What's the latest on the 1996 Montrose?

[Blanquito]

I remember some interesting threads back on the old MSN site (may it rest in peace) about the merits of the 1996 Montrose, even with a link to an article where Quarin preferred it to the 1990.

Some BWE commentators called it a sleeper 1989 look-alike, others were less impressed.

This wine keeps popping on up auction for $60-70, so I thought I'd see what the latest skinny is on this terrific St. Estephe. Any thoughts?

Cheers,
Patrick

[JimHow]

Blanquito, I'm busy watching something called "Zombie Strippers" on cable right now, but I have a few thoughts on this wine, which I'll post tomorrow....

[Blanquito]

Enjoy "Zombie Strippers"; sounds like a nice change from wine!

[JimHow]

Ooookay.... Government-manufactured virus infects strippers in small Nebraska town, and the fun begins.... Yee-hah!
Anyway, I finally broke down and uncorked one of my '96 Montroses a few months back. I don't know if I'd rank it up there with the '89, but it is definitely a high quality Montrose. My only concern is that it is not a style for everyone. It is my kind of wine, with huge tannins and great 1996 ripeness. This of course was a huge cabernet year in 1996 (although, doesn't Montrose have a higher than normal merlot content?). It is going to require a lot of patience, though, I'm not planning on uncorking another bottle for at least another five years. I remember Dave Beckwith was raving about this black/purple beauty a few years back.

[Ramon_NYC]

I had this about 2-3 years ago and after remembering 2 days later that I had transfered and stored half of it in a 375 bottle in my refrigerator, I had the the wine and it still had some of that tannin that was all over when I first sampled it 2 days ago, but then it also showed some very good strucuture, lean but ripe fruit, and just like Jim wrote above, it was high quality. It's a big backward wine that I think would require patient cellaring . I really liked it and since then I've added a few more to my stash whenever I spotted good prices.

[Houndsong]

The best I can say about my one go with this one is, as Ramon puts it, "lean but ripe" and "backward." I'll put it this way - I have an open mind and hope to see this wine justify even a $60-70 price tag at some point in the future. I paid that much for my bottles a few years ago.

[William P]

Sitting on two of these. I think I'll wait maybe 10 years before opening the first one.

[PappaDoc]

I actually cut the capsule to pull the cork some two years ago. I went to BWE search and decided against it as it is the sole btl I have. I wait another 3-4 years, or until a consensus here says it's ready to play.

[Blanquito]

Thanks for the input. The Montrose is now $80 a bottle (at the auction), so I'm out at that price.

[JimHow]

I'll bring one of mine to uncork, Blanquito, when next we meet.