2018 La Dame de Montrose, St-Estèphe

2018 La Dame de Montrose, St-Estèphe

Impressive power, very silky and excellent definition of fruit, nice wildness and excellent finesse. There’s so much salinity and vibrancy here, juicy and long and excellent definition. A smart buy as the little brother of one of the wines of the vintage.

Critic score
92.25/100 info

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Wine details

  • Region & country
    Saint-Estèphe, Médoc, Bordeaux, France
  • Grape
    52% Merlot
    39% Cabernet Sauvignon
    5% Petit Verdot
    4% Cabernet Franc
  • Maturity
    Ready 2024 - 2038info
  • Colour
    Red
  • Sweetness
    Dry
  • Style
    Still
  • Unit Volume
    Bottle (75cl.)
  • ABV
    14.5%

Tasting notes

Composed of 52% Merlot, 39% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Petit Verdot and 4% Cabernet Franc, harvested from September 17 to October 5, the deep garnet-purple colored 2018 La Dame de Montrose delivers a profound nose of baked plums, blackberry preserves and raisin cake with touches of dark chocolate, licorice, Chinese five spice and sandalwood. Full-bodied, rich and opulent in the mouth, it fills the palate with ripe, generous fruit, backed by firm, rounded tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and spicy.

Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (April 2019)
(90—92)/100

I can see here a comparison with 2009 in terms of generosity and enjoyment. It's a big wine with lots of structure, so during extractions they had to be careful to stay on the cooler side, between 26°C and 28°C, the lowest since 2014. This has traces of heat, although it has clearly been extremely carefully handled and is well balanced. Ripe black fruits, rosemary and black olive notes are countered by tannins that gather at the end of the palate, showing just how much is going on here. Harvested commenced on 17 September and ran into October. 81IPT. 16% press wine.

Jane Anson, Decanter (April 2019)
(91)/100

Very dense center palate to the La Dame this year with purity of fruit and round, velvety tannins. Juicy, too. Sexy. Reminds me of the 1989 Montrose!

James Suckling, jamessuckling.com (April 2019)
(95—96)/100

The 2018 La Dame de Montrose is a wine of pure and total sensuality. Deep, textured and beautifully perfumed, La Dame has so much to offer. Dark red fruit, wild flowers, cedar, sweet tobacco and anise give La Dame striking aromatic presence to play off its rich, layered fruit. Powerful and very Saint-Estèphe in bearing, La Dame is gorgeous in 2018. I won't be surprised if the 2018 turns out even better than this note suggests.

Antonio Galloni, vinous.com (April 2019)
(90—92)/100

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