Served single blind, one pour. Varieties: CS 76% | M 20% | CF 3% | PV 1%. The garnet highlights to the dark ruby colour suggested some age. Lovely aromatics, quite expressive and bright. Savoury and fragrant floral notes, with blackcurrants, fresh and dried herbs and slaty minerals. On palate, lots of fresh blackcurrants. Fresh and intense with more acids than expected. I thought first of 1986 then of 1996 acidity. Savoury and earthy, with touches of those freshly cut herbs. Wet granite minerality. Below full-bodied, Englishman’s claret, as this style used to be called. Still with a little of tannic grip to release. A style I like very much although some tasters found the 1996 too astringent. A top quality 1996 Bordeaux on its optimal drinking plateau. Fully open, I would drink by around 2027.

Rankings: Me 8/12 | GK 8/12 | CT 7/12.

Served single blind, one pour. Varieties: CS 67% | M 27% | CF 6%. Colour light ruby moving garnet. A more evolved, reserved, herbal nose than the 1996 with red currants, tobacco and cedar. In the mouth, even lighter weight than the 1996. Again, lean and classic in style, not bold or rich. Touches of green herbs (not, for me, a negative). A delicate texture, I liked. Still, some cedery oak present, yet to fully integrate. Perhaps a slight touch of TCA, at most, at threshold level. Bright, vibrant acidity. Mellow, secondary, earthy and a touch leathery, but with a core of good black fruit. Drinking well at a late peak. To drink by say 2025.

Rankings: Me 9/12 | GK 9/12 | CT 9/12.

Served single blind, one pour. Varieties: CS 70% | M 15% | CF 10% | PV 5%. The lightest garnet colour on the table (wrongly) suggesting the oldest wine. Some primary red fruit on bouquet but musky, savoury and herbal nuances suggested considerable age. Cigars and mushrooms. On palate, smooth texture, the wine gently and pleasantly advanced. Despite the age, leaner presentation and secondary and tertiary notes – tobacco leaf, sous bois and some tartufo nero – there was still some concentrated cassis fruit left at the centre. Towards the end of the tasting the remains of the glass had faded considerably. Overall, however, as an older Bordeaux, to drink now, I marginally preferred the 1976 over the 1975 and 1966.

Rankings: Me 10/12 | GK 12/12 | CT 12/12.

Served single blind, one pour. Varieties: CS 70% | M 15% | CF 10% | PV 5%. Garnet colour at the rim suggested the age of this wine. An attractive but subdued bouquet of red berries and cherries, cigar, dry earth, autumn leaves, old cedar and mushrooms. On palate, a leaner, evolved wine, showing classic secondary and tertiary Bordeaux nuances. Warm, tilled soil, tobacco leaf and old leather. The tannins now well integrated and resolved. The 1975 now though a little pinched and austere, with some tasters (not me) picking threshold TCA. Overall, an interesting and enjoyable old claret.

After the higher quality 1996 and before the weaker 1966, before the reveal, I wrote that the three wines in between – the 1986, 1976 and 1975 – were very much of a piece, at a similar quality level. Although the margins were small, I rated the 1975 the lowest of the first four wines tasted.

Rankings: Me 11/12 | GK 10/12 | CT 10/12.

Served single blind, one pour. Varieties: CS 70% | M 15% | CF 10% | PV 5%, the “old” more cabernet, less merlot regime at Château Montrose. The 1966 seemed apart, and different, from the other wines, clearly, to me anyway, the weakest and oldest of the 12. An interesting old left bank Bordeaux bouquet of fresh and preserved red and black fruit, herbs, spices, coffee and ash. On palate, clipped, dumbed down fruit, with perhaps a touch of Brettanomyces (that five tasters picked, others disagreed). Stalky and stemmy. Some tamarillo. Still, interesting, savoury tobacco, earth, forest floor and preserved blackberry notes. By the end of the tasting, the fragile 1966 had completely fallen over in the glass. The 1966, how it is today, suffered in comparison with the other, younger Montrose from good or great vintages. On its own, if you appreciate fragile, older Bordeaux, it would have held considerable interest. To drink soon.

Rankings: Me 12/12 | GK 11/12 | CT 11/12.

Served single blind, one pour. Varieties: CS 65% | M 31% | CF 3.5%| PV 0.5%. From this wine – the sixth – there was a clear step up in the tasting to uniformly very fine quality. All of the last six wines were, for me anyway, undeniably great wines, where a large part of comparative views would have reflected individual palate preferences … A bright, primary, dark colour marked a major change from the 1966. Expressive very dark fruit on bouquet, suggesting real power, framed by traces of spicy, sweet, vanillin oak, more than seen on any of the first five wines. Also, pencil shavings, cedar, black liquorice and slaty minerals. In the mouth, tons of ripe, rich black berry fruit and crème de cassis. Huge scale, power and structure, making me think immediately it could only be the 2003 or 2005. Palate coating. Very impressive but not really ready. Superb gravelly tannins, grippy and a little hard on the very long, persistent and muscular finish. Towards the end of the tasting more nuance seemed to be emerging from the glass. Ideally, in my view, the 2005 should be cellared until 2030+, when I likely will rate it higher than 95+.

Rankings: Me 6/12 | GK 2/12 | CT 5/12.

