On the sixth day of Christmas…
On the sixth day of Christmas, with diminishing space under the tree, db’s Bordeaux correspondent Colin Hay sources a dream case from a single estate, the wonderful singularity that is Château Montus in Madiran in the South-West of France.
The wines: This time they’re all sourced from a single estate, the wonderful singularity that is Château Montus in Madiran in the South-West of France.
The concept: The idea here is again simple, but a little different. It is to pay tribute to something crucial but very rarely done well in the world of fine wine – namely the successful passage of an iconic wine from the person who created it and who established its reputation to a new generation. Here, at Château Montus, that intergenerational renewal has been sensitively managed and wonderfully achieved. Antoine Veiry has slowly come to take the helm at the property that Alain Brumont has crafted since the late 1990s. As I put it in a recent article, this is “not so much a change in style as the continuation and technical finessing of a gentle evolution”.
Unique selling point: This mixed case reflects that. It pairs two great vintages of Montus’ three great reds – Montus itself, Montus XL and La Tyre – the first produced by Alain Brumont, the second Antoine Veiry.
Yours for: Entirely unintentionally, I’ve posed a bit of a tricky challenge to our real, imagined or proverbial loved ones in that the older vintages of these wines are note easily sourced. But the aim of this entry is really to show how good recent vintages of Montus are and the sheer quality of Antoine Veiry’s wine-making. A three-bottle mixed case of the Montus 2021, Montus XL 2019 and La Tyre 2019 would set back you or your significant other around £300, duty and VAT paid.
Tasting note:
Château Montus 2008 (Madiran; predominntly Tannat the Cabernet Sauvignon in this vintage; aged for 12-14 months in French oak barrels, around 80 per cent of it new; 14% alcohol). Incredibly dark still at the core, with just a little early bronzing at the rim. Lifted and almost a little zesty in its freshness. There’a lovely wild herbal note – very much a signature of Montus in vintages like this – that resonates so well with the dark berry and damson fruit. There’s a little Griotte cherry too and a subtle hint of cedar. Fresh, again, on the palate and very linear, the fruit bound tightly to the spine which intensifies the sense of depth and concentration. Very pure, nicely focussed and well-delineated, this comes across far younger than it actually is. Drinking beautifully. 93.
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Château Montus 2021 (Madiran; 80% Tannat; 10% Cabernet Franc ; 10% Cabernet Sauvignon; from a terroir of rolled pebbles on very fine clay at 250 metres; aged for 3 years in oak barrels, 70% of which are new; 13% alcohol). Very classical and again very youthful (tasted blind you might think this to be the 2024 – a truly excellent wine in a much more ostensibly difficult vintage with which this has much in common). Graphite. Cedar. Crunchy-croquant in its dark berry and plum fruits. Dense, compact and high-impact in the mouth. Grippy, but with incredibly fine-grained yet tactile tannins. Succulent. Svelte. Sapid. This comes from a top vintage and that is evident immediately in the sense of balance and harmony that this exudes. It seems at first rather Bordelais, but to be honest there’s a deal more depth and concentration here than in most of the top wines of Bordeaux in this vintage. More right-bank than left-bank in this vintage with a lovely natural sweetness to the fruit. 94. Available in the UK from Law & Wheeler for £31.06 per bottle, duty and VAT paid.
Château Montus XL 1999 (Madiran; 100% Tannat from a steeply-sloping, south-facing terroir parcel on a terroir of rolled pebbles (galets roulés) over striated brown and orange clays at around 250 metres; 40 months of aging in different wood formats; 13.5% alcohol). Autumnal, with a natural sweetness coming from the dark berry-fruits – most prominently, mulberries and brambles. There’s allspice and nutmeg too, sandalwood and a little graphite. There’s hint of freshly ground coffee beans, leather and a grating of fresh black truffle. This is opulent and refined on the palate, rich, bold, intense yet gloriously lithe and dynamic, almost sinuous and radiantly bright and energetic. And it is cool and dark at the heart of its spherical core. Utterly gorgeous and just entering its sweet spot. 97.
Château Montus XL 2019 (Madiran; 100% Tannat from a steeply-sloping, south-facing terroir parcel on a terroir of rolled pebbles (galets roulés) over striated brown and orange clays at around 250 metres; 40 months of aging in different wood formats; 13.5% alcohol). Black at the core, just as it should be and, like all of these wines, remarkably youthful. Nutty. Dense. Compact. Viscous. Full and rich – and generous with it. Black cherry, kirsch but also much fresher black raspberry and mulberry notes. Graphite, graphite and more graphite. There’s a pleasingly stalky/bulby character to the florality – with a hint of peony and gladiolus bulb. A little hint of the leather that will come through with the bottle aging this deserves. Full and ample, but very youthful, just a tad closed at first and slow to reveal its secrets. Sweeter and sweeter with aeration, this is still a baby. It needs time and has decades ahead of it. 96. The 2016 vintage is currently available from IDealwine UK for £77.42, duty and VAT paid.
Château Montus La Tyre 2000 (Madiran; 100% Tannat; from a steeply-sloping single parcel planted high on the summit of the crest, with a western-exposition on a distinct terroir of iron-rich red clay over galets; 13% alcohol). A wine of incredible depth and intensity when one considers that it already has a quarter of a century on the clock and when you also consider that this was the very first (labelled) vintage, the vines having been planted only 8 years earlier. Dark berry and stone fruits. White truffle, yet black chocolate. A little graphite, a hint of cedar and a lovely wild herbal note – mountain thyme. Soft, gentle, lush and plush on the palate but with great grip from the tannins and a depth and profundity that remains the signature of this great wine today. 96.
Château Montus La Tyre 2019 (Madiran; 100% Tannat; from a steeply-sloping single parcel planted high on the summit of the crest, with a western-exposition on a distinct terroir of iron-rich red clay over galets; 13.5% alcohol). The Petrus of Madiran, with the red clay being to La Tyre what blue clay is to Petrus! Brilliant. Singular. Exceptional. And distinctly animal! Black and red cherries, picked just à point. But there’s a remarkable concentration to these – as if they have been worked on by the alchemist to make an essence for the parfumier. Talking of which, there’s a subtle hint of the same parfumier’s essence of violet too that I really love. But there’s also that gamey Montus element – lièvre a la royale, venison and the slight sweetness of wild boar. Oh, and walnut shell too. And there’s a redolent black chocolate theme (something I always expect from La Tyre). Full and ample, opulent and more seductive than the rather more serious, austere and aristocratic XL. This is also, surprisingly perhaps (but actually rather true to its identity), more accessible and approachable even in its relative infancy. This pushes at the cheeks and has a remarkable sense of viscosity. But, despite that, there’s still a vivid sense of energy, a lovely crystallinity and a purity and precision that I find remarkable. The acidity, in particular, is very vertical in its presentation – like a rocket fired upwards in the mouth appearing out of the dark depths of the layered and dense mid-palate bringing incredible lift and dynamism. La Tyre is the expression of a singular and unique terroir, XL is rather more a sublimation of Montus itself. They are both wonderful. 98. Available in the UK for £390, inclusive of VAT and duty, for a single magnum from Millesima.
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