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La Dame de Montrose, first vintage 1983, is the highly-regarded second wine of Chateau Montrose, the St. Estephe deuxième cru (second growth). Montrose has a little more than 90ha of vines, the entire site overlooking the Gironde. The vineyard is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Around 50% (or less) of the crop goes to make the grand vin and around 30% (or more) goes into La Dame de Montrose. (The rest is used elsewhere or sold in bulk.) In good years La Dame de Montrose is considered a bargain, in the best years it stands alone as a great wine. The Dame de Montrose herself is the late Yvonne Charmolüe, who ran the estate from 1944 to 1960.

The 2014 Cuvee d'Elevage Cabernet is an outstanding expression of a northern Margaret River Cabernet. Only the best fruit parcels combined with finest French oak lead to a perfumed bouquet of Cassis, ripe berries and cedar. The complex palate shows ripe and silky tannins, pure fruit intensity with red berries and cassis. Its finely structured with long lasting finish of cigar box and vanilla. Drink now or until 2028.

"A 64-36% blend matured for 22 months in 70% new French oak. Bright, light hue, still youthful; a complex wine from start to finish, the bouquet expressive, the medium-bodied palate with many messages of savoury red fruits, black olive and briar, corralled by fine, but persistent, tannins." 94 points, James Halliday Wine Companion, July 2014.