2003 Château Montrose, St Estèphe, Bordeaux

Very dark crimson, the deepest of all these wines, with colour all the way out to the rim. Young, fresh, very frank aromas – still distinctly unevolved. Extremely dry, savoury and mineral – not a hint of the raisiny sweetness that dogs so many 2003s. It is wonderfully rich and layered yet dry and savoury on the finish. A hint of unsweetened chocolate with a floral top note. Great hit on the front palate, then something dry and scrunchily appetising on the finish. Very very long.Drink 2015 - 2030jancis_robinson_mw MW, JancisRobinson.com

After the 2009, this is the most exciting Montrose ever made, with intense aromas and flavours of plums, blueberries, spices, tobacco and cedar. It’s full-bodied with extremely refined tannins but a dense, delicious palate.Ready to drink nowjames_suckling, jamessuckling_com (June 2013)

Sur colle Ruby-red. Aromas of black cherry, liqueur-like chocolate and exotic spices. It is oversized and thick, with a texture of liquid silk and palate-saturating sweetness—a wonderfully opulent, utterly seamless wine with expressive flavours of black raspberry, smoke and camphor. Today, the wine's extraordinary charm is hiding its substantial underlying structure. It finishes with mouthcoating, utterly noble tannins. The crop level here was 33.5 hectoliters per hectare, notes Laguarigue—a monument of the vintage.This chateau has been on a roll in the new millennium, and the 2004 is once again a vintage superstar. According to Regisseur Philippe de Laguarigue, 2004 is a surprising vintage, in which "the maturity was made in September." He explained: "During the magnificent September, warm days and cool nights eliminated any possible rot. We feared dilution due to the big crop [57 hectoliters per hectare], but although the clusters were huge, the individual grapes were of a standard size. There was much concentration of colour and tannins. The wines are supple and fat, not austere, with the tannins more elegant than those of the 2002.Stephen Tanzer, Vinous.com.com (May 2005)

A prodigious beast of a wine that's now starting to shed just a touch of its considerable baby fat, the 2003 Château Montrose is based on 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot. It shows the vintage's richness with its ripe, opulent core of fruit, yet it freshens up noticeably with time in the glass, offering currants, mulberries, smoked tobacco, minty herbs, and liquorice. Full-bodied, deep, and powerful on the palate, it still has classic Bordeaux focus and structure. It's drinking brilliantly today with a decant and has another 20-30 years of prime drinking.Drink 2022 - 2052jeb_dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com (August 2022)

The enormous 2003 Montrose is built along the lines of the 1989 rather than the 1990. It boasts a dense black/purple color in addition to an extraordinary bouquet of scorched earth, blackberries, and cassis, fabulous purity, a skyscraper-like texture, and substantial tannin in the finish. This superb, huge, ripe wine is one of the vintage’s most prodigious offerings. However, patience will be essential for anyone purchasing this 2003. robert_parker Wine Advocate #164 Apr 2006

The 2003 Montrose was served blind in Bordeaux on two occasions. Picked between 11 to 26 September, it is a blend of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. It remains one of the outstanding wines of a very black and white vintage. Without knowledge of the vintage, I was hesitant to suggest 2003, because though there is clearly fruit intensity locked up inside this Saint Estphe, it is counterbalanced by the estate's trademark masculinity and austerity. So both on the nose and the palate it reaches this happy medium: pure blackberry, graphite and roasted herbs on the nose, perhaps even more elegant than I have observed on previous bottles. The palate is medium-bodied rather than full bodied with sturdy tannins couched in layers of seamless blackberry and cassis fruit, offset by scents of tobacco and graphite. As usual it has immense length and depth, a Montrose that is really just a few chapters into what is sure to be a longer book than many other 2003s. It is not a perfect Montrose, but a couple of hairs' breadth away. Tasted February 2017.Neil Martin - 31/03/2017

The grapes were harvested between September 11 and 26. The blend in 2003 was 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot (a very high percentage), 3% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. Unlike most 2003s, the wine has a freshness and liveliness provided by its extraordinary terroir. It can be drunk now. It has a dense bluish/purple colour to the rim and a remarkable nose of blueberries and mulberries, with blacker cassis and blackberry entering the picture. Scorched earth, spice and liquorice are all present in this magnificent, full-bodied, opulent wine that is very Montrose, very classic and somewhat atypical of the vintage. Anticipated maturity: 2015 - 2040Robert M. Parker, Jr., Wine Advocate (August 2014)