The Grand Finale:

La Conseillante & Montrose 2025

Hello ,

The curtain closes on the 2025 En Primeur campaign today, and Bordeaux has delivered a finale worthy of the occasion. For Zachys' final release of the season, two of the most sought-after wines of the vintage take center stage: Château La Conseillante and Château Montrose. One is a breathtaking expression of modern Pomerol, guided by the visionary Marielle Cazaux and already attracting multiple potential perfect scores. The other is the undisputed heavyweight of the campaign, a wine many critics are calling the wine of the vintage, with extraordinary demand, limited availability, and a level of acclaim rarely seen, even in Bordeaux. If En Primeur is about securing greatness before the market catches up, there could be no more fitting finale than these two iconic releases.

Château La Conseillante
Silk and cashmere, seduction and greatness

La Conseillante has delivered one of the standout wines of the vintage, earning near-universal praise from critics, including three potential 100-point scores. Produced from just 34,000 bottles, the 2025 is a masterclass in refinement, combining vibrant floral aromatics, black cherry and blueberry fruit, and the estate's signature silky texture with remarkable freshness and precision. Under the leadership of Technical Director Marielle Cazaux, whose thoughtful and understated approach has transformed the estate over the past decade, La Conseillante continues to redefine what modern Pomerol can achieve. The reintroduction of Cabernet Sauvignon into the blend adds an extra layer of structure and longevity while preserving the wine's unmistakable elegance.

Duo de Conseillante, the estate’s second wine, is crafted from younger vines and parcels not selected for the grand vin, yet benefits from the same careful vineyard management and increasingly precise selection led by Marielle. The result is a wine that remains charming and earlier-drinking, but increasingly aligned with the estate’s elevated ambitions. Quantities are extremely limited, and with only 3,000 bottles of Duo de Conseillante produced, availability across the range is exceptionally scarce.

What the Critics Are Saying:

97-100 Points, William Kelley, Wine Advocate, www.robertparker.com:

“The 2025 La Conseillante is another brilliant wine in the making for this Pomerol reference point. Wafting from the glass with aromas of ripe mulberries and blackberries mingled with hints of violets and truffle, it's medium- to full-bodied, deep and unctuous, with lively acids, ultra-refined tannins and a long, floral finish..”

98-100 Points, Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider, www.thewinecellarinsider.com:

“Violets, lilacs, and chocolate drizzles, followed by plums, black cherries, blue fruits, licorice, smoke, and truffles, create the aromatic profile. On the palate, the wine is pure silk, velvet, and cashmere, perfectly suited to the seemingly endless waves of sweet, bright, plush fruits, with their freshness, elegance, and stunning sense of purity. The finish lingers past the 60-second mark and keeps going long after the wine has gone where it needs to be.”

98-100 Points, Colin Hay, The Drinks Business, www.thedrinksbusiness.com:

“Immediately we are in the realm of greatness. We have archetypal La Conseillante florality. This is very beautiful – with peony and violet, a little lily of the valley and a little rose petal. The floral notes really wrap themselves around the blueberries drawing out the glorious cedary notes. Haunting in its beauty. Calming. Intimate. I love the parfumier's essences of violets and rose petals reinforcing those first floral notes as the wine starts to inhale and relax in the glass. This is the first year of the integration of the Cabernet Sauvignon into the final blend and it reinforces the impression of the deep, dark core. Succulent, sumptuous, so gracious and very layered – some way between silk and cashmere. This has a lovely ample frame and is the most bourguignon of the grand plateau Pomerols. Complete, brilliantly poised and so juicy and fresh. A wine of an incredible harmony. I've not tasted a better La Conseillante and I honestly didn't expect to be writing that in this vintage.”

97-98 Points, James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, www.jamessuckling.com:

“Complex already, with blackberry, blueberry, currant and mint aromas that follow through to a medium body with firm tannins and a savory, juicy finish with fresh herbs and an almost rose stem undertone. You can feel the grape skins. Very primary. 87% merlot, 10% cabernet franc and 3% cabernet sauvignon.”

Château Montrose 2025

Wine of the vintage

Montrose arrives with the kind of anticipation rarely seen during En Primeur. Already boasting six potential 100-point scores from leading English-speaking critics, the 2025 is widely viewed as one of the defining wines of the vintage. Sourced entirely from the estate's iconic Terrace No. 04, the blend captures everything that has elevated Montrose into the first rank of Bordeaux's great estates: power, precision, depth, and extraordinary balance. Despite its concentration and intensity, the wine remains remarkably composed, delivering the classic structure and longevity for which Saint-Estèphe is renowned. With release quantities tightly controlled and global demand expected to be significant, availability is expected to disappear quickly. Priced below $150 per bottle and offered in multiple formats, this is a textbook En Primeur opportunity to secure one of the vintage's most sought-after wines before market prices inevitably move higher.

Also available, Dame de Montrose is a wine of bright, pure fruit, floral lift and elegant structure. This is a polished, modern Second Wine with strong definition, offering early accessibility while preserving the depth and precision that define the estate’s top terroirs.

What the Critics Are Saying:

100 Points, Peter Moser, www.falstaff.com:

“Deep dark ruby garnet, opaque core, violet reflections, delicate edge brightening. Candied violets, scent of roses, fine cassis, incredibly seductive, delicate notes of precious wood, underlaid with black forest berries. Complex, full-bodied, highly elegant, freshly structured, ripe, supporting tannins, blackberries, nougat and cherries on the finish, lingers for a long time, sure maturity potential.”

98–100 Points, William Kelley, www.robertparker.com:

“A timeless classic in the making, the 2025 Montrose unfurls in the glass with notes of dark berries, black truffle, burning embers and violets, gaining in range and detail with aeration. Full-bodied, dense and elegantly muscular, it's layered and multidimensional, with a prodigiously concentrated core of fruit, exceptional quality of tannin and a long, resonant finish. The 2025 is a blend of 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc, derived exclusively from the estate's historic core on the fourth terrace situated just in front of the château itself. With a pH of 3.65 and 13.4% alcohol, it remains classically balanced despite its impressive power and intensity. Readers will have a fascinating time parsing the nuances of style and quality between the 2025, 2023 and 2022 over the decades to come!”

97–100 Points, Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com:

“A magical, utterly profound wine in the making, the 2025 Château Montrose is a classic blend of 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, and 4% Cabernet Franc that will spend 18 months in 60% new French oak, with 12% press wine included in the final blend. Pure cassis, graphite, liquid violets, and spicy wood define the aromatics, and it's sensationally pure on the palate, with full-bodied richness, beautiful concentration, ripe, polished tannins, incredible class, and a great finish. It reminds me of the 2016 with its finesse... and maybe there's a touch of 1996 here as well.”

98–100 Points, Neal Martin, Vinous, www.vinous.com:

“The 2025 Montrose only comes from Terrace IV, as has been the way since the 2023 vintage. It was picked from August 29 and finished not until September 20, so quite a long harvest, 16 days of picking between those dates. This vintage is matured in 60% new oak. This has another very intense nose with a potent graphite element that infuses the black fruit, beautifully defined but unapologetically classical in style. Wow. The purity of fruit is exceptional. The palate is medium-bodied with supple, very chiselled tannins, exquisite black fruit loaded with minéralité. So much freshness and vibrancy, gentle but insistent grip, very precise and refined on the finish, this is a Montrose that will rank as one for the ages. Wow (again).”