I have to admit I am stunned, as I have never tasted before such outstanding youth Bordeaux`s in my life. All were marked by an impressive density, balance, fruit concentration, polished tannins, freshness, beauty and drinking pleasure. And thankfully we don’t have to wait 50 years, so we are all still alive to enjoy these beauties. Wonderful to drink right now, maybe best in 5-10 years. In my view I see no real benefit of BIG aging. It doesn’t get any better.
The wine blends 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot.
OMG, what a perfume. This wine combines power and elegance in a perfect way. In addition freshness and density combined with „unendliche“ length. Worth to mention also the terrific structure. What a beauty. Reminds me on the legendary 1990, my first 100pts. wine. Unforgettable
I’m still trying to figure out your state of delusion that you in your old age will ever enjoy these 2022s, lol! And if it is medically prescribed, please let me have some!
I think they doubt what you are saying, as do I since it has not been true of any cru classe of Bordeaux in my time, going back to the 80s, as a wine geek. Montrose and PLL may taste great now in the way infant wines can. But it seems wildly unlikely that, if the vintage is any good, they won’t taste better in 25 or more years. I drank my 1989 PLLs up before they were 15. Every last bottle was great. They are a lot better now.
That it drinks young, I do not doubt. That it will be at its best between 5-10 years old is a different kind of claim. It would indeed make it a different animal, as different from a Bordeaux as a horse is from a shark.
If AI keeps us alive and kicking until we are 118 or so, Mark will be the one laughing because he will have plenty of great wine to drink. If not, his heirs can sell the wine for a fortune.
During most of my wine buying life, Pichon Lalande, Leoville las Cases, Ducru Beaucaillou and Palmer have made wines of first growth quality at a fraction of the price. And, now Montrose has joined them.
Serious thread drift: Leoville Las Cases is the most over rated wine in Bordeaux. Stolid, boring, forever needing more time, even the supposedly “great” vintages (eg 75, 82, 86, 90) have been unimpressive. The 85 has its charms but in my experience only the 96 is worthy of the rep (and even that one is evolving glacially). I blame RO for screwing things up as the wine always seem/seemed stripped somehow.
I’d note that all the other super seconds seem worthy of the title. Just one dude’s opinion of course.
