A structured and classically styled Saint-Estèphe from a transitional vintage. Rich and dense, with a youthful profile, it reveals layers of cassis, game, truffle, and liquorice, framed by firm tannins and a fresh, stony finish. Still evolving, this vintage shows great potential for those who appreciate a more austere, old-school Bordeaux.

Decanter | D 95
Published: Bordeaux 2006: Which wines have aged well?
Drink: 2016-2038

Beautiful, rich and incredibly softly textured, this is still very young. Also supremely measured and stately, with buttery tannins. The palate is just starting to show truffles and leather, but is still set against game, cassis and liquorice root. Great persistency and a real sense of lift on the finish.

Jamessuckling.com | JS 92
Published: Feb 19, 2011

Montrose is so typically Saint-Estephe in 2006, with dried spices such cardamom and cloves as well as delicate currants. Full-bodied, with firm tannins and a dense center palate. It needs another three or four years of bottle age to soften. 

The Wine Advocate | RP 87
Published: Mar 31, 2017
Drink: 2019-2035

Tasted at the Chateau, the 2006 Montrose has mostly been very inconsistent and frankly disappointing for such a consistent estate. Apart from one bottle, I have been unimpressed and there could well be a reason, given that it was a "dropped catch" between the change in ownership. It is a blend of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon and 38% Merlot, picked between 18 September and 3 October. It was the first vintage where green harvesting was conducted all over the estate and yields were 41 hectoliters per hectare. Frankly, this has long been a disappointing Montrose for me and this bottle did nothing to alter that view. The nose just lacks fruit and energy, not as green as I have encountered with other bottles, but just missing personality and intensity. The palate is medium-bodied and chewy in the mouth. Where is the precision and the tension? It just feels static and for want of a better word, rather dull on the finish. Sorry, this 2006 has never done it for me. Tasted September 2016. 

Jancisrobinson.com | JR 16
Published: Nov 22, 2022
Drink: 2018-2030

72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot. 41 hl/ha. Harvested 18 Sept to 3 Oct. First vintage of the Bouygues era (Jean-Bernard Delmas general manager, Nicolas Glumineau technical director).
Garnet hue with some evolution at the rim. Cedar with dark and red-fruit notes initially, moving to tobacco leaf as it opens. Palate fresh and stony but a little pinched and strict. Bit old school, the ripeness not fully there. Has the structure for further development but likely to remain austere. 

Chateau-montrose.com

Main characteristics of the vintage
2006 was characterized by marked seasons. The cold and wet winter proceeded by a particularly dry spring and a hot summer, with two extremely high temperatures during June and July. The dry and hot summer hindered the development of botrytis, despite the September rain. Moreover, the permanent circulation of air along the Gironde with the effective thinning out of the leaves allowed us to stop the rot’s upsurge.
In 2006, for the first time at Montrose, we green harvested the total area of the estate, to get a good balance grapes /varieties and to restore vigor in the parcels. The instructions were to keep maximum 6 bunches of grape per vine, leading to consequences of a better ripening though with a sensitively weak yield, reaching 41hl/ha on average.

Period of harvest: September 18th – October 3rd

Blend
Cabernet-Sauvignon: 72 %
Merlot: 28 %

Tasting notes
Dense and profound colour.
Nose still shut with scents of red berries and currants, morello.
Long, full, potent on the palate, offering up aromas of morello, raspberry, strawberry,and liquorice.
Nice mid-palate followed by a beautiful finish with neat and tight tannins.
Great wine, very structured with a very good ageing potential.