Montrose vertical 1966-1992 at Kittle House

WINE TALK
1

I belong to a couple of private wine groups, and this one TWO has been going since the late 1980s. Generally, the tastings are done blind, and the host has a relatively small budget of around $600 to buy wines for the group. Anything he doesn’t spend goes into a kitty, and when there are excess funds, we buy wines for the group. We had accumulated enough to do a Montrose vertical, so the level of wine was going to be higher than usual, and so would be expectations. Some kind soul added the 1989 and 1990, I brought my last bottle of 1975 and one of the older members provided the rest of the wines.
Kittle House offers free corkage on Mondays, a serious irony considering the strength of the cellar. I have been going there since for over thirty years, and with some sadness, I learned that Dick Crabtree, the first owner I had met, had died late last year. A massive six foot six larger than life character, he is a major loss. Another is my old mate, Gustavo, who has retired. Leo, another fixture, took care of the wines, and did a brilliant job, pouring for a group of thirteen tasters. The food was excellent, company good, and the wines showed well.

Flight 1
Two whites to start

Larrivet Haut Brion 2011
A very pleasant Graves, with a nice balance. Nothing really remarkable, but the kind of wine which makes me wonder why I don’t drink more white Bordeaux. 88

Carbonnieux 2012
Very young, showing really only the aromatics of Sauvignon Blanc. One dimensional currently, it will get better, but will need four to five years, to flesh out. Hard to score.

Flight 2
Montrose 1991
Was not expecting much, and was pleasantly surprised. Good wine, a little thin at the end, and lacks mid palate concentration, but showing some Montrose dirt. 87
Montrose 1992
I liked the nose, but the palate was all over the place and there were signs that the wine was breaking up. Sour, a little dour and the finish was thankfully extremely short. 81

Flight 3
Montrose 1990
I always thought the Brett problem in the this wine was hit or miss. It either had it in spades and was undrinkable, or there was none at all, and the wine was magnificent. Of course, you can’t make any assumptions. The first smell showed only a touch, but as it stayed in the glass, it became more and more pronounced. It was not undrinkable, at the end, but it did not give me any great pleasure. The group liked it more than I did. Also, the wine had been decanted for a couple of hours, and then returned to the bottle for the journey to the restaurant. 88-93

Montrose 1989
A good showing as usual, with the slightest touch of Bret. Big, concentrated, tannic, needs time, and had a wonderful earthy quality, and long finish. 95

Montrose 1986
I have had the wine several times, and always expected that this the most tannic Medoc Grand Cru in so tannic a vintage, would be undrinkable. Each time, the wine shows even better than the last time, and has settled into a pretty and mature wine. Will stay here for decades. Probably an extraordinary buy. 95

Flight 4
Montrose 1975
This bottle was on the verge of going over the hill, actually I think it was slightly over. Nowhere near as fresh as all the previous five bottles from this case, and since the last one I had was only a couple of months ago, I have to conclude it was a bad bottle. Previous bottles have been between 91 and 93 points

Montrose 1970
A good showing, and a little more round and easygoing than the much more austere 1966 that followed it. Good bottles of this have been excellent, and this had the mushroom, earth, leather that seem to be Montrose markers. 94

Montrose 1966
This seemed to be a little shy out of the gate, but improved rapidly in the glass. Both these wine were decanted a half hour before drinking, and probably should have had a little more time. It showed a little more amplitude than the 1970, but all that a flvor seemed a little more stretched. A very, very good wine, same flavor profile and probably a touch more finish. 94

Flight 5
Montrose 1979
I love this vintage, it is forever underrated, and continues to yield some quite lovely wines. The 1979 Montrose was unfortunately served as an afterthought, but could have held its own with most of the wines on the table. This was actually probably the most pleasurable to drink, showing a welcome lushness after the austerity of the last flight, in fact most of the wines from the tasting. There is nothing cuddly about Montrose, and this was perhaps as friendly a wine as they have ever produced. 94

Montrose 1976
Faintly corked, hard to see beyond it.

2

Mark, thanks for the notes. My experience on '90 has mirrored yours. It can be one of the best wines I’ve ever had and it can also be one of the worse wines I’ve ever had.

3

Mark, were the wines decanted beforehand or opened when everyone arrived?

4

The 1975, 1986, 1989, 1990 were all decanted way in advance; the 1966/1970 were decanted at the beginning of the meal and served an hour later.

I brought the 1975, and expecting it to behave like previous bottles, decanted four hours in advance. After smelling it, I realized it was far more fragile, so returned it to the bottle, added some gas and stoppered it.

5

Thanks for the notes. I envy those who have had good bottles of the 1990, as every bottle I’ve tried smells of horse excrement and, more unusually, clean dry hay. The hay has allowed me to pick it blind a couple of times.

OTOH, I’ve had the 1989 several times in the last few years and while it has shown some variation, the low end of the range has been very good but lacking some precision and the high end of the range is the best 1989 left bank Bordeaux that doesn’t have Haut-Brion in the name.

I haven’t had the 1966 and 1970 in a while but always found both to be hit and miss, though the 1970 always had a few rough edges. Nice to hear that they have finally worn off.

6

Mark - do you know why the older Montrose’s were sometimes not 750ml? I’ve always wondered about that.

7

The general answer for 720 ML, I understand, is that they were “pints” for the English market.

8

Thanks Mark! Excellent data points as I own 89 and 86 and one bottle of the 75… And I have ordered one bottle of 1966 from a good source for $180 per bottle, and seeing that it costs less than the 2009 or 2010. Talk about ridiculous Bordeaux pricing.

9

Thanks Mark of the notes.

I can count with my fingers the number of 1989 and 1990 Montrose that I’ve had. A couple turned out bad and the rest were pleasurable to drink. One thing is certain, overall I will remember that a 1990 had been the best (not by much), but I’ve also had greater success and pleasure with the 1989s than with the 1990s.

10

Maybe I’ve been lucky, but after going though a few cases of both 1989 and 1990 Montrose (all bought on release), I’ve had nothing but fabulous experiences with both wines. For my palate, I think the 1990 is the better wine now but the 1989 will last longer, as it seems a bit more “old school”.

I’ve had only limited experience with the 1979 Montrose, having liberated a couple of bottles of it from an old Wisconsin supper club where it had been forgotten in the cellar. The first was very good, but would have benefitted from better handling as it was popped, decanted and poured at the supper club. I’ll handle the remainder better at home.

11

Mark, thanks for the great notes. I actually have a bottle or two of the 1966. The last i had it was 10 yrs ago, I recall some metallic and austere qualities. Your note is way more appealing so I have hope for my other bottles.

You sure love the Kittle House. I have to go back soon.

12

I go to Kittle House every month. The list is just insane as you know, and away from the big name and big points wines, there are some gems, priced around auction.

The fact they do the Monday free corkage is really strange to me, and although it works for something like a vertical like the Montrose we did, there are so many wonderful wines on the list, I can’t understand bringing wine at any other time.