Château Montrose 2025
St-Estèphe 2ème Grand Cru Classé
Bordeaux, France
Regular price£618.00
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Arriving: Mid 2028
Shipping duty paid to Mainland UK is charged at a flat rate of £9.99 per consignment and POA for Northern Ireland or Islands.
Shipping under bond is dependant on location, but starts at £15 per consignment.
| Style: Red | Packaging: OWC |
| ABV: 13.4% | Closure: Cork |
| Organic: No | Drink from: 2032 |
| Biodynamic: No | Drink to: 2065 |
| Grapes: 77% Cabernet Sauvignon; 19% Merlot; 4% Cabernet Franc | |
Critic scores
98-100 RP, 98-100 NM, 95-97 AG, 97-98 JS, 97-100 JD, 97-99 LPB, 97 JA, 95 DC, 98-100 JL, 98-100 DB, 98 GM
Critic reviews
"A timeless classic in the making, the 2025 Montrose unfurls in the glass with notes of dark berries, black truffle, burning embers and violets, gaining in range and detail with aeration. Full-bodied, dense and elegantly muscular, it's layered and multidimensional, with a prodigiously concentrated core of fruit, exceptional quality of tannin and a long, resonant finish. The 2025 is a blend of 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc, derived exclusively from the estate's historic core on the fourth terrace situated just in front of the château itself. With a pH of 3.65 and 13.4% alcohol, it remains classically balanced despite its impressive power and intensity. Readers will have a fascinating time parsing the nuances of style and quality between the 2025, 2023 and 2022 over the decades to come!"
William Kelley, April 2026, RobertParker.com
"The 2025 Montrose only comes from the Terrace IV, as has been the way since the 2023 vintage. It was picked from August 29 and finished not until September 20, so quite a long harvest, 16 days of picking between those dates. This vintage is matured in 60% new oak. This has another very intense nose with a potent graphite element that infuses the black fruit, beautifully defined but unapologetically classical in style. Wow. The purity of fruit is exceptional. The palate is medium-bodied with supple, very chiselled tannins, exquisite black fruit loaded with minéralité. So much freshness and vibrancy, gentle but insistent grip, very precise and refined on the finish, this is a Montrose that will rank as one for the ages. Wow (again)."
Neal Martin, May 2026, Vinous.com
"The 2025 Montrose is a very quiet, sophisticated Montrose. Silky tannins, lifted aromatics and mid-weight structure are the signatures. Time in the glass brings out lovely red-toned fruit character, along with hints of spice, blood orange, cedar and sweet pipe tobacco. It will be interesting to see how the 2025 develops with élevage. Today, it is a bit on the lighter side relative to the norm here. Some of that may be attributable to winemaking."
Antonio Galloni, April 2026, Vinous.com
"Deep and nuanced plum fruit on the opening, vivid ruby in colour with tension, lift and estate signature. An extremely classic Montrose, love the lift with the depth of cassis, cocoa bean, liquorice, crushed mint leaf, squid ink, crayon, a supremely Left Bank wine, very much in the 2023 vein for me, which was a vintage I adored. This has precision and beauty, the kind of En Primeur sample where you feel fresh and energised at the end of tasting it. 60% new oak for ageing, Pierre Graffeuille director."
Jane Anson, April 2026, JaneAnson.com
"Vibrant purple colour in the glass. Amazing fragrance, so pure and crystalline – blackcurrants and violet notes. Silky and glossy, packed full of cherry and strawberry fruit with quite massy tannins but keeping a really cool and compact form. Structured with layers of elements but also a little granular, tight and spiced. Liquorice, cool cola and wet stone edges. Maybe less overtly charming and filling than in previous years, but this has a distinctly cool mineral edge and slightly grippy tannins on the finish. I like the style, it’s quite serious and terroir transparent. Ageing should soften this and relax a little. 3.65pH. 80 IPT. 12% press wine. Ageing 18 months, 60% new oak."
