2020 Montrose, St-Estèphe

The 2020 Montrose was bottled in July 2022. The alcohol is 13.4%, a whole degree less than the previous year but with the same concentration (IPT is 80). It has a fabulous bouquet that delivers on all that promise from when I finally tasted the wine around a year earlier from barrel, a cornucopia of blackberry, bilberry, crushed stone, Indian ink and loamy/undergrowth scents. Very mercurial in the glass, it seems to shapeshift with every minute. The palate is medium-bodied with such a precise entry. This is far more detailed than either the 2019 or 2018, a symmetrical Montrose with unerring detail and mineralité, its silky texture belying the power underneath. This is unequivocally a brilliant wine and a benchmark in recent years. Contender for wine of the vintage. (NM)

Scented and perfumed on the nose with a delicate charm. Striking, full, round, juicy and crisp - this has bite and a sense of strictness in the frame that keeps things relatively narrow at this point but comes with excellent definition of elements. Great classicism with lots of freshness. Really very seductive, the black and blue fruit, graphite and touch of smoke grow and expand with richness and intensity but staying friendly at the same time thanks to the soft sweetness and juicy acidity. I just love the interplay between being serious and generous, structured but racy, intense yet precise. Such purity, and focus. Energetic and pent up, this is raring to go to show off its beauty but just being held back. Effortless, complex and compelling. I loved it a tiny bit less than the 2019 but it’s still one of the best in 2020. (GH)