CHÂTEAU MONTROSE
2012 2ème Cru Classé Saint Estèphe
Muscular tannins, bitter chocolate shavings. Feels upright and military, the polar opposite to Cos d'Estournel, in the way that Mouton is so different to Lafite. It's enjoyable, has a long life ahead, still austere at 10 years old, tobacco, cigar, you feel the architecture and the confidence as it sretches out through the palate, successful but reserved. Harvest September 24 to October 20. Rating: 94 L&S (Mar 2022)
* This is a pre-shipment/primeur offer. All orders are accepted under the TERMS of this offer which differ from the terms of the rest of the site.
53% of the estate production. 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. There's a deep dark tannic structure filled with minerals and fuit and building tannins. Black cherry, damson, a real sense of thick skins with fine ripe tannins. Hervé Berland says the skins were thick on the Merlot too, remarking that for him it is between the 2008 and 2010, but not as massive or as dry as the 2010 - more fleshy. Rating: 94 L&S (Apr 2013)
The 2012 Montrose has a taut and focused bouquet with crisp blackberry, tobacco and light earthy scents on the nose. Fine vigour and class evident here. The palate is medium-bodied with chewy tannins on the entry, fine acidity, lightly spiced with a nicely proportioned and focused finish. This is a solid, almost swarthy Montrose, though it is surpassed by more recent vintages. Tasted twice at Bordeaux Index's Ten Year-On tasting and blind at the Southwold Ten-Year On tasting. Drinking range: 2025 - 2042 Rating: 94 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Sept 2022)
The 2012 Montrose is one of the bigger, richer wines of the vintage. Super-ripe black cherry, tar, smoke and leather find support in intense tannins that lurk beneath. Today, the tannins are incredibly imposing. The 2012 doesn't have the sheer heft of the epic vintages, but it does have the potential to be one of the real surprises of the year. This is an impressive 2012. Drinking range: 2024 - 2052 Rating: 93 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Jan 2016)
The Grand Vin, representing 53% of production, is a blend of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. It is being matured in 60% new oak. The nose offers plenty of fruit, perhaps even more than Cos d’Estournel with ebullient dark cherries, dark chocolate and black plum scents, although at this stage it does not have the complexity of a top Montrose. The palate is medium-bodied with fleshy ripe tannins that are obviously fully ripe. It is not a complex Montrose, perhaps just a little one-dimensional compared to others. But there is certainly good volume, soft in the mouth (some prudent pumping over here in the winery) with plenty of primal black fruit to enjoy on the finish. It will probably constitute a more approachable Montrose, but it is well made Rating: 90-92 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2013)
(57% cabernet sauvignon, 37% merlot, 5% cabernet franc and 1% petit verdot): Deep ruby-red. Floral, mineral nose hints at fresh blackcurrant, but this sample seems tight and closed down currently. On the palate, somewhat strict and linear flavors of blackcurrant and wet stone are lifted by a repeating note of violet. The finish is long and clean but could use more flesh. This classic Bordeaux reminded me of a wine made in the 1970s, but it's easier to drink and less green. Picking took place as late as October 13 for the cabernet sauvignon in the estate's effort to find the ripest possible grapes. About 52% of the estate's total production went into the grand vin, similar to the percentage at Cos but much higher than at Calon-Segur. Rating: 88-91 Ian d'Agata, www.vinousmedia.com (May 2013)
The inky/purple-colored 2012 offers up scents of white chocolate, creme de cassis, acacia flowers, crushed rocks and forest floor. The tannins are surprisingly soft as the pH is about 3.7, which is slightly higher than the 2010's 3.6. This dense, full-bodied wine is still somewhat monolithic, but it is loaded with concentration and power as well as a long finish. While not totally formed, all the component parts are present. The 2012 will not match the level of the 2009 and 2010, but it should stand out as one of the highlights of 2012. Only 52% of the production made it into the 2012 Montrose, a blend of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon (harvested between October 13 and 20), 37% Merlot (picked during the third week of September) and a tiny amount of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. The pH was 3.7 and I suspect the alcohol level pushes 14%. It is one of the top successes of the vintage. As new administrator Herve Berland indicated, the severe six-week drought caused the Cabernet skins to become very thick, thus resisting the huge rainfall that fell between October 7 and 9. The late harvest dates suggest very ripe Cabernet Sauvignon, which appears to be exactly what has occurred. Rating: 92-94 Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate, www.RobertParker.com (Apr 2013)
Bright deep crimson. Exciting, 'pointed', rather sharply etched impact on the nose. Almost shrill but with great density and definition. Very vibrato! A long distance runner like Cos d'Estournel. 2022 - 2040. Rating: 17.5 Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2013)
This is not as rich and powerful as the celebrated 2010, nor is it quite as good as the 2011 in my view, but it is still a firm, thick-skinned red with impressive concentration. The wine certainly needs time in the barrel and bottle to come together, but the component parts are all there: black fruits, firmish tannins, subtle oak and a lift of refreshing acidity. A classic Montrose. Drink: 2022-40 Rating: 95 Tim Atkin MW, www.timatkin.com (Apr 2013)
