Château Montlandrie 2016

"Medium garnet-purple colored, the 2016 Montlandrie opens with pretty rose hip, lavender and cinnamon stick notes over a core of baked plums and spice cake plus a touch of tilled soil. Medium-bodied, it has a chewy texture and oodles of freshness framing the youthful spiced plums flavors, finishing on a lingering savory note." - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (11/30/2018, Interim Issue), Ratings: 90+, DRINK: 2019-2031

"The 2016 Montlandrie is a blend of 75% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon picked between 3-17 October. It was picked at 40 hectoliters per hectare and raised in 60% new oak (although my sample was from a one-year-old barrel). It is the first vintage to include more than 80% of the vines that were planted by Denis Durantou after 2008. This has a more broody bouquet than the two Lalande-de-Pomerols, just a touch of leafiness Originting from the Cabernet Sauvignon that enhances the complexity. The palate is medium-bodied with fine structure, more saline than the Les Cruzelles, backward at the moment, but the Cabernets impart some lovely graphite notes on the saline finish. Superb. Expect this to land towards the top of my banded score once in bottle." - Neal Martin, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (4/28/2017, Issue 230), Ratings: 91-93, DRINK: 2021-2036