Wine Words & Video Tape

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Château Troplong Mondot

145

Address: 33330 St Emilion

Telephone: +33 (0)5 57 55 32 05

E-mail: contact@chateau-troplong-mondot.com

Website: www.chateau-troplong-mondot.com

Château Troplong Mondot makes big, rich St Emilion.  Somehow the wines here defy gravity – alcoholic and concentrated they still manage a degree of freshness and have layers of wonderful fruit and lashing of expensive, and seductive, new oak. It all adds up – most of the time!

Vineyard/Terroir: 30 hectares on clay limestone planted with 90% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Estate classified a St Emilion Premier Grand Cru.

Winemaking/Elévage: 12-24 months in barrel with 75% new oak and 25% one year old barrels.

Tasting notes:

  • 2015 Deep and saturated look; lots of ripe, sublimated fruit tones on the nose; black fruits, liquorice notes; kirsch; palate is sweet and ripe; black fruits; extremely concentrated palate; liquorice and mocha notes on the palate; very big indeed; chewy finish and dry on the end. A super extracted, extremely ripe rendition of St Emilion. It’s big. It’s point scoring. It’s Troplong’s style – just not quite mine. Others will score even more highly I’m sure. [90% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Cabernet Franc, 15.5% alc]. Drink 2022-2035. 93-95
  • 2014 Black and dark looking; colour tight to rim; saturated fruit on the nose; layered; sublimated black cherries and plums; nice entry on the palate; lots of fruit; saturated and full; sublimated; boatload of extract and matter – this is a big mouthful but tannins [plenty of them] caressing. [90% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Cabernet Franc, 14% alc]. Tasted UGC 1st April ’15. Drink 2020-2035. 92-94
  • 2013 Super deep and saturated look; thick nose laden with black fruits, liquorice; very saturated and sublimated; layers; dense and inky palate, quite chewy and dense and pretty dry and extracted on the finish. Hope it settles. [90% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Cabernet Franc]. Tasted April 2, 2014 UGCB. Drink 2020-2030. 87-89
  • 2012 Deep and saturated colour, tight to edge; plump fruit tones on the nose; fresh fruit on the palate; quite chewy and well structured but plenty of fruit here; pretty intense feel overall but not overblown. Think I prefer this property in fresher vintages [like 2012] than the blockbuster years when it feels really rather over-endowed. Drink 2017-2027. 92+ UGC Oct ’14 [Earlier note] Very dense and deep looking; very lush and unctuous nose but quite pure; layered and extremely plush; palate very full with lots of extract and all the oak soaked up here. Very big and fat but there is some freshness too which means the wine can do up its belt. 90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc. 93-95+ UGC Wednesday April 10, 2013
  • 2011 Deep and saturated; very ripe, lifted and intense on the nose – menthol, spices and lots of extract evident; lots of matter on the palate and tannin on the finish. Very puckering on the finish. Have they overdone this in this vintage? Feels like it will need time to settle at the very least. Let’s see how it develops. Drink 2018-2030 88? MW Institute Nov ’13 [Earlier note] Deep and dark; red fruits, some rocks and spices; some lift; oak too along with marzipan notes; thick palate, chewy and dense. Lots of tannin on the finish. Like this estate, on the extremely rich side of things, but just how will this 2011 settle? 85% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc. Tasted UGC. 88-90 [Second] Deep and saturated; arterial; more oak influenced than some here; thicker, initially feels a little plodding; less vibrant than some; later more jam and summer compote notes; palate actually pretty good; blackcurrants, some spice – quite chewy – but lots of fruit here. Overall good effort. Tasted blind at Groupement de Premiers Grands Crus Classes de Saint-Emilion at Chateau Canon 6/4/12. 90-92
  • 2010 Deep and saturated; ripe and very full; some lift; figs; very sweet; chocolate; very full and chewy palate with lots of fruit and a big structure. Dense [16 degrees]; chocolately finish. Very big and saturated style – but readily drinkable? Drink 2018-2035. 93? MW Institute Nov ’14 [Earlier note] Deep and saturated; lifted, sexy nose; very opulent indeed; satiny red fruits; nice palate – plums, spices and ripe red fruits; lots of saturated fruit; structure beneath and chew on the finish. Typically big and seductive but strangely not over-powering. This is how you do it! 94+ UGC Oct ’12 [Earlier] Arterial and saturated; very ripe and concentrated as you’d expect; sublimation of a wine; lots of extract and ripe sweet fruit; concentrated and layered; real intensity and chew. Pretty hefty tannin count too. This is big and thick but really ripe – sweet ripe and very pure – with some grip and bite at the back. 94-96/100 6 April 2011 UGC [Second tasting] Deep and saturated, tight to the meniscus; quite ‘cool’ nose; deep and pure; some marzipan and a whiff of alcohol – nevertheless seductive; feels cool but with some menthol and spice; very brooding and deep; polished; satiny palate, real perfume and verve; density but wonderful fruit here; extremely concentrated and tannic but there is sweetness of fruit and some grip here to balance. 96-98+/100 Tasted April 6 Groupement de Premiers Grands Crus Classes de Saint-Emilion.
  • 2009 Deep and saturated; very dark in the glass; thick and figgy; palate brighter than the nose suggests; ripe and thick with lots of structure; still feels very thick and very chewy. Now in no-man’s land a little. Was impressive at primeurs and after bottling but this sample feels overly thick and chewy. See how it goes, give it time. 2019-2035. 90-92? MW Institute Nov ’13 [Earlier] Deep and dense; lifted and very vibrant nose; really very good; blackcurrants and ripe fruits; ripe and layered palate; lots and lots of richness without the jammy qualities of some; palate is very, very big and alcoholic [plus 15%] but this actually works – and extremely well. 94+/100 UGC Oct ’11 [Earlier]  Inky black, very dense; quite viscous in the glass; wow, fabulous nose of sweet, ripe fruit; very seductive with lots and lots of new oak but packed with ripe fruit too; Big, dense, chewy palate, lots and lots of fruit but sweet ripeness. This is BIG and not at all for the fainthearted. Thick and tannic with alcohol on the finish. It is 15 degrees alcohol.  Defies gravity but actually works – if you like your wines huge, this is it! 92+/100
  • 2008 Dense, very saturated look; legs; perfumed and intense with lots of extract; strawberry and some chocolate and mocha; intense palate with lots of fruit and concentration; very pent up and big – wow such concentration with lots of alcohol. Very big and alcoholic style – an enjoyable glass or two but I couldn’t imagine finishing a bottle! 92+/100 90% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon UGC Oct ‘11
  • 2007 Good colour; quite intense; attractive plumy nose; soft with well integrated oak. Quite seductive. Dense palate; well done; quite chewy but not over extracted; more powerful than the Trottevieille but not overblown. Very good. 92+/100 UGC tasting Oct ‘09

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