Inky in color, the wine is opaque. On the nose, spice box, smoke, espresso, roasted black and red fruits, flowers and 5 spice come through. On the palate the wine is intense, full-bodied, rich, dense, opulent, sweet, fresh, long and concentrated. The depth of flavor is impressive. Black and red fruits build and expand. The tannins are ripe, round and refined. With a depth of flavor, a flamboyant character and a non stop finish, this is a rockstar in the making.

The 2018 Montrose is a blend of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Very deep garnet-purple in color, it needs a good amount of air to unlock the vibrant scents of crushed blackberries, preserved plums and cassis with suggestions of star anise, cedar chest, underbrush, Indian spices and iron ore, plus an emerging waft of violets. The full-bodied palate features the most exquisitely ripe tannins, offering a rock-solid backbone with tons of freshness lifting the taut, muscular fruit, finishing long and mineral laced. Going back to this wine over a period of hours and then days further reveals a Montrose of great opulence, richness and depth. Incidentally, the IPT level this year is 82, which indicates a very high level of tannins, and yet they are so, so ripe. The alcohol is around 14.5%. But sit back, close your eyes and forget the numbers—this is pure hedonism in its youth with a fantastic 40+ years of cellaring ahead of it, during the course of which do not be at all surprised if you are blown away by a three-digit experience.

Rich and deep with beautifully nuanced dark chocolate, mocha, cocoa bean and liquorice. Just full of understated power and silky tannins. This is gorgeous and among my top wines of the Left Bank. As it opens in the glass you get sweet black cherry and cassis flesh, and a sense of lilting sappiness. Great stuff from Montrose.
Tasted by Jane Anson (at Bordeaux, 10 Nov 2020)
Part of Bordeaux 2018 in bottle: full overview plus top scoring wines

Purity and beauty on the nose with blackberry, blueberry, raspberry, crushed-stone and violet character. A full-bodied red with masses of polished tannins and intense flavors of currants and blackberries. Juicy finish. Super depth to this. Goes on for minutes. Try after 2027.

Coiled and tighht but giving up some heady perfume and spice. The palate is bold and opulent wbut still fresh and elegant. Packed with layers of intense, juicy, rich fruit and underpinned by effortless halky wet stone minerality. Drives into the finish which is long and pretty, carrying that mineral character forward. - April 2019

The 2018 Montrose delivers on the promise that it showed from barrel. I gave this a three-hour decant before broaching, since Montrose is always backward, albeit far less ferociously than even just a decade ago. It offers copious blackberry and blueberry scents on the nose, plus pressed violets and a light estuarine scent that becomes accentuated with time. The palate is medium-bodied with a silky-smooth texture. Finely chiseled tannins frame multilayered black fruit infused with crushed stone, and it has retained that subtle graphite element that lends it a Pauillac-like personality, though less so than out of barrel. This is a beautifully defined Montrose with entrancing symmetry, and it should drink earlier than other recent vintages thanks to a little more pliancy.

The 2018 Montrose balances finesse and power to a degree I don't think I have seen in a recent young Montrose. The 2018 has plenty of depth, intensity and thrust - all signatures of Montrose - but it also has a striking sense of elegance. Crème de cassis, lavender, spice, menthol and licorice meld together in the glass. Although it is naturally very young, the 2018 Montrose appears to have a tremendous future. The blend is 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, which is to say more Cabernet and less Merlot than is the norm. Readers will have to be patient with the 2018, but it is a stellar wine in the making. Montrose presents an en primeur sample aged 100% in new oak (while the final wine is aging in 60% new barrels) to show a wine that is more ready to taste young. - Antonio Galloni, vinous.com, May 2019

Black core with narrow purple rim. More obvious oak than on La Dame de Montrose but still with hints of violets alongside pure cassis intensity. Almost a mintiness in the ripe (but not in the least overripe) black fruit. Oak spice and fruit spice. Amazingly juicy even with the density and concentration of both fruit and tannins. Needs lots of time but has great harmony and length. Powerful without being aggressive. Very oaky at the moment but has the stuffing and the wonderful fruit to hold its own.Julia Harding, jancisrobinson.com, April 2019

A full-bodied powerhouse as well as a perfect wine, the 2018 Château Montrose is a final blend of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet Franc that was raised in 60% new French oak. Boasting a deep purple hue as well as awesome levels of crème de cassis and smoky blackberry fruits and notes of tobacco, lead pencil, scorched earth, and chocolate, it's deep, opulent, and incredibly concentrated on the palate, with no shortage of mid-palate depth, tannins, or length. It reminds me a little of a fresher version of the 2003, although there's more Cabernet Sauvignon in 2018 as well as less Merlot. It has that classic Montrose minerality and backward, mineral-laced style, yet I suspect this will be drinkable in just 5-6 years and should evolve into a modern-day legend from this terroir.