Chateau Montrose: '78, '96, '05 & Champagne

Paris Dining Club, Mpls, MN
Tasted Friday, October 7, 2022 by rocknroller with 184 views

Introduction

This was the fall event for the Mpls Commanderie de Bordeaux chapter. About 22 were attendance for the event held at Jamie Malone's fine dining space known as Paris Dining Club/Petit Atelier. The theme was Chateau Montrose comparing vintage of 1978, 1996, and 2005. All the wines showed quite well and were essentially a course in the aging curve and drinking curve of Bordeaux.

Flight 1 - Reception Champagne (1 Note)

  • NV Ployez-Jacquemart Champagne Cuvée Granite 90eme Anniversaire 93 Points

    France, Champagne

    Light golden color. Drank a glass over 40 minutes. 61% Chardonnay, 31% Pinot Noir, 8% Pinot Meunier. This was a one off cuvee with a blend of vintages: 1976, 1982, 1983, 1988, 1990, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2011, 2012 and 2013. Extra Brut dosage. This was quite bright, nectarine and ripe apple, a sweetness comes through on the palate which I equate more to sweet pastry cream essence than actual dosage based on the extra brut style. Good minerality, excellent depth and definition. Very classy.

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Flight 2 - Champagne Flight (2 Notes)

Flight 3 - Chateau Montrose Flight (3 Notes)

  • 1978 Château Montrose 94 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

    Dark red color, 8mm transition to clear. Drank 2 glasses over 2 hours. This showed really well out of the gate with an expressive nose featuring tobacco leaf, loam and soil, cigar ash, leather and more subtle red fruits. The palate is medium plus bodied, tobacco and cigar, funk, leather, tar, red fruits with cassis under tones, poised and soft with good length. The tannins and round and integrating. After an hour the tobacco notes really became dominant and a little of the charm faded, but this was really in a good place. I see no reason to worry about well stored bottles for a decade.

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  • 1996 Château Montrose 95 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

    Very dark red/purple color. From 3 liter, decanted for an unknown time. Drank a couple glasses over 2 hours plus. Wow this was good, young but very accessible, as you'd expect this just kept getting better and better in the glass. The nose is gorgeous with leather, pencil, red berries, cassis, violets, and damp earth in a developing, encompassing perfume. The palate is full bodied, with excellent depth and power, the core of dark berries, raspberry, and cassis fruits stand out, classic pencil notes, enhanced by the earth, minerality and spices make this shine all the way through to a finish that highlights the soft, almost luxurious tannins. This is a beauty from one of my favorite Bordeaux vintages of the nineties. 95-96pts.

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  • 2005 Château Montrose

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

    Very dark red/purple color. Drank a glass plus over 2 hours. The graphite really comes through on the nose with purple fruits, a little high toned on the nose. Black cherry, cassis, wood spice, rich, blackberry liqueur and black raspberry liqueur, scorched earth, big and dense with oak and firm tannins. This seemed to show better the first hour and then shut down more with the structure taking over and showing the tannins and oak that need to ultimately be tamed with more time. Lots of potential, and this showed better than expected at this point. No official score, but this has excellent upside, gut impression today is 93(++), but I fully expect this to live up to all the expectations if you wait long enough - give it at least another 5-7 and revisit, but really this is a start at 25 and go from there wine.

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Flight 4 - Dessert Flight (1 Note)

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