This property seems to hit all the right spots for me. It makes a refined, yet earthy and typical Pessac without lashings of new oak nor huge extraction. It is elegant and savoury and begs me to take another sip - all things I like to see in a wine.
I had brief sip of this before at a formal tasting (blind, BTW) where I thought it very nice. Though it was only a 5cl taste, on the basis of this showing I decided to buy a bottle. Today we had a small gathering of friends, and since one participant in a magnanimous gesture brought a Montrose 2003 over, I decided to open my bottle to see if I should buy more.
Upon opening, I was a little frightended as it showed much of a dill-like oakiness to it - and this is something I just cannot stand in wine. 10 mins later, it had disippated and I was glad. It did show a rather roasted/warm year character to the fruit, and the fruit was darker toned than normal for the property. The nose is savoury and beautifully vegetal (but not underripe at all - if anything, the opposite!), but apart from the tiniest hint of cassis, there isn't really much to say that it is Bordeaux. It does have a nice depth to it, and I am quite certain it will develop well, but I am not too convinced anymore it is a wine to my tastes.
The palate is abundantly fruity, with noticable but ripe tannins, too low acidity for my tastes. The oak is noticable now, but isn't a vanillary type of "modern" feel to it, but rather it is what I would expect to find in a young Bordeaux and which I feel should integrate well. The aftertaste is long and savoury and surprisingly shows some nice acidity.
I honestly don't know if I'll bother to buy another bottle of this. It has elements I really love, yet the level of ripeness is a bit too much for me. If I see this in the shop at the same price, I probably will buy one bottle, but I won't go out of my way to get more.
Montrose 2003
I feel a bit ungenerous opening "only" a bottle of one of my favourite Bordeaux properties when my guests brings a Montrose. But I'll make it up the next time.
The all too few Montroses I've tried have been very much to my taste. In fact it is a property, like Haut-Bailly, that I hold very dear to my heart despite having much fewer experiences with it. But this 2003 is a wine that I don't comprehend. The nose is sickeningly sweet: it smells of banana-bread! The fruit is very dark toned and though it has a few savoury scents to it that brings a bit of lift to the wine, I don't find it pleasurable.
The palate is also massive: the fruit is overwhelming; the tannins are copious albeit soft. One might be right in saying that this shows potential now rather than being a pleasurable drink in its own right. But frankly I don't see this developing into something I would like in the future either! It is no secret that I prefer my wines lean and elegant and green and savoury: rather understated than overstated. This wine, in my opinion, was overstated. Impressive, but not at all to my style.
Thankfully my friend is a very open minded imbiber (much more than me, I'm afraid) and had no problems with me both serving a humbler wine (I'll make it up the next time) and not liking what he brought!
-Otto-