Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.3

2009 vintage. Big fill. Excellent cork. Low sed. Decanted and tasted after 20 mins, 1 hour and 2 hours. Excellent color. Light-medium body. Not quite as feminine as Leoville-Barton but not far behind. Softer with a small accent of black olive and newly dampened earth. Holding up well. Not a candidate to go hard for another 10-spot but look to crush in the next 5-6 years before it starts dropping off precipitously. 8.7.24. — 9 months ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.2

Blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc, deep Ruby with aromas of dark fruits, smoke and floral notes. On the palate flavors of blackberry and black cherry with cacao, cedar, espresso and spicy floral notes. Lively acidity, firm tannins, medium+ finish ending with fruit, tobacco and spicy oak. — 2 years ago

Ray Vanderhoff

9.4

Blend of Merlot (72%) and Cabernet Franc (28%). Mineral driven Bordeaux blend. Dark ruby color. Intense aromas of wet stones, violets, forest floor and black fruit. Pallet is full of raspberries, currants, black tea and those ever present minerals. Chalky texture. Medium-plus body. Fresh, intense and vibrant! Beautifully constructed. Fabulous! — 2 years ago

Delectable Wine

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9.6

The 2018 Montrose delivers on the promise that it showed from barrel. I gave this a three-hour decant before broaching, since Montrose is always backward, albeit far less ferociously than even just a decade ago. It offers copious blackberry and blueberry scents on the nose, plus pressed violets and a light estuarine scent that becomes accentuated with time. The palate is medium-bodied with a silky-smooth texture. Finely chiseled tannins frame multilayered black fruit infused with crushed stone, and it has retained that subtle graphite element that lends it a Pauillac-like personality, though less so than out of barrel. This is a beautifully defined Montrose with entrancing symmetry, and it should drink earlier than other recent vintages thanks to a little more pliancy. (Neal Martin, Vinous, March 2021)
— 4 years ago

Sarah Worner

9.1

Medium body, purple color, notes of blueberry, pomegranate, black spice smoke and bubble gum. Med tannins and low acid; smooth. — 6 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.0

A blend of 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, deep Purple color (probably from the late harvest), with aromas of ripe black fruits, floral spice and flint. On the palate this wine had a great mouthfeel with enticing silky tannins giving way to blackberry and blueberry flavors, and a slight toasty oak character. The finish had good length ending with some cacao and minerality. Will age well for another decade. — 9 years ago

Shay A

9.2

85 merlot/ 10 CabSauv/ 5 CabFranc

Pop and poured. Very pretty and elegant. Not a blockbuster vintage, but not a slacker in StEm. This Clos Fourtet isn’t flamboyant nor lean, but quite balanced. Deep ruby + purple in the glass, it looks as though it will be heavy and powerful, but it sports lots of potpurri, espresso, and inky black fruits aromatically all wrapped a delicate profile. Good weight on the palate. Very clean (zero Brett). This may lean slightly modern, but the tannin and herbal bite at the finish snap you back to France. Not surprisingly, the last glass was best. No rush here, but a quick dash of air opens the gates. — 9 months ago

Jakub Kalinowski

9.2

Starts off with a very evolved fruity character, but that quickly blows off.
Lovely purity beyond that - fresh black currant, with a bit of darker, earthy undergrowth, some red fruit, a hint of cedar wood, a touch of bell pepper. A bit evolved yet still juicy & pure.
Beautiful mouthfeel with nicely evolved, slightly mellowed yet still juicy tannins, evolved fruit yet still fresh acidity.
This is peeking or already has peeked but today is drinking so nicely!
A really nice one! — 2 years ago

Ron Siegel

9.3

Great SJ that was elegant & floral that reminded me a lot of Gonon less the $$$ This had lots dark fruits, meat, iron, savory spice, black olive, pepper, licorice & violet. — 3 years ago

Mario Vaillancourt

9.1

Decanted 90 minutes. Very dark opaque colour. Nose with dark fruits, some black currant early on but some spices as well and some oak. Tasted blind the nose seems more CNP then Right Bank. Palate is dense, powerful, nice acidity in the middle, ripe fruit, volume and depth along with a delicious finish with a slight dryness. Very good but there is a little bit of warmth to it caused by alcohol that makes the whole balance very slightly out of sink with the rest. 90-91

Carafé 90 minutes. Couleur foncée et opaque. Fruits noirs, cassis aussi, du bois un peu. Fait plus CNP que Rive Droite au nez. Bouche délicieuse, puissante, dense, du volume, belle acidité en millieu de bouche, finale est assez longue, un peu asséchante et une touche alccoleuse qui affecte un peu l’équilibre d’ensemble. Très bien malgré tout, mais pas certain que ca deviendra grand. 90-91 — 5 years ago

Lindsey King

9.1

Upfront and transparent and confrontational. Strong posture. Wears a leather jacket in the summer. Blood and rust and repressed tears and a grainy black and white western. Cigarettes that he rips the filter off of to make them stronger. — 7 years ago

Ian Burrows

Sommelier Atelier Crenn

9.0

Tartare venison & Tar, fresh black raspberries. — 9 years ago

with Ian and Ann

Stefan Dolhain

9.6

2019 vintage. This estate is on a roll, and this 2019 is absolutely stunning. Deep dark red. Impressive nose with ripe black cherries, blackberries, cassis, flowers, cedar wood, and lead pencil. Very elegant but powerful at the same time, with layers of black fruit, a velvety tannic structure, fresh acidity, and some salinity in the very long finish. Abv. 14%. Excellent. — 10 months ago

Conrad Green

9.3

Madeira colored. Dark brooding fruit. Treacle and gamey black cherry. Intense and savory with a slightly sherried note. Amazing given the age. From mag. — a year ago

with BOT, Matt and 1 other

Ken Z

9.1

Drank 4/27/21. Paired with burgers, but this calls for a steak.

Nose of raspberry coulis, plums, and an earth/almost petrol note, that remains even after a couple of hours (I'm ok with this). Black cherry, blackberry, plums, earthand tar, mingle with medium plus tannins on the palate. Finishes dark, with blackberry and tar which go on for around 50 seconds


4/21/8/4/4 +50 =91 pts.

Drink now for primary fruit, but should hold for another 10-15 years. — 4 years ago

Ron Siegel

9.2

Lots of black cherry, mineral, spice & violet. — 5 years ago

Ken Z

9.2

Drank 2/16/20. Beautiful with a New York Strip.

No formal notes taken, but scents of plum, blackberry, mint, and tobacco. Flavors of black fruit. Nice balance, black fruit on the finish. Very nice. Ready to drink now, but will easily hold another 5 years.

92 pts — 5 years ago

Steven Gullo

9.3

Superb balance given the high abv. Supple, ripe tannins and lush black fruits with coffee and tobacco in the background. — 8 years ago

Mathias Rauscher

9.3

Black Pepper, black currant, blueberry blackberry, coal, bacon, smoke, dark chocolate and a little menthol, soft tannins with great acidity and a long finish. Still young with great potential for years to come. — 10 years ago