Served single blind, one pour. Varieties: CS 63% | M 31% | CF 4% | PV 2%. A primary violet red colour. Vibrant crème de cassis, blackberry, black currant, dried herb, plum and red rose perfumes, an attractive nose. On palate, powerful and full. Volume and depth but in a very different way than with the 2005. More generous, sweet fruited and harmonious. I guessed the wine might be the 2003. It seemed to have a more obvious plummy merlot character than most of the wines. Suave, fine grained tannins, integrating well. The fruit, oak and acids in proportion and well balanced into a seamless whole. I was surprised on the reveal as most better 2000 Bordeaux I have recently had have not been this giving and open. Drink or hold. 94+.

Rankings: Me 7/12 | GK 5/12 | CT 6/12.

Served single blind, one pour. Varieties: CS 53% | M 37% | CF 9% | PV 1%, the highest merlot percentage at the tasting. New oak 60%. Deep, dark colour. A beautiful bouquet of bright blackberry and blackcurrant, crème de cassis and other dark fruit nuances framed by mixed spices, cut herbs, dark chocolate, dark plums and violets. On palate, chocolatey power and intensity. Vibrant, rich dark berry fruit and cassis. Detailed, layered and complex, underpinned by stony minerality. A velvety texture. Dense with serious structure and mid palate fruit weight. Aristocratic. For me, what set this Montrose apart from all of the other good-to-great expressions at the tasting was the 2010’s purity and the exquisite balance and proportion of all of its elements. In such balance it was drinking beautifully on the night. It is though only a baby and should be cellared until at least 2027+. Wine of the tasting. 98+.

Rankings: Me 1/12 | GK 1/12 | CT 3/12.

Served single blind, one pour. Varieties: CS 65% | M 29% | CF 5% | PV 1%, new oak 60%. Colour purple red. Compared with the 2010 an even more floral, lifted nose, with vivid sweet blackberries in the background. Red roses, dark plums, graphite and a touch of mocha. Just gorgeous. The first palate is intense and powerful yet delicious with an array of rich and ripe berry fruit and dark plums. Then the huge scale, fruit volume and structure of the wine appears on the second palate, below the satiny, seamless surface. Spherical, very suave tannins. I thought the wine may be the 2005. The wine is very long. Some tasters criticised the 2009 as not being sufficiently Montrose-like, perhaps too New World-like. I did not agree, seeing a top expression, albeit from a warmer vintage. 97+.

Rankings: Me 2/12 | GK 4/12 | CT 2/12.

Served single blind, one pour. Varieties: CS 62% | M 34% | CF 3% | PV 2%. Deep, bright ruby. A huge volume to the bouquet. Fresh blackberry, vanillin and chocolatey scents with caramel, definitely showing its oak élevage. However, seemingly a little leaner and sleeker on palate than the nose suggests. Muscular but with cultured and svelte fruit. The fruit hugely concentrated, opulent and ripe, including dark plums, reflecting the large merlot component. Crème de cassis, graphite, liquorice, blackberries and cedar. Ultra fine grained tannins. Seductive and a little soft. Sufficient vibrant acidity retained. I had this wine as possibly the 2010. Although with the serious architecture and volume of ripe fruit, sitting in the glass, towards the end of the tasting the palate moved more linear. Excellent length. A top wine in this line-up. No stereotypical 2003 jamminess. Ideally drink from 2025+. Such is the huge dry extract, I would not be surprised if the 2003 drank well 40 years from today. 96+.

Rankings: Me 5/12 | GK 3/12 | CT 4/12.

Served single blind, one pour. Varieties: CS 64% | M 32% | CF 4%. A magical bottle. I have heard about good and bad bottles of the 1990. On the night, we definitely had one of the good bottles. Velvet colour with garnet highlights. A more evolved nose than the three or four wines before it, with notes of dried herbs, warm earth, preserved berry fruit, cinnamon and other spices, pipe tobacco, old leather, mushrooms and hints of truffle. Complex and aromatic. A lovely sweet fruited entry to the palate. Then structure and power followed by mellow, savoury complexity. An array of notes including cedar, cigar leaf, tilled soil, brown spices, dark fruit, graphite and old leather couch. Fully ripe, melted and soft tannins. Rounded but dense and concentrated. Very long. A beautiful and profound fully mature Bordeaux but with the matière for good bottles to probably drink well for another two decades.

The 1990 though divided the room. Eight tasters had the 1990 as their top or second wine of the tasting but four had it as their least with nine suggesting brettanomyces. I saw threshold brett but at a level that, if anything, added additional savoury nuance to the wine and therefore was a positive, not a negative. 97+.

Rankings: Me 3/12 | GK 6/12 | CT 1/12.

Served single blind, one pour. Varieties: CS 65% | M 25% | CF 8% | PV 2%, in chronological order, the first “modern style” Montrose at the tasting, with fully one quarter merlot. Ruby coloured with some garnet (surprisingly ruby for a 40 year old wine). An understated, savoury and lovely nose showing some age. Musk, gentle florals, dried herbs, tobacco leaf, bonfire smoke and preserved and fresh berry fruit. In the mouth, sleek, refined and evolved, drinking, to me, like a 1990s wine. Yet rich, fairly primary ripe fruit. Harmonious and classic, old style Bordeaux. Graphite, minerals, tobacco, old leather and dry forest floor. Rounded and mellow, at a late peak. On the reveal, a very good, fully mature bottle of 1982. 96+.

Rankings: Me 4/12 | GK 7/12 | CT 8/12.