2019 La Dame de Montrose is a bold and beautifully crafted second wine from Château Montrose, showing off the estate’s signature class. With an unusually high proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon (48%) and ripe, fleshy Merlot (45%), this vintage is rich, juicy, and full of dark fruit, licorice, and elegant tannins. It's dense yet refined, with a velvety texture that drinks well now but has the structure to evolve through 2030. A standout "Dame" that edges impressively close to Grand Vin territory.

Decanter | D 94
Published: Jan 5, 2022
Drink: 2023-2030

Generous nose filled with sweet blackcurrant fruit. This is dense and impactful, chewy with fine but grippy tannins making their presence known straight away. I love the texture though, it's mouth coating in the best way - refined, with bright berry fruit and liquorice edges, particularly on the finish. Everything feels in balance with plenty going on and lots to like. A blend of 48% Cabernet Sauvignon and 45% Merlot (which is unusual because normally there is a majority of Merlot) with 3% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot.
Closure: Cork
Alcohol: 14.40%
Body: Full
Oak: Oaked
Grapes: 3% Cabernet Franc 48% Cabernet Sauvignon 45% Merlot

Jamessuckling.com | JS 93
Published: Jan 19, 2022

Juicy and pleasantly chewy with milk chocolate, walnut and currant aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied, creamy and flavorful. Second wine of Montrose. Drink after 2024.

The Wine Advocate | RP 90
Published: Dec 21, 2023
Drink: 2023-2033

The 2019 La Dame de Montrose is a touch richer and more giving than its 2016 counterpart, delivering aromas of dark berries, cherries and plum liqueur along with licorice and petals. Medium to full-bodied, supple and fleshy, it's velvety and expressive out of the gates, reflecting the dominant presence of ripe Merlot in the blend.

Chateau-montrose.com

A constant quest for quality for both Chateau Montrose and La Dame de Montrose combined with increasingly precise crop selection now allows us to produce a third wine every year: Le Saint-Estephe de Montrose. Produced on the remarkable terroir of Chateau Montrose and vinified by the property's winemakers, it is a classic blend of two great Bordeaux varieties, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

Main characteristics of the vintage 2019
A great vintage ending in “9”
2019 marked an important step in the progression of our environmental approach, which now concerns the entire vineyard. This year, the good climatic conditions combined with our “green” farming methods enabled us to obtain a beautiful harvest combining quality and quantity. A great vintage ending in “9” and one of the hottest of the past decade.

The exceptionally mild and dry winter was marked by temperatures above average for the season. On 13 and 14 April, our vineyard, which benefits from the moderating influence of the estuary, was spared from frost. The rains in the two first weeks of June led us to fear the development of disease but the vines remained in very good health and we maintained our environmental course.

During the two heatwaves in June and July, our clay soils and their great capacity to regulate water allowed the vines to avoid water stress. Full flowering, uniform and quick, took place during the first week of June.
The first signs of colour change appeared from July 30th. A uniform veraison followed, slowed down by cool and rainy weather in August.

Despite some intermittent rain harvest took place under good conditions from September 19th to October 8th. Our intra-plot picking followed by tailor-made vinification allowed us this year to obtain 80 batches of free-run wine and 7 batches of press wine for our blends. The high quality of the Merlot batches allowed us this year, as in 2009, to increase the proportion of this grape variety in the final blend to 30%.

The first tastings suggest a vintage very close to the 2016 with a beautiful structure of ripe, precise, concentrated tannins placing it among the great vintages of Montrose.

Period of harvest
From September 19th to October 8th

Blend
Cabernet Sauvignon: 48%,
Merlot: 45 %,
Petit Verdot: 4%,
Cabernet Franc: 3%

Tasting notes
The wine is garnet red in colour.
Full-bodied, it is highly expressive on the nose, combining lovely red fruit aromas with very elegant woody notes.
The palate is full and delicious with great concentration, upheld by complex and silky tannins.

A very beautiful vintage for our “Dame”, that brings it closer to the Grand Vin.