2024 Montrose

(St-Estèphe; 80% Cabernet Sauvignon; 17% Merlot; 3% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 38 hl/ha with no problems of slow or uneven floraison up here in the north of the Médoc – a little loss on the Merlot due to mildew; around 15% vin de presse; IPT 77; organic certification will come this year; a colossal amount of work with up to 200 people working in the vineyards at many periods during the season; 24 treatments against mildew, a record here; sorting was less important here because of the work already performed in the vineyard; 90 different lots vinified separately because of the reasonably good yields; tasted at the property with Vincent Decup). Sourced exclusively from Terrace 4, the first part of the property to be planted well before the classification. Tasted just after Terrace III, it is difficult to imagine that this could be better. It is. Even more intense in its florality. Again, wisteria and now with a little iris too. Many wines of the vintage have a bulby character to their florality. Not here. This is all about the petals. It’s very delicate. There’s a hint of violet too but it doesn’t overpower the more subtle floral notes that feel very natural and that take the limelight. Graphite and deep dark berry fruits on the palate – black berries, brambles and mulberries. A little red cherry. The fruit profile is rather more familiar than for the Terrace III wine. There’s more gravitas, depth and profundity too. The wine also seems to gather more towards the bottom of the mouth and has more amplitude in its depth. It’s a little more serious but never austere. I love the contrast. The left-bank wine of the vintage.

A blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc, the 2024 Montrose is a serious, muscular effort that numbers among the wines of the vintage. Unwinding in the glass with notes of cassis, burning embers, cigar wrapper and iris, it's medium to full-bodied, dense and layered, with a lively spine of acidity, rich structuring tannins and a long, penetrating finish. With both the highest proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon recorded at Montrose and a rather low pH of 3.55, it will surely number among the longest lived 2024 Bordeaux.

Beautifully deep colour, this shows chalk, violet flowers, peony, fragrant and enticing floral profile compared to so many in the vintage, this is excellent, cocoa bean, cassis, depth, layers and concentration - one of the wines of the vintage. 15% press wine, a little more than usual. Harvest 23 September to 8 October, Pierre Grafeuille estate director.