DAME DE MONTROSE
2018 Saint Estèphe Château Montrose
52% Merlot, 39% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot. This is often one of our favourite second wines in the Haut Médoc. It's usually full of juicy dark fruit and earthy freshness. The 2018 definitely has those qualities but it's rather more serious than recent vintages. It is more sappy and richly textured, more hedonistic. The tannins seem much more present and there is a bit of heat on the finish. You can certainly tell this was a warm vintage. There's no doubt it's an excellent wine but there isn't the sheer drinkability of the 2010 or 2016 - which you could happily enjoy in their fruity youth. This is a much more grander style of Dame that will need some cellaring. Drinking range: 2025 - 2035L&S (Apr 2019)
* 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.
The 2018 La Dame de Montrose is such a gorgeous wine. Built on a core of Merlot, La Dame is silky, sensual and impossible to resist. Cedar, new leather, spice and tobacco add lift to essential sweet red berry fruit. La Dame is the sort of wine that can pass unobserved in 2018, but that would be a mistake, as it is truly superb. This is at its most elegant. Drinking range: 2023 - 2033 Rating: 92 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Mar 2021)
Very pretty blackcurrants and blueberries with floral undertones, following through to a full body with layers of ripe, polished tannins and a rich, flavorful finish. Needs time to come around and show itself. Try after 2025. Rating: 94 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Feb 2021)
The 2018 La Dame de Montrose has a sweet black cherry and crème de cassis scented bouquet, scents of violet developing in the glass. It is like an exaggerated version of the previous vintage. The palate is medium-bodied with thick tannin. There is real volume and density to this La Dame de Montrose, the Cabernet Sauvignon expressive and imparting a graphite like note, despite being proportionately less than the Merlot in the blend. This is a very well crafted La Dame de Montrose that is going to give 15 to 20 years of drinking pleasure. Drinking range: 2022 - 2042 Rating: 90-92 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Nov 2019)
Production was down substantially for Château Montrose, who has moved all to organic farming as of 2019. Starting with the second wine of this great estate, the 2018 La Dame De Montrose is a blend of 52% Merlot, 39% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Petit aged 12 months in 30% new French oak. Fabulous notes of black cherries, espresso, graphite, and earth all flow to a richly textured, fleshy yet structured second wine that has ample tannins, beautiful purity, and a great finish. It's going to benefit from short-term cellaring. Rating: 92-94 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (May 2019)
Black-cherry colour with black core. Fragrant with violets and cassis. So aromatic. Very fine tannins, many layered, dry but not at all obstreperous. Rich in the darkest of rocky black fruit, really ambitious and successful. Deep, long and remarkably juicy. Almost silky on the finish. Drinking range: 2025 - 2038 Rating: 17+ Julia Harding MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2019)
The second wine this year is 52% Merlot, 39% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Petit Verdot and 4% Cabernet Franc, picked between September 17th and October 5th, as per the grand vin. This took 37% of the crop. The alcohol level is 14.8%, the same as the grand vin. It begins with a very fragrant nose, showing floral black cherries, with notes of chalk dust, liquorice and violets. A very convincing start on the palate, broad and polished through the middle, with a rich and velvety substance of black cherry, damson, soot and black bean, all laid over polished tannins and a bright acid backbone. Deliciously fresh, integrated, supple and complete, with a medium-bodied presence, never overstated, and a charming round of tannins at the end. This is brilliantly composed, a great second wine. Well done. 94-96/100 Rating: 94-96 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2019)
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 on the main website. If you are unclear as to what is involved in primeur purchases please do contact our private client team via email or on 020 7018 0187.
Ordering
Prices are all in bond by the case size stated.
Pre-Orders are a firm commitment to buy wines on release, as long as the release price is within the upper and lower price bands set by you on the pre-order form. Pre-orders will be fulfilled subject to availability but providing this firm commitment to buy effectively gives you priority and is a good idea for the most desirable wines.
Wines listed on the website can be ordered in the usual way via the website wishlist order form. You can also send orders directly to our private client team via email. Please note that, for the most sought-after wines, priority will be given to those who ordered the same wines last year and to those that have pre-ordered.
Confirmation
All orders will be confirmed by email and are binding unless written cancellation is received within seven days of email confirmation. Pre-orders are not binding if the release price is above your upper price band.
Invoices are all raised at the in bond price (excluding any duty and VAT) which will become payable at the prevailing rates when the wines arrive in the UK, should you wish to take duty paid delivery.
Payment is required on sight of invoice, by cash, cheque, debit card or bank transfer. We regret we cannot accept credit cards for en primeur orders. We reserve the right to apply a dunning charge of 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.
Delivery
- Shipment to our bond (at 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 £500. Orders below this total will be charged an administration and handling fee of £16.50+ VAT when invoices are issued. We will group deliveries and this is a charge for your entire purchases, not a per-case charge.
- Delivery of 2022 Bordeaux bought en primeur is expected during 2025. Delivery dates may vary as wines are shipped from Bordeaux at different times.
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). Immediate payment of invoices is then required by cash, cheque, debit card or bank transfer. We and our customers find that having a single invoice for the vintage is the simpler option but please note that confirmed orders are still binding even if the final invoice has not yet been issued.
Please specify on your wishlist order form where you would like the wines shipped on arrival in the UK. If this is to a third-party bonded warehouse, please specify the relevant account details. If the wines are required duty-paid we will issue a second invoice for duty and VAT at the prevailing rate when the wines are available for delivery.
Half-bottles, Magnums and larger bottles.
One of the additional advantages of buying en primeur is being able to order the wine in the format you want. While most of our listings are for 75cl bottles, we can source wines in any format that is offered by the Château. Please note that format requests cannot be changed once wines have been invoiced. Additional charges for special formats do apply and are as follows:-
- +£18.00 per case of 12 half-bottles
- +£30.00 per case of 24 half-bottles
- +£7.50 per case of 3 Magnums (2 bottles equivalent, 1.5 litres each)
- +£11.00 per case of 6 Magnums
- +£45.00 per individually boxed Double Magnum (4 bottles equivalent, 3 litres)
- +£60.00 per individually boxed Imperial (8 bottles equivalent, 6 litres) for Salmanazars, Balthazars, Nebuchadnezzars and Melchiors please enquire for availability and price.
Storage Options:
Wines bought en primeur won't arrive in the UK until 2025. If you do not wish to take home delivery at that point, you may wish to consider where you would like the wines shipped. Lea & Sandeman offers duty paid and in bond storage through a dedicated storage company called Elephant Storage. For more details on the terms and fees associated with storage please go to our Storage Homepage or contact our private client team for more information.