The 2000 Montrose is a straight-up gorgeous bottle of wine that while, still young, is offering up tons of pleasure. Classic Saint Estèphe notes of blackcurrants, damp earth, tobacco leaf, cedar, and hints of truffle all emerge from this dense, concentrated, powerful red that has the classic 2000 structure and richness. With sweet tannins, full body, impeccable balance, and a great, great finish, it’s at the early stages of its drink window and has another 3+ decades of longevity ahead of it.

Just starting to open, it shows beautiful spices and dark fruit on the nose and palate. It’s full-bodied with ultra-fine, integrated tannins and an extremely complex, refined finish.

Still extremely young, feels significantly more closed than the 1996, with a greater emphasis on spicy black pepper and cassis, and still firm tannins. You feel the tannins pressing in on the close of play, whereas in the 1996 the tannins are now like spun silk, fully integrated. I last tasted this wine two years ago, and it is clearly starting to move into the next phase now after a stubborn beginning, coming out of itself and showing the finesse and the elegance of the vintage. The tobacco and crushed mint leaf notes emerge after five minutes of swirling and sniffing, and this has a long future ahead and is packed with appellation typicity. Harvest September 22 to October 7. First year in the new stainless steel vat room with bigger capacity and smaller sized vats covering 50hl, 80hl, 100hl, with just a few 200hl vats for the blend (previously entirely 200hl wooden vats).