Montrose 1918

Frank was admiring its 'sweet' nose, although I found it to be more buttery and oaky. In fact, it was the first nose where the oak bothered me a bit . old oak, of course. It was brought to our attention that most of the wines, at least in this flight, except the 1916 which had original corks, were reconditioned at the chateau in 1993. HOWEVER, at Chateau Montrose, all wines are reconditioned with the same vintage (BRAVO). One of greatest tragedies of the 20th century in Bordeaux are the amount of wines that were reconditioned, or topped off, with younger wines, especially when a majority of them did not even have to be in the first place. Basically, we are talking winocide, perhaps more like sedation, as reconditioned wines that are topped off never reach the heights of original or properly reconditioned bottles. Without naming names, suffice it to say that there were some significant chateaux in Bordeaux that topped off many wines, wines with good fills even, unnecessarily and incorrectly. But I digress&the 1918 came around a bit with some aeration, although Francois Audouze and Michel both said that wines of this age are meant to sit in the glass and not be swirled. Well, mine benefited from some swirling, and some carob, old wood and book, a touch of musk and caramel all emerged. The wine had nice texture and body, flesh and balance, still meat on its bones, but its flavors were definitely old. Its 'oldness' was not necessarily a negative, but not necessarily a positive either. Frank said 'it still has life, but it might need a eulogy soon.' The structure held, and I had to respect the wine, but its old flavors were not my cup of&tea. Serena Sutcliffe waxed on about the wine's virtues, however, calling it 'scented' and 'so elegant.' She filled us in on a bit of history, reminding us that at the time it was regarded as a big vintage that needed time, and that in the past, vintages were not judged as they are now

Tasted on the 2nd November 2018. Stand A. Chateau bottled. Truffles, light, quite similar to Latour in appearance and quality. Very impressive.