A blend of 82% Merlot and 18% Cabernet Sauvignon, this has a very agreeable nose of saturated black cherries, redcurrant, a touch of bilberry, The palate is compact, tight, very powerful, a little dynamo. Firm tannins on the finish, just a little hardness at the moment but it should mellow and soften by the time of bottling, I would expect, broaden and fan out. Tasted March 2010.

The last vintage before the integration of parcels behind the château formerly belonging to Phélan Ségur, the 2009 La Dame de Montrose offers up rich aromas of dark berries, pencil shavings, fig jam, dark chocolate and loamy soil. Medium to full-bodied, supple and velvety, it's rich, seamless and enveloping, far outperforming its second wine status. La Dame represents 25% of the estate's production this year.

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 29/02/2012 Over the last twenty years, Montrose-s second wine, La Dame de Montrose has been an excellent buy. The 2009 La Dame de Montrose (almost all Merlot with a tiny bit of Cabernet Sauvignon) is a seductive, succulent effort revealing silky tannins, abundant blueberry and blackberry fruit notes intermixed with notions of damp earth, truffles and camphor, and an appealing, luscious personality. Enjoy it over the next 10-15 years. The second wine, the 2009 La Dame de Montrose, is an amazing blend of 82% Merlot and 18% Cabernet Sauvignon. Voluptuously textured, super juicy, and sexy with intense blue and black fruits, decent acids, and silky tannin, this 2009 is already irresistible, and should keep for 10-15+ years. (Tasted once.) (91-93)

Tasted blind. Mid crimson. Good balance in a rather minor key. More St-Estèphe than 2009. Well behaved but decidedly undramatic. Inky finish. (JR)

[82M/18CS] Fresh, ripe cassis to smell; full, powerful and finely tannic round a flowing central core; ripe, spicy, warm, generous and fleshy for a 2nd wine, with a clear mineral backbround, and a good, firm, fruit cored length. Power and weight, but not 'bulk', come to mind. Will be very satisfying as a weightier style of second wine. 2014-22