Château Montrose 2020

Jane Anson Decanter 98 – "A serious wall of blueberry and blackberry compote, and a ton of savoury Cabernet sinew and freshness. This is a great Montrose, inky, broad-shouldered and structured. It needs time to aerate and open in the glass, then you see the precision, the heft, the chiselling of the fruits with a ton of graphite, cigar box and campfire smoke - huge persistency. This will need a long time and will reward patience. One of the few where a 1986, 2016 and 2010 comparison makes sense. A yield around 30hl/ha. 1% Petit Verdot, 3.86pH, IPT 80. 45% of the overall production."

Chris Kissack Winedoctor 95-97 – "This is a barrel sample, drawn two days before the tasting. It has a very impressive perfume on the nose, with dense wild cherry, redcurrant and rose petal notes, with notes of crushed oyster shell, red pepper and peony. There follows a rather dense and solid character to the palate, with a supple presence of fruits, showing density but with a lightly crystalline edge, with a light thread of black pepper, deliciously ripe tannins at its core, and plenty of great energy. This shows a soft and rather primary build, but it just needs time to come together, as the raw material is there. Truly fine potential here. The declared alcohol is likely to be 13.5%."