TN: 2003 Château Montrose (France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe)

WINE TALK
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  • 2003 Château Montrose - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe (5/12/2011)
    Well I can honestly say, this is not an over-ripe, over-oaked spoof bomb. Can you tell I’m a little jaded? My first thoughts for modern Bordeaux is how bad it isn’t. Presently this wine doesn’t offer a lot of pleasure; I would put it in the fast asleep camp( or worse). It reminds me a little of the 1989, although that wine maybe had, at least, a more approachable fruit profile. So today the wine is muted on the nose, but it still smelled of proper claret, has a nice dark fruit profile, a little earthiness and plenty of austere tannins. It comes across rather lean and middling. Is the goal to make a wine that is really rather undrinkable for 25 or so years with hope it will blossom into something that is amazing? Have I been led to believe that this is perfectly acceptable? Is it? I don’t know. I am shocked at how many people gush over this wine today. I don’t have a problem drinking this wine today to cure a little curiosity or assuage a little doubt, but really this needs a lot of time. The big question is will time help or will the wine dry out and miss the fruit completely. I will hold out hope and reservedly give the wine the possibility of positive improvement in the bottle. (89 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

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Please drink something mature.

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Charlie,

Is your evaluation of the wine a condemnation of how its drinking today or also partial disbelief that it will age into something proper? Any large Bordeaux made in the last 10 years, to me, is more of a foray into potential than into drinking pleasure, unless you enjoy your wines large and strctured.

These wines are made to age for decades, so I’m not sure what the crticism is based upon?

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NO! But thanks.

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Hi Faryan, I hope I wasn’t being too hard on the wine. 89 points from me is pretty good. I also reservedly gave the wine upside potential. Maybe my jaded backhanded compliment in the beginning didn’t help. To me it is an absolutely sleeping wine that definitely is not ready for prime time, has some upside, and I wonder, as it is so much drier than the 1989 at this stage, if the fruit will outlive the austere tannic structure.

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I agree with you for the most part. That being said there is a school of thought that some of the top 03’s never have really shut down. Maybe that is finally happening? I tend to like Bordeaux much older than 8 years so I have not opened many 03’s. However, we did open an 03 Leoville Poyferre late last year and with a 2 hour decant it was everything you would want in a great young Bordeaux.

Tom

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I agree Tom, 03s offer far more pleasure than their older 00 counterparts for the most part. I too have an 03 LP but have been gunshy about popping it (besides I tend to like my Bordeaux much older).

I think Charlie has valid claims on a wine such as 03 Montrose, though. If it sheds its exuberant fruit that it showed in youth (drank once in 08), there are doubt as to whether the structure is sound enough for it to age gracefully into maturity. Contrast that with 00 Montrose which is unyeilding and much more blockish, but I don’t doubt that with time (how long is a good guess though!) it will unravel in an orderly fashion and render a beautiful wine…

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We had a similar experience with an '03 Lynch-Bages at a WB offline a few months ago…showed it’s fruit in '08 the last time I had it, but it was qutie muted at the Feb offliine and was making me wonder the same things that Faryan mentions with the '03 Montrose today

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Tom- I definitely like them older. But I have had great pleasure from many a young Bordeaux before they go to sleep. '89 Montrose is a great example, 2003 Pontet Canet is another example or a very delicious example of a young Bordeaux. The PC is a wine that would confirm your thoughts 2003 sleeping. Last week I had the wine and it was locked down tight. With this 2003 Montrose, I just paused and had a hard time extrapolating forward where the fruit would be in relation to the tannins. Then I started to ponder the thought of having to wait 25, 35 years for the wine to come around. Can you imagine the thought of buying a wine in your 40s and not being able to enjoy a bottle of it until all of your older relatives have passed and your kids have all moved away.

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LOL. I’m 44 and sitting on a cache of Montrose from 89-05 so I don’t need to imagine as that is my reality. I’m still planning on buying some 08’s but am not a fan of the pricing on the 09’s.

Tom

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Hard to guess what is in store for this wine, but I hear good things about the 86s so perhaps there is hope (now - will I live long enough to enjoy 03 Montrose). The 03 vintage was a freak and from what I have read the thick grape skins made for ample tannin and that tannin was a very dry and perhaps not rough, but very pronounced. Based on my sampling of several wines that is certainly the case. I think the wine will age on the tannin and the heat of the vintage produced good fruit concentration that, if not of the roasted quality, should yield some positive results in 10-15 years (so I hope).

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Most Bordeaux shuts down 5-8 years after the vintage, even ripe years. I know some experts says it does not, but more often than not it does.

Waiting on my 03 montrose. I figure 15+ years should be good to start drinking my stash.

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My experience is limited, but I don’t think it takes 15+ years for a Bordeaux to come back after it closes up a bit. Had some 2000s that were pretty locked up in 2005-2008 that are now opening up again, although they are obviously nowhere near fully mature yet.

I understand Montrose is a particularly tough wine though.

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Here is the dilemma: you read some glowing reviews of a wine and everyone agrees that it is a great wine. You open up a bottle since you want to have a great expeirence. The wine shows nothing, and you write a less than glowing review. All the people who were raving about the glowing review turn on you and chastise you for opening such a young wine.

Conclusion, lie and say that it is fantastic, if you want to be popular on the board. [head-bang.gif] Sometimes it is just better to not post at all. [thankyou.gif]

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One of the frustrating aspects of Bordeaux is that great wines shut down and taste like gravel and colored water, fruitless and mean. That doesn’t meant they won’t be back later once they open up, but closed Bordeaux is one of the most frustrating things in wine in my book. I just had a 1990 Montrose the other night. It was still young and tannic but with so much wonderful concentration. I have little doubt the 2003 Montrose will be epic in a similar mold, but you really are playing with the wine at a point where it should be pretty darned closed. I have two cases and two magnums of the 2003 and won’t touch them likely for another 7 years minimum.

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I had an 04 Montrose recently that I thought showed pretty well. You roll the dice when you drink Bords this early - especially wines like Montrose, Calon Segur, Leoville Barton to name a few. 99 Montrose is probably a good vintage to drink young. I think 04 will be reliably good in a few years. I wouldn’t touch 02, 03, 05 or 06 for many years.

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Remember too that “muted” can be a common descriptor for wines which are very [VERY!] mildly contaminated with TCA.

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There are no right answers for artisan products. It is especially frustrating when people think there are. The '07 CDP thread is a great example of that. Some people are calling those wines light and fresh, others monstrous and hot. These people are drinking the same wines. You could put them next to each other, and, unless they suddenly became shy, or bow to peer pressure, they would probably say the same thing.

As for '03 in Bordeaux, I know many of you are tired of hearing my opinion on it, but at least I am consistent. I thought Mouton was pretty close to a flawed wine when I tasted there. Same thing with Lynch Bages. Other wines like Calon Segur, LLC, Gomerie, Nenin, Kirwan, Pontet-Canet, d’Issan, Figeac, Gruaud Larose, etc. have all shown major flaws at one time or another. Of those I think only Pontet-Canet has made any kind of serious rebound. I still say there are only 10-12 wines from the vintage that are worth owning long term. Showings like the Montrose mentioned in the OP are not surprising at all. I think the next ten years will yield major variable showings from this vintage.

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Haven’t had the Montrose since release, but 03 Cos a couple months ago was completely open, forward, and very drinkable. Whether it becomes something significantly more interesting in 10-15 years is another question (I personally think not so much).

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Better yet, just drink Burgundy. [stirthepothal.gif] I really like your honest notes and assessments, Charlie. [cheers.gif]