Had this wine yesterday at our VinoCellar organizational meeting. Decanted for 2 1/2 hours prior to tasting. Consumed from Riedel Vinum Bordeaux stems.

Deeper and darker in color than the '90 Latour. Bursting w/ cedar on the nose. Full bodied and lush in the mouth w/ black currant, earth and more cedar notes. Extremely well balanced w/ firm, but drinkable tannins. Very long finish. This is a fantastic wine. jb Rating 96

This wine has a long life ahead of it but is drinking beautifully now.

jb

This is a WOW. Agree with everything that j.b. stated on this Wine. But, want to stress the Aroma/Nose (as 1 of the Best I have ever experienced, so far).

Rating: 96+

This was clearly my WOTN in every way. Simply a gigantic offering with so much going for it and noticeable pedigree, thanks ojeffso! Massively endowed with humungous extraction nicely tamed within the core components, a long oppulent finish, and well balanced yet plainly evident tannins. This wine has a fantastic and long life ahead of it. 98 points

I think Board-O will agree with me, in that this may be one of the best wines made in all of France for the great 1990 vintage. I hope to be the lucky soul to try this again someday.

IW

WOW!

This wine was simply sensational. Closed at first, over the course of the next 5 hours it opened (slightly) to reveal cigar notes, fruit that continually came out from hiding, and an explosive mouthfeel. Powerful, tannic, and carrying enough acid, this wine can easily go the distance.

This wine was remarkable. 98-100 points.

(BTW - I'm giving it 98-100 points since I do not have experience in judging the difference between these three scores.) If you are able to find this wine at a reasonable price, buy it.

When I was visiting Quilceda Creek last May, Mr. Golitzin (the winemaker) quipped he had this bottle recently and it blew him away. Nice to see everyone else on the same page.

Tasted at the1990 Bordeaux Dinner, 12/15/04:

As good as the previous wines were, the 1990 Montrose simply stood out in a league of it’s own, reaching and sustaining heights that no other wine on this evening even approached. An absolutely enchanting nose, with complex aromatics of raspberries, tobacco, graphite, spice, mocha, earth, and minerals that only gained in complexity and depth as the wine opened up in the glass. Harmoniously balancing tremendous power with grace and elegance, this offered tremendous depth of fruit, plush sweet tannins, deep complexity, and a long finish that won’t quit. 98 points.
This was my WOTN, and it should come as no surprise that this was voted #1 wine of the night, with:
8 votes for 1st place
2 vote for 2nd place
weighted vote value of 26 points.

Hey Eric, that Montrose is something else, isn't it? We had it now about 2 years ago. And, I still remember it. That says it all.

I met a wino/golfer in Las Vegas who brought the `90 Montrose to an offline. I loved it. He said he had bought a case on release or pre-release or something. When he got it, he tried a bottle and liked it enough to look for more. It had gotten some accolades, so was tough to find. A friend told him of a retailer who he thought had some. He called and was quoted $36/bottle. There were five cases. He asked what if he took all five. The retailer replied that it would be $30/bottle then. Stories like that (that are not my own) make me sick.

I had this for the first time tonight with Pyang, Chico, and Winebrat at Enotria. I passed a 5 year certification exam today and I was ready to celebrate. I will be quite honest, I havn't had a red wine that really WOWed me in a good long time. This wine lived up to every bit of hype I've ever read. It gave me goose bumps and made me want to cry. This is fantastic Bordeaux. Huge beyond belief, mouthcoating, complex, youthful, even primal, but oh so forthcoming. Black fruit, cedar, tar, black earth, F-me this is the stuff. I'm sorry, I've read 'why buy the '90 when the '89 is so good for 1/3 the price'....ah I've had the '89, own a good quantity of it and it is good, but it pales compared to the '90. This is a bottle you want to go drink in a corner all by yourself. I love the '90 Las Cases and this puts it to shame. 99+ points. The only reason this isn't 100 is I haven't had the '90 Latour. One of the 5 best wines I've ever had in my life. What can I say, I'm a happy man... Drink now through 2030.

Stealthman: I am not so sure that the 90 Latour can beat this wine. I've had the 90 Latour with mixed results. But, not once did it come close to this bottle.

I had this once about 2-3 years ago now. I still remember it & reminisce about it. 'Nuff said.

BTW: I think ojeffso has a case of this. Remind to self, stay friendly with ojeffso.

actually, i bought a case on release and split it with a friend. the night we had the 90 montrose, we also had the 90 latour. this was my third and most disappointing 90 latour. none have ever been close to the 90 montrose.

Thanks again Stealth...that was a real treat. You were too generous as I think I got more than you did when you twisted my arm at the end. I know you told me, but I forgot. Where did you pick this up at again?

JB, I've had several outstanding bottle of the '90 Montrose. It just keeps getting better. Big is an understatement for this one. Roberto

I am really happy to read Stealth's review. I have three mags resting...waiting...

wow - you-all are so lucky...I have (wet) dreams about the 90 Montrose lol! ...an Inlaw of mine has a whole case...but he's never been much into sharing his (good) wine - so I know I'll never get to try any...so in my dreams only I guess...

board-o-i think you should wait until 2040 to open those mags.

I may not have the strength to pull the corks then!

I had the pleasure of pulling a cork on another of these last night. It sat next to a '96 Carruades de Lafite, which wasn't quite fair, but... First order of business was to smell the freshly uncorked bottles...Baby Lafite, lots of iron, minerals, smoke, red fruits, typical Bordeaux. Chateau Montrose comparatively seared your nostrils with billowing aromas of hung tobacco, earth, black fruit, and reefered beef. It detuned my nose to the extent that the Carruades was scentless upon smelling a second time. Again this wine is just monumental in structure and in my experience, has very few peers in terms of concentration, it truly is a battleship in a sea of rowboats, just amazing. You've read it all before, dense fruit, ever evolving, mouth coating, finish forever, but this bottle drank quite a bit younger than the bottle at Enotria and while truly enjoyable, really needed easily 5 more years of developement to soak up some gangly youthful tannins that mildly distracted (read made not perfect) from the overall beauty of the wine. 97 pts as drank, no doubt 100 pt potential.

How long did you decant or allow it to sit before pouring?