultivates a more floral and slender style. In between, Montrose stands out for its position by the water and for its single continuous vineyard, which accounts for the admirable consistency of its style. This signature — power, salinity and longevity — makes it one of the pillars of its appellation's renown.

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