Willem Booij

9.5

There are bottles I expect to be great, and then there are bottles that still manage to stop me in your tracks.

Château Montus Cuvée Prestige 1998 is firmly in that second category.

This wine has rested quietly in my cellar for nearly three decades, patiently waiting, gathering depth rather than dust. Opening it tonight feels less like uncorking a bottle and more like releasing a memory that has been maturing alongside time itself.

I use to secretly hide this wine among a line up of great clarets and it always stood out!

From the first pour, it’s clear: this wine is fully evolved, yet beautifully alive. The once powerful Tannat backbone has softened into something remarkably refined. The texture is silky, rich, almost velvety, no rough edges left, only harmony.

Dark fruit has given way to layers of leather, cedar, dried plum, cocoa and subtle spice. Everything is integrated, calm, confident. A wine that no longer needs to prove anything.

What amazes me most is not just how good it is, but how complete it feels. This is maturity without fatigue. Depth without heaviness. Power transformed into elegance, love it!

I’ve always known that wines from Château Montus, under the vision of the great Alain Brumont, were built for the long haul. Crafted from old-vine Tannat, grown on the steep, clay-limestone slopes of Madiran, Cuvée Prestige is fermented and aged with patience and intent, often spending extended time in new French oak. It was never meant to be rushed i learned decades ago.

Still, every time I open a mature Montus, I surprise myself all over again.

1998 has reached a point where everything makes sense. It is fully on its drinking window, perhaps right at its sweet spot, and it delivers pure pleasure, calmly and generously.

A reminder that great wine is not about price, prestige, power or extraction, but about time, trust, and restraint.

This bottle didn’t just age well.
It became something greater. 95 WBP — 12 days ago

Nancy Schnur

9.0

Costco $17 — 5 months ago

Lyn Farmer

9.1

Ripe mature tannins give this wine full body and emphasize the soft black fruit - mulberry, blackberry, and black cherry with lively tertiary notes of mocha, forest floor, leather and tar. Wonderful balance of acidity and fruit density. Long finish. — a month ago

Taavi Davies

9.0

Not much on the nose, but lovely dark colour with a rich and herbaceous roundness, nice tannins — 3 months ago

David Koenen

9.2

Best one from the bunch I bought some 20 years ago. Dark, mysterious red. Full bodied, powerful. Spice box. Coffee grind, dark chocolate and cherries. Dusty, cacao like tannins. Bold and brazen. — 3 months ago

Ericsson

9.3

Sweet Tannat from Uruguay, that alone is praise. — 6 months ago

Bernard Benninghoff

9.6

Great tasting blend. — 19 days ago

with Brenda

brando cox

8.9

Fruit forward and well balanced. Raspberry cassis through and through. Nose and taste are aligned. Solid wine, at the average price point in the US and EU there may be better values to be had. — 3 months ago

pkeros .

10

On the heavier side, a bit tart, plums — 4 months ago

Doug Powers

9.2

[35% Tempranillo, 28% Grenache, 21% Tannat, 14% Syrah, 2% Cabernet Sauvignon] Still dark purple color, dark fruit and earthy aromas and flavors, some nice depth and balance and also lots of structure, I’d call this quite an unique Sierra Foothills red due to the cepage, seems like it will last quite a while, kudos to Hank!! — 5 months ago

with Hank and Jim