Château Montrose

Review of the Estate

Château Montrose is known today for it's powerful, full bodied Bordeaux wine. But that is not what the property was originally known for. In fact, before Bordeaux wine was produced at the estate, it earned fame for being a hunting area.

That all changed when Alexandre de Sègur, who also owned numerous, other illustrious Bordeaux wine properties such as Château Mouton, Château Lafite and Château Latour, gave the property to his son, Nicolas Alexandre. Alexandre did not keep the property long. In 1778, he sold it to Etienne Theodore Dumoulin. At that point in time, the true birth of Château Montrose took place.

Next, thanks to the direction of Etienne's son Theodore, the land was cleared and the first vineyards were planted. The family built the château, added making facilities and by 1815, Château Montrose was already well known for their unique St. Estephe wines.

How did Château Montrose get its name? According to local legend, when the heather was in flower, the hillsides turned pink. Keep in mind, pink is rose in French. In time, sailors on the river referred to the area as Mont Rose. Due to that local strain of dialect, the owner, the Dumoulin family eventually followed along with the sailors and began calling the Left Bank estate, Château Montrose.

In 1861, Château Montrose was sold to Mathieu Dollfus. Dollfus rebuilt Château Montrose from top to bottom. He constructed apartments for the estate workers and erected new farm buildings. By 1880, a small village was created on the grounds of Château Montrose.

In 1896, the next major chapter in the history of Château Montrose took place when the estate became property of the Charmolue family. The new owner, Louis Victor Charmoule had a long history in the Bordeaux wine trade as he was born at Château Figeac in St. Emilion. By marriage, he acquired Château Cos d'Estournel and Château Pomys, also located in the St. Estephe appellation. Château Montrose remained in the Charmolùe family for three generations.

Château Montrose has been producing one of the best wines in all of Bordeaux for centuries. In fact, the inspiration to purchase the estate by the the Bouygues brothers came after tasting the exalted 1989 Château Montrose. Thomas Bouygues was heard to state that the wine was so good, if he ever had the chance to purchase the famous estate, he would buy it. In 2006, that is exactly what took place.

In May 2006, Jean Louis Charmolue sold the estate to the Bouygues brothers. For the Bouygues family, it was the perfect addition to their massive business portfolio. In fact, they added a neighboring Bordeaux property to their holdings a short time later, Château Tronquoy Lalande.

The new owners of Château Montrose, the Bouygues brothers quickly began an intensive renovation project that was completed in time for the 2013 harvest at a cost of close to 55 million Euros! The renovations were designed by the respected architects, Yves Gremont and Bernard Mazieres. One of the key mandates for the renovations was to ensure Château Montrose was as green and environmentally conscious as possible. Similar to what was accomplished at Château Tronquoy Lalande, Château Montrose will obtain as much of its energy though the use of solar, wind and water with the use of a sophisticated geothermal energy systems. To aid in this effort, custom insulation hat is up to three feet thick and windows that are as deep as 1 inch are in place.

Along with the massive improvements and renovations at Château Montrose, after purchasing the estate, the new owners brought one of the more popular and revered figures in Bordeaux out of retirement to manage both, Château Montrose and Château Tronquoy Lalande. Jean Bernard Delmas. Delmas was director of Château Haut Brion for decades until he retired and was replaced by his son. The elder Delmas is in charge of both Château Tronquoy Lalande and Château Montrose. Aside from modernizing the wine making facilities at Château Montrose during the renovation, the Bouygues brothers added numerous changes that were environmentally sound at their Medoc estate.

They installed a geothermal pumping technology that is used for cooling as well as heating. Striving to be as green and energy efficient as possible, they added solar power as well to Château Montrose. This was quite a change for the traditional estate.

Château Montrose Wine List