Geogina Hindle, April 2026, Decanter.com
"(Saint-Estèphe; 77% Cabernet Sauvignon; 19% Merlot; 4% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 30 hl/ha; pH 3.55; IPT 81; 13.4% alcohol; tasted at Montrose with Charlotte Bouygues and Pierre Graffeuille). Sourced entirely from Terrace 4. A wine of such utter grace and charm. Saline in its minerality as is immediately evident aromatically. We have damson and dark berry fruits - all perfectly ripe and al dente - bramble, certainly, black berries too, maybe a little black raspberry and also loganberry. With aeration, but not at first, there are black cherries and blueberries too, a little walnut oil and a hint of peony and cedar together. This is wonderfully composed on the attack and entry, so soft and seductive, sensuous and tactile in its exquisitely fine-grained tannins and the cool dark berry fruits that dominate at this nascent stage. The tannins are like pencil strokes that outline the shape of the wine for the watercolourist to illuminate with shades of purple, blue, red and black. Majesterial and so incredibly gracious. The terroir signature is again remarkable, the clarity of the wine - despite its density - extraordinary. Plusating after the little grip of the tannins that announces the finish, almost like a drum-roll. This is right up there amongst the most complete and harmonious wines of the vintage."
Colin Hay, April 2026, DrinksBusiness.com
William Kelley, April 2026, RobertParker.com
"The 2025 Montrose only comes from the Terrace IV, as has been the way since the 2023 vintage. It was picked from August 29 and finished not until September 20, so quite a long harvest, 16 days of picking between those dates. This vintage is matured in 60% new oak. This has another very intense nose with a potent graphite element that infuses the black fruit, beautifully defined but unapologetically classical in style. Wow. The purity of fruit is exceptional. The palate is medium-bodied with supple, very chiselled tannins, exquisite black fruit loaded with minéralité. So much freshness and vibrancy, gentle but insistent grip, very precise and refined on the finish, this is a Montrose that will rank as one for the ages. Wow (again)."
Neal Martin, May 2026, Vinous.com
"The 2025 Montrose is a very quiet, sophisticated Montrose. Silky tannins, lifted aromatics and mid-weight structure are the signatures. Time in the glass brings out lovely red-toned fruit character, along with hints of spice, blood orange, cedar and sweet pipe tobacco. It will be interesting to see how the 2025 develops with élevage. Today, it is a bit on the lighter side relative to the norm here. Some of that may be attributable to winemaking."
Antonio Galloni, April 2026, Vinous.com
"Deep and nuanced plum fruit on the opening, vivid ruby in colour with tension, lift and estate signature. An extremely classic Montrose, love the lift with the depth of cassis, cocoa bean, liquorice, crushed mint leaf, squid ink, crayon, a supremely Left Bank wine, very much in the 2023 vein for me, which was a vintage I adored. This has precision and beauty, the kind of En Primeur sample where you feel fresh and energised at the end of tasting it. 60% new oak for ageing, Pierre Graffeuille director."
Jane Anson, April 2026, JaneAnson.com
"Vibrant purple colour in the glass. Amazing fragrance, so pure and crystalline – blackcurrants and violet notes. Silky and glossy, packed full of cherry and strawberry fruit with quite massy tannins but keeping a really cool and compact form. Structured with layers of elements but also a little granular, tight and spiced. Liquorice, cool cola and wet stone edges. Maybe less overtly charming and filling than in previous years, but this has a distinctly cool mineral edge and slightly grippy tannins on the finish. I like the style, it’s quite serious and terroir transparent. Ageing should soften this and relax a little. 3.65pH. 80 IPT. 12% press wine. Ageing 18 months, 60% new oak."
Geogina Hindle, April 2026, Decanter.com
"(Saint-Estèphe; 77% Cabernet Sauvignon; 19% Merlot; 4% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 30 hl/ha; pH 3.55; IPT 81; 13.4% alcohol; tasted at Montrose with Charlotte Bouygues and Pierre Graffeuille). Sourced entirely from Terrace 4. A wine of such utter grace and charm. Saline in its minerality as is immediately evident aromatically. We have damson and dark berry fruits - all perfectly ripe and al dente - bramble, certainly, black berries too, maybe a little black raspberry and also loganberry. With aeration, but not at first, there are black cherries and blueberries too, a little walnut oil and a hint of peony and cedar together. This is wonderfully composed on the attack and entry, so soft and seductive, sensuous and tactile in its exquisitely fine-grained tannins and the cool dark berry fruits that dominate at this nascent stage. The tannins are like pencil strokes that outline the shape of the wine for the watercolourist to illuminate with shades of purple, blue, red and black. Majesterial and so incredibly gracious. The terroir signature is again remarkable, the clarity of the wine - despite its density - extraordinary. Plusating after the little grip of the tannins that announces the finish, almost like a drum-roll. This is right up there amongst the most complete and harmonious wines of the vintage."
Colin Hay, April 2026, DrinksBusiness.com