1976 Château Montrose
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Tasting notes
Tasted on the same evening as a Montrose 1990 from magnum, which in theory should have been far more successful than the 1976, but in fact that was just a wonderful wine from a vintage that had a hot dry summer not unlike the ones we have seen more recently - and on this showing, you can feel pretty confident that Montrose has exactly what it takes to keep delivering at the highest level in these kind of years. Full of sweet raspberry purée, leather, tobacco, mandarin peel and cold campfire ash, so drinkable and moreish. The tannins are fully melted, and yet the wine still has shape and character. Harvest September 15 to September 29. Exact blend unknown, owned by the Charmolüe family.
Critic scores
Robert Parker
Neal Martin
More reviews and scores
Tasted at the Montrose vertical in Stamford, I was hoping for good things from the 1976 Montrose, but this bottle failed to replicate performances that it showed with Robert Parker in 2014. It was harvested earlier than other vintages, between 15 and 29 September. This has a light, earthy and tobacco-tinged bouquet, leathery with an odd sea-water note. The palate is medium-bodied with a grainy texture, somewhat shallow with cigar-stained black fruit and a rather shallow finish. Maybe there are other bottles out there better than this? Tasted May 2016.
In the early days of this wine, I think this was one of my favorite and most highly recommended wines when I did my review of the 1976s, which was generally very critical of the vintage. The wine is fully mature and should hold for another 5-10 years, but it showed very well in the vertical at Chateau Montrose. The year 1976 started off with great promise. Early spring had a very hot April, May and June with no vineyard diseases, but an extreme drought in July, August and September caused vineyard stress. During harvest, rain caused some dilution in numerous vineyards. The harvest occurred between September 15 and 29. This is a fully mature, very complex wine, with notes of cedar wood, new saddle leather, mulberries, and blackcurrants. The wine has some loamy soil notes and unsmoked cigar tobacco in a medium to full-bodied, very complex and fully mature style. Drink it up. Wine Advocate.August, 2014
Tasted at the Montrose vertical in Stamford, I was hoping for good things from the 1976 Montrose, but this bottle failed to replicate performances that it showed with Robert Parker in 2014. It was harvested earlier than other vintages, between 15 and 29 September. This has a light, earthy and tobacco-tinged bouquet, leathery with an odd sea-water note. The palate is medium-bodied with a grainy texture, somewhat shallow with cigar-stained black fruit and a rather shallow finish. Maybe there are other bottles out there better than this? Tasted May 2016. Mar 2017, www.robertparker.com
About the producer
Ch. Montrose is one of two Second Growths from Saint-Estèphe and one of the most consistent producers in Bordeaux. The wines from this property are both elegant and powerful, and some of the Médoc's most age-worthy .