Montrose 1995

The 1995 Montrose is beginning to drink brilliantly, and the most recent bottle I pulled from my cellar is the finest I've encountered to date. Wafting from the glass with a classic bouquet of red and black currant fruit, rich loamy soil, cigar box and black truffles, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and layered, with terrific concentration, ripe tannins and lively acids. Seamless and complete, readers cellaring this wine should consider opening a few bottles. 2015 - 2040

Bright crimson. Very grown-up minerals sort of nose with lots of development. Lift and lightness on this wine with real confidence and it’s ready to drink. Perhaps not an enormous depth of fruit but nice balance and very refreshing. Quite racy. And then sinewy, dry, angular on the finish. There is real lift in this wine but the tannins are a bit dry. Drink 2012 - 2022.

Excellent red-ruby color. Plum, currant, animal fur, smoked game, roasted nuts and graphite on the nose, plus a note of toffee. Lush and smooth in the mouth, with notes of minerals, leather and game. Still rather tightly wrapped following the mise, but very nicely balanced from the outset. Firm acidity gives the wine superb delineation and grip. Tannins are dusty and firm-and more obvious today than in the '97, despite the fact that the later year featured higher polyphenol levels.

An explosively rich, exotic, fruity Montrose, the 1995 displays even more fat and extract than the 1996. There is less Cabernet Sauvignon in the 1995 blend, resulting in a fuller-bodied, more accessible, friendlier style. The wine exhibits an opaque black/ruby/purple color, as well as a ripe nose of black fruits, vanillin and licorice. Powerful yet surprisingly accessible (the tannin is velvety and the acidity low), this terrific example of Montrose should be drinkable at a young age. Anticipated maturity: 2003 - 2028. Last tasted 11/97.