Mature, bright, fresh, earthy, tobacco-stained and with crisp red fruits, the wine is classic in style with a medium-bodied, slightly austere, bright, red fruit and forest leaf profile. The wine has entered its prime time window.

28% of the production. 18% Cabernet Sauvignon and 82% Merlot. The color is super dark inky purple almost black and opaque. There's a purity of fruit that is consistent in St. Estephe of blackberry perfume with underlying mineral gravelly stony earthy components. There's a sweet entry of blackberry and plum compote that builds with plus concentration of fruit and finishes with tannins that are so well integrated I hardly notice them.

The last vintage before the integration of parcels behind the château formerly belonging to Phélan Ségur, the 2009 La Dame de Montrose offers up rich aromas of dark berries, pencil shavings, fig jam, dark chocolate and loamy soil. Medium to full-bodied, supple and velvety, it's rich, seamless and enveloping, far outperforming its second wine status. La Dame represents 25% of the estate's production this year. - William Kelley