February 14, 2025
Triple 100-Point Rating: Montrose 2019
With the Montrose 2022 just receiving the perfect 100-Point score from Antonio Galloni in Vinous’ in bottle report, there is naturally some hype around the wine. We think that the 2019 looks like a better buy than the 2022 however, let us tell you why.
Chateau Montrose is one of Saint-Estèphe’s greatest estates, renowned for its powerful, long-lived wines. Classified as a Second Growth in 1855, Montrose’s gravelly terroir near the Gironde Estuary provides optimal conditions for Cabernet Sauvignon, producing wines with remarkable depth, structure, and ageability. The estate has undergone significant investment in recent years, refining both winemaking and sustainability practices. Today, Montrose stands alongside Bordeaux’s elite, consistently delivering complex, structured, and elegant wines that evolve beautifully over decades. In a recent review, William Kelley described Chateau Montrose as "a de facto First Growth".
The 2019 Chateau Montrose is a benchmark vintage, showcasing exceptional precision, depth, and refinement. A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot, it boasts layers of blackcurrant, graphite, and cedar, underpinned by finely grained tannins and a fresh mineral core. With its impeccable balance and long ageing potential, the 2019 echoes Montrose’s legendary vintages, yet offers an immediate charm. A true collector’s wine, it promises decades of evolution while remaining beautifully expressive in its youth.
Top scoring vintages of Montrose:
Since the Bouygues brothers acquired Chateau Montrose in 2006, the estate has undergone significant transformation and investment, elevating quality to new heights. 2019 marked Montrose’s first fully organic vintage, reinforcing its commitment to excellence.
Montrose has been on real run of good form and the Chateau knows it with prices increasing vintage upon vintage. Today, we have a small parcel of Montrose 2019, a wine that has achieved perfect 100-point scores from Vinous, The Wine Independent, and Wine Enthusiast. Antonio Galloni declared it "very clearly one of the wines of the vintage," even ranking it above the First Growths in 2019.
With the 2019 vintages being one the highest rated but coming in at a strong special price of €150 IB per bottle, we think that the 2019 is both a wine and vintage that you will want as part of your collection. Buy them whilst stocks last.
2019 score Comparison:
Montrose 2019
100 Points | Vinous, Antonio Galloni
The 2019 Montrose is very clearly one of the wines of the vintage. Rich, inky and towering in concentration, the 2019 possesses off the charts intensity and tons of structure to back it up. Succulent black cherry, plum, tobacco, gravel and licorice infuse the 2019 with striking depth. The 2019 is not quite as opulent as some recent vintages, and that's a good thing. Readers will find a regal wine that marries elegance with power. Unforgettable. Tasted two times. Drinking Window: 2034 - 2069
100 Points | The Wine Independent, Lisa Perrotti-Brown
The 2019 Montrose is a blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot. Deep garnet-purple colored, it needs a lot of swirling to unlock a vibrant core of ripe, juicy blackcurrants, freshly picked blueberries, and redcurrants with touches of garrigue, iris, tilled earth, and Sichuan pepper, plus a waft of wood smoke. Medium to full-boded, the palate is taut and muscular, framed by firm, grainy tannins and bold freshness, finishing very long and achingly perfumed. This is a real head-turner! Drinking Window: 2027 - 2070
100 Points | Wine Enthusiast, Roger Voss
The wine has a massive structure, great concentration. It now really shows the results of the massive investment of the owners, the telecom magnate Bouygues family. The powerful tannins mask the impressive black fruits and the wine's rich berry flavors. This magnificent wine will develop slowly over many years. Drink from 2027.
99 Points | Jane Anson Inside Bordeaux
Gorgeous rich colour here, a lovely wine full of pleasure. Chocolate, mocha, cappuccino, lots of toasted oak, great quality, with concentrated black fruits along with slate, crushed stone, smoked earth - measured, confident, delicious. I have tasted this a few times this year, and it has consistently been punching at the very top of its game. A no-brainer to recommend. 12% press wine, 47hl/ha yield, 60% new oak.