[65CS/29M/5CF/1PV] Closed to smell, but a fine, ripe blackberry and blackcurrant background; immediately full and warmly mouthfilling, harmonious yes, with a very firm, but very fine grained tannin; a nice freshness too; long and powerful to taste, with a clear, freshly ripe fruit core, very long across the palate: density, matter, and great persistence. Finish also a touch hot and bitter, if you are sensitive to that. Gravel backed elegance, along with 2009 power and force, though without heaviness. A deeper, ampler, sweeter, more velvety and more powerful impression than its still splendid 2008, which is an easier, fresher, more precise wine. 2022-40+

Harvested between September 17 and October 5, this wine seems always open for business, so to speak, much like the great 1982s. The summer of 2009 was very hot and dry, which got the harvest off to a reasonably early start. The blend was 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. Jean Bernard Delmas’ goal was to find perfect equilibrium between freshness and concentration, given its incredible opulence and the voluptuous character this vintage offered. That’s what this wine has in abundance. With an astounding dense purple color, the wine has velvety, sweet tannins, and an extremely open-knit and opulent blueberry, blackberry and creme de cassis nose. There is scorched earth, vanilla and, again, telltale licorice and spice. It is unctuously textured – thicker and juicier than the 2010 and more forward. This wine should come into its own in another five years. And again, it has at least 50+ years of aging potential.

Robert Parker (Wine Advocate #214, Aug 2014)

The 2009 Château Montrose is just pure perfection, and it doesn't get any better. This magical Saint- Estèphe is still youthful yet offers incredible pleasure in its assorted black and red fruits as well as notes of smoked tobacco, licorice, graphite, and scorched earth. A wine that has always been open and satisfying since release, it's still full-bodied and has a broad, expansive, velvety mouthfeel, gorgeous and still present tannins, and a great, great finish. It's a richer, more expansive wine compared to the more focused, classic 2010. Unquestionably one of the finest wines in the vintage, as well as one of the legendary wines from this address, it should evolve for another 40-50 years, although don't let that stop you from opening a bottle!