One of the best second wines, and possibly the best since the 1990 is the 2010 La Dame de Montrose. This represents 36% of the production and is a blend of two grapes – 64% Cabernet Sauvignon and 36% Merlot. A superb second wine, opulent and substantively textured, it shares more in common with a flamboyant, exuberant year such as 2009 than most 2010s. Dense purple, its oodles of fruit, luxurious mouthfeel and terrific finish make it a sleeper of the vintage. It’s a wine to buy in abundant quantities and drink over the next 10-15+ years. Drink: 2013 - 2028

Although Jean Delmas remains a consultant at Montrose, he has yielded his primary responsibilities over to a younger staff, but he still believes the 2010 Montrose is one of the all-time great wines ever produced at this estate, equaling or exceeding the quality of the 1929, 1945, 1959, 1961, 1989, 1990 or 2009.
-Robert Parker, Wine Advocate #205 Feb 2013

(91-93 pts)
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 02/05/2011

Representing 36% of the production in 2010. Composed of two-thirds Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Merlot, it is one of the finest examples of this cuvee I have yet tasted. Intense blueberry and cassis fruit intertwined with floral notes, a plump, unctuous texture and abundant fruit characterize this seductive, fleshy wine. Consume it over the next 10-15 years.

Wonderful aromas of blueberries, spices and chocolate with a hazelnut undertone. Creamy texture. Full and very fine with lovely texture and spices and berries. Currants too. Long and gorgeous. Second wine of Montrose. Try in 2016.
-www.jamessuckling.com, 'Tasting Report: 2010's Greatness Across The Board in Bordeaux', 17 Feb 2013

Bright damson plum, cherry and black currant fruit races along in this invigorating red, with mouthwatering acidity and a superfresh, iron-filled finish that has a nice rapier feel. Sleek and long. —J.M.

The La Dame de Montrose has a fine, tertiary bouquet with sous-bois, tobacco and broody black fruit. With aeration there is a touch of tar. The palate is medium-bodied with quite a sharp, slightly angular entry. It needs a couple of year’s bottle age to find its feet. Classic, tobacco-led finish. Fine. Tasted November 2012.

(90-92 pts)
Tasted at the Château, the La Dame represents 36% of total production and is a blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon and 36% Merlot. It demonstrates great purity on the nose, a floral note that I have not encountered on La Dame before (perhaps more feminine in keeping with the name?) The palate is very smooth and refined, silky in the mouth with succulent blackcurrant and cassis towards the finish that belies some fine tannins underneath. It is just...delicious now and one hopes, in bottle. Drink 2013-2020. Tasted March 2011.

St Estèphe (36% harvest; 45hl/ha) [64CS/36M] Soft blackberry fruit to smell, mineral as it settles; beautifully balanced wine, concentrated but not heavy or over dense, fresh and with fine, firm tannins; rich, crisply ripe cassis cabernet fruit, juicy without being jammy, long to taste, particularly graceful for a second wine, long and aromatic to finish. 2016-26. [M.Schuster, Bordeaux Mar/Apr 2011]