2024 La Dame de Montrose, St-Estèphe

DUE OCT/NOV 2027

If the grand vin is built for the ages, the 2024 La Dame de Montrose plays a different hand, emphasizing suavity and charm. Offering up notes of blackcurrants, raspberries, violets and licorice, it's medium to full-bodied, ample and suave, with supple tannins, lively acids and a seamless, complete profile. It's a blend of 73% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot and 3% Cabernet Franc that sees a more reductive élevage than the grand vin.

Montrose was one of the terroirs favored by the 2024 vintage, experiencing comparatively good weather at flowering and at least a moderate hydric constraint at veraison. Viticulture was adapted to conditions, with deleafing a month earlier than usual, retention of cover crops for as long as possible and hedging canopies higher to boost ripening. Two green harvests, one on July 20 and another at the end of veraison, brought more homogenous maturity. Harvest took place between 23 September and 7 October.

92-94 points robertparker.com

This has dark fruit character, leafy but nuanced and sculpted, lovely savoury mouthwatering quality on the finish, At Montrose they did some leaf removal even in early June at fruit set, and left grass throughout the vineyard all the way through the season to increase competition, and did some tidying up at the very beginning of veraison to remove any that were clearly a little behind schedule - so basically just had to be extremely reactive at all times. The yield was 38hl/h after farming entirely organically. Harvest 23 September to 8 October. 20% large oak casks, 15% new oak.

92 points janeanson.com

A refined and crunchy second wine with red currants and blackcurrants, some crush stones and juicy tannins. A nice center palate. Balanced and pretty for the vintage. Medium finish. From organically grown grapes. 73% melrot, 20% cabernet sauvignon, 4% petite verdot and 3% cabernet franc.

92-93 points jamessuckling.com

The 2024 Bordeaux en primeur campaign is unfolding in the shadow of a cool, wet growing season that challenged winemakers across the region. After three warm, early vintages in a row, 2024 has returned to a more classic, slow-developing profile — think freshness, lower alcohols, and finer tannins, especially from top terroirs. It’s not a blockbuster year, but it may well be a sleeper vintage for those who value structure, clarity, and elegance over sheer concentration.

The early tastings point to Cabernet-led wines in the Médoc with good definition and precision. Pauillac and St-Julien performed particularly well, especially on gravelly soils that drained effectively during the wet spring. Margaux is more variable. On the Right Bank, it’s a Merlot vintage only for those with the nerves (and the vineyard work) to wait. Pomerol is solid but less flamboyant than recent years, while St-Émilion was more mixed, with limestone-based sites faring best.

Sauternes is limited but excellent in quality, with botrytis arriving late but clean. Dry whites from Pessac-Léognan and the Graves are particularly crisp and aromatic, likely some of the standout wines of the vintage. Alcohol levels are down across the board, as are pHs, so there’s great freshness — and lower yields in many places due to poor flowering or late mildew pressure.

Overall, 2024 Bordeaux is a return to classicism, with great terroirs and disciplined producers making wines of refinement, not richness.