Chateau Montrose 2015 St. Estephe Bordeaux Wine Review

The name Montrose can from the fact that, according to local legend, when the heather was in flower, the hillsides turned pink (rose in french). So sailors on the river who saw a pink hill referred to the area as Mont Rose.

Chateau Montrose was originally owned in the mid 18th century by Alexandre de Segur, who also at that time owned Chateau Mouton, Chateau Lafite, and Chateau Latour. He gave the property to his son, Nicolas Alexandre. At the time, the estate was known as La Lande de l’Escargeon. Alexandre sold the property in 1778 to Etienne Theodore Dumoulin. In 1861, Chateau Montrose was sold to Mathieu Dollfus who then sold to Charmolue family in 1896. Chateau Montrose remained in the Charmolue family for three generations. During the ownership period of the Charmoule family, Chateau Montrose became one of the first Bordeaux estates to bottle their own wine.

In May 2006, Jean Louis Charmolue sold the estate in 2006 to Martin Bouygues and Thomas Bouygues. For the Bouygues family, it was the perfect addition to their massive business portfolio, which includes Bouygues Telecom and Bouygues Construction. They hired Herve Berland as the Gerant (previously at Mouton). He left in late 2022. Now the estate is managed by Pierre Graffeuille.

The vineyard of Chateau Montrose is planted to 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot with vines that are on average close to 40 years of age. The goal of the estate is to increase the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon to as much as 65% of the vineyard plantings. The 95-hectare vineyard of Chateau Montrose has a hillside terroir of deep gravel, with sand and clay soil. Of those hectares, 88 to 90 hectares are always in production.

In 2010, Chateau Montrose purchased 22 hectares of vineyards from their neighboring estate, Chateau Phelan Segur. Interestingly, all 22 hectares of those vines were originally part of the vineyards of Montrose. The purchased vines consisted of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc. This additional acreage increased the vineyard of Chateau Montrose up to its current size of 95 hectares.

To produce the wine of Chateau Montrose, vinification takes place in 59 temperature-controlled, stainless steel tanks of various sizes. These 59 tanks allow for more precision during the vinification of Chateau Montrose. The wine of Chateau Montrose is aged in an average of 60% new, French oak barrels for about 18 months. There is a second wine, Le Dame de Montrose. Chateau Montrose was one of the first estates in Bordeaux to make a second wine, as they first began making a second wine in about 1860.

The wines are usually divided as follows, 40% of the harvest is placed in the Grand Vin, which gives you on average, 15,000 cases per vintage. 30% of the crop is used for the second wine and the remaining 20% is either placed in the third wine or sold off in bulk.

For the 2015 vintage, only 36% of the production went into the 2015 Montrose. The blend was 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, and 4% Cabernet Franc. It was aged in 65% new oak

For more information about the winery, please see their website at https://www.chateau-montrose.com/