Superb colour, wonderful expression of graphite, almost Pauillac Cabernet Sauvignon fruit, terrific density yet almost satiny texture, very good structure and Latour-like depth, a great classic that needs time. Drink: 2018 - 2035. Rating: 18.25 Steven Spurrier (Apr 2013)
With sooty tannins and lovely earthy undertones, this is firm and powerful with real St-Estèphe flair. Rating: 18 Matthew Jukes www.matthewjukes.com (Apr 2013)
Delivers a solid core of black cherry and tobacco leaf, with a briary backdrop on the finish. A bit chewy overall, but this maintains good intensity and a mouthwatering chalky edge. Backward, displaying fine length. Rating: 90-93 James Molesworth, The Wine Spectator (Apr 2013)
Château Montrose
St Estèphe Deuxième cru 1855 Wine production St Estèphe developed much later than further south in the Haut-Médoc - indeed, the vineyards of Château Montrose were not planted until 1815, when it was then part of the Calon-Ségur estate. Only 40 years later, not only had Montrose seperated from its parent, it had surpassed it, being one of only two St Estèphe estates to be awarded 2nd Growth status in the 1855 classification. Montrose sits nearer the river than Cos d'Estournel on classic Haut-Médoc gravel soil - the last outcrop as you head north. The 65ha of vines are 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. The Grand Vin spends 18 months in wood (70% new). A second wine was introduced in 1983 - La Dame de Montrose - aged in wood for 12 months (20% new). Montrose is a noted performer in weaker vintages, possibly because of a generous micro-climate which allows slightly earlier picking than most of the Haut-Médoc. The wines age brilliantly.
Please make sure that you have read the terms of this offer which are different from those of the main website. If you are unclear as to what is involved in primeur purchases please do call us, but see the 'practical notes' below.
Ordering
Prices are per case as listed 'in bond London'.
Pre-Orders are a firm commitment from you to buy the wines you order on release, subject to the price being below the upper price of the estimated band on our website. You may also set your own upper price limit, lower or higher than ours. Pre-orders will be fulfilled subject to availability. Providing this firm commitment to us effectively gives you priority.
Wines listed on the website (after any pre-orders and allocations have been fulfilled) can be ordered in the usual way via the website order form or by email or telephone 020 7221 1982, always subject to stock remaining.
Confirmation
All orders will be confirmed by email and are contractually binding unless written cancellation is received within seven days of the confirmation date, apart from pre-orders which are binding if the release price is below the top estimate or other price you have set.
Invoices are raised at the In Bond price, excluding any duty and VAT which will become payable at the prevailing rates on arrival of the wine if required duty paid.
Payment is required on sight of invoice, by cash, cheque, debit card or credit transfer. We reserve the right to charge 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.
Delivery
- Shipment to our bond (LCB Creek Road) and insurance are included in the in bond price.
- Delivery is free to Lea and Sandeman / Elephant storage accounts, both duty paid and in bond.
- Other deliveries (In Bond and Duty Paid) are also free subject to a minimum order from the offer of £1000, orders below this total will be charged £16.50+ VAT when the wine invoices are issued. We will group deliveries and this is a charge for your entire purchases, not a per-case charge.
- Delivery for 2016 Bordeaux primeurs will probably be completed by October 2019, but we make no guarantee as to specific delivery times, and some of the Sauternes may be later.
Practical notes - how it works
We start a sale in each customer's name and add all their primeur orders to one sale which is invoiced at the end of the campaign (or when the customer wishes) for immediate payment. We and our customers find that having a single invoice for the vintage is the simpler option, but do please note that confirmed orders are still binding as above even if the final invoice has not been issued.
When the wine is shipped, unless previously specified we will assume that delivery is to be to bonded storage with Elephant Storage, but in any case, we will contact you requesting any alternative instructions. If you have another bonded delivery address you would like the wine to go to, please tell us at the time of ordering. If the wines are required duty-paid we will issue invoices at the rates prevailing at the time for the excise duty (currently £25.98 per case) and the VAT (currently at 20%) on the total of the wine cost and the duty.
Half-bottles, Magnums and larger bottles.
One of the additional advantages of buying en primeur is being able to order the wine in the bottle size you want. Even if a wine is only listed in one size, you can order any bottle or case size you want if the property supplies it, but you must order the case/bottle size you require and check that the correct size has been invoiced.
Additional charges are as follows:-
- +£15 per case of 24 half-bottles
- +£15 per case of 6 Magnums (2 bottles equivalent, 1.5 litres each)
- +£35 per individually boxed Double Magnum (4 bottles equivalent, 3 litres)
- +£45 per individually boxed Imperial (8 bottles equivalent, 6 litres) for Salmanazars, Balthazars, Nebuchadnezzars and Melchiors please enquire for availability and price.