A structured and elegantly concentrated Montrose from a demanding vintage, showcasing meticulous vineyard and cellar work. Still youthful, it opens slowly with layers of blackberry, cacao, and graphite, wrapped in firm yet polished tannins. The palate is powerful yet poised, with excellent freshness and a long, savoury finish. Built for cellaring, this is a quietly ambitious wine with classic Saint-Estèphe character.

JamesSuckling.com | JS 94
Published: Feb 9, 2015

Fascinating aromas of blackberries with cacao and buttery notes. This is a full-bodied red combining well-rounded tannins, lovely acidity and a mouth-watering finish. Yet turns firm and powerful. Drink in 2020.

Decanter | D 94
Published: Mar 3, 2022
Drink: 2027-2035

A proper grown-up claret with uncompromising but well-padded tannin and parity of fruit that still needs five years more to soften.
Closure: Natural Cork
Grapes: 5% Cabernet Franc 57% Cabernet Sauvignon 37% Merlot 1% Petit Verdot 

The Wine Advocate | RP 93
Published: Feb 19, 2017
Drink: 2020-2055

Tasted at the Chateau, the 2012 Montrose is a blend of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot picked between 24 September and 20 October. It underwent a particularly long maceration period between 26 and 28 days. It offers more fruit intensity than the 2011 Montrose with blackberry, raspberry and bilberry scents, quite backward and primal yet well defined. The aromatics almost mock you because returning after ten minutes, there are glimpses of underlying dried herb and mineral notes. The palate is medium-bodied, intense and very focused, clearly with more depth and sinew than the 2011, yet displaying impressive precision and energy on the finish, which bodes well for the long-term. Tasted September 2016. 

Jancisrobinson.com | JR 17.5+
Published: MAr 18, 2022
Drink: 2024-2042

Sturdier, drier and more classic and concentrated than the Cos. Good stuff – very ambitious!

Chateau-montrose.com

Main characteristics of the vintage
2012 was dominated by the vagaries of the weather.
The winter was dry, especially in the first three months. Very mild weather in January was followed by a particularly cold spell in February.
In a rainy spring, cool and damp weather slowed vine growth. Flowering took place slowly over the first three weeks of June, causing a certain degree of unevenness on the vinestocks. However, the growers’ efforts in the vineyard enabled us to get the vines into very good shape for the development of the crop.
Summer set in at last at the end of July. August was particularly sunny and very dry, with several days of very high temperatures. Mid-veraison was slightly later than the average, taking place around 17 August.
Very fine weather continued well into the following month, raising fears that the ripening process would come to a halt. However, the grapes continued to ripen following the arrival of rain at last on 22 September, a slow and steady process monitored with the utmost care until the end of the season.
The harvest began with the Merlots on 24 September. With the grapes maturing unevenly within parcels, each parcel had to be divided up with scrupulous precision at the start of picking. The Cabernet Sauvignons were picked from 13 to 20 October at full maturity and in perfect health despite spells of rain.
The grapes were fully ripe and the musts showed great richness, with highly attractive fruit and very intense colour.
The maceration period was exceptionally long – 26 to 28 days – since the very thick skins of the Merlots and Cabernets meant that more time was needed in order to extract the quintessence of the vintage.
The result of a great deal of hard work and a certain degree of risk-taking at harvest-time, 2012 ranks among the estate’s excellent vintages in recent years.

Period of Harvest: September 24th – October 20th

Blend
Cabernet sauvignon : 57 %
Merlot : 37 %
Cabernet franc : 5 %
Petit Verdot : 1 %

Tasting notes
The wine is a deep, dazzling purple.
Initially rather closed, the nose opens with airing to reveal elegant fresh fruit, blackcurrant bud and eucalyptus aromas.
A fresh, clean attack leads into a full, powerful and silky mid-palate, building to an incredibly long finish on notes of brioche and liquorice.
An intense and stylish vintage to come back to in a few years’ time.