2023 Château Troplong Mondot, St Emilion, Bordeaux
Critics reviews
22% aged in large scale foudres, and 18% in one year old barrels, rest 60% in new oak.
Inky plum, vibrant violet edges, shows the intensity that is signature to Troplong, combining velvety texture with a lightness of touch, tomato leaf and peony aromatics. Fresh blueberry and blackberry fruits with plenty of grilled spices and sandalwood oak effortlessly integrated even at this early stage. High Cabernet Franc in the blend, and three tanks fermented with stems (which they consider as an alternative to press).
Drink 2032 - 2050
Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux (April 2024)
The 2023 Troplong Mondot was harvested from September 5 to October 9, with 60-70% picked within nine or ten days; other parcels were "stragglers" that required more time. There is actually 4-5% whole clusters in the blend,and according to Aymeric de Gironde, it works like the vin de presse, glueing components of the wine together. Sulfur is only added when the wine is put into barrel.
The 2023 has a very well-defined and focused bouquet with pure blackberry, raspberry, ground chalk and light sea cave scents. The palate is medium-bodied with a very crisp and mineral-driven entry. It's chalky in texture and quite tensile in the mouth, with a dash of black pepper on the finish. This is an individualistic Saint-Émilion that will fill out during its élevage. Very long.
Drink 2028 - 2050
Neal Martin, Vinous.com (April 2024)
Ageing is in 60% new oak, 22% 20hL foudre and 18% once-used oak. Tasted two times.
The 2023 Troplong Mondot is simply stunning. It's one of the best wines yet made under the direction of Aymeric de Gironde. Towering and statuesque, the 2023 explodes out of the glass with tons of vertical energy. Dark red-toned fruit, licorice, spice, lavender, mocha and pencil shavings are some of the many notes that infuse the 2023 with character. The combination of soaring aromatics, chiseled fruit and a limestone-infused finish is nothing less than captivating. What a wine.
Drink 2033 - 2063
Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com (April 2024)
A blend of 84% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 13% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2023 Troplong Mondot has a pH of 3.45.
Aymeric de Gironde commented, ‘Our crop of Cabernet Franc was our biggest ever.’ It has a deep garnet-purple color and needs a little swirling and coaxing before gorgeous notes of mulberries, wild blueberries, and redcurrant jelly slowly begin to emerge, followed by hints of sassafras, mossy tree bark, and graphite, plus wafts of rose oil and cumin seed. The medium to full-bodied palate delivers mouth-coating black and red fruit layers, with floral and chalky sparks and velvety tannins, finishing long and beguiling. This is breathtaking!
Drink 2029 - 2050
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent (May 2024)
84% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc. 53 hl/ha. Cask sample.
Complex nose with a stony-mineral edge. Smooth and supple on attack, the tannins silky and plentiful. Fruit fairly dense. Refreshing saline finish.
Drink 2030 - 2045
James Lawther MW, JancisRobinson.com (April 2024)
A blend of 84% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Cabernet Franc, the 2023 Troplong Mondot unwinds in the glass with aroma of black raspberries, mulberries and cherries mingled with notions of iris, licorice, black tea and spices. Medium to full-bodied, deep and layered, it's textural and mouthfilling, with the mid-palate density so typical of this terroir, its concentrated core of fruit framed by beautifully polished tannins and succulent acids.
William Kelley, Wine Advocate (April 2024)
A tight and very focused young Troplong with freshness and finesse that adds plenty. Medium to full body, ultra-fine tannins and a vivid finish. Lots of blackberry and blueberry character. It really opens and envelops your palate, caressing every square inch. Cashmere-like texture. The limestone comes through beautifully.
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com (April 2024)
6% press. Three tanks of whole cluster fermentation. 70 IPT. Ageing 14 months, 60% new oak. 3.45pH.
The aromatics are incredible - so pure, clean and precise - sweet, sour and fresh with clear blue fruits, wax, crayon and pencil led on the nose alongside vanilla, blackcurrant and plum with blueberry too. Supple and agile, a lovely bounce and energy straight away, this has movement and direction. The fruit is pristine, gorgeous succulence and bright berries on the palate before some limestone wet stone elements come in giving a graphite tang. Has that sense of whole bunch fermentation, really racy and so electric.
It’s not a 2022, it doesn’t have that velvetines and soft plush tannins that Troplong can do well, but this is extremely good. Straight, juicy, clean, poised, elegant and refined. Not shouting, it’s reserved and calm, but confident. You can taste the chalk on the finish alongside liquorice and graphite. I love the finesse and the terroir markers and in a change to 2021 it has ripeness, succulence and body.
Drink 2033 - 2049
Georgina Hindle, Decanter.com (April 2024)
The Grand Vin 2023 Château Troplong Mondot checks in as 84% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Cabernet Franc, from healthy yields of 53 hectoliter per hectare, raised in 60% new wood, hitting 14% alcohol and a pH of 3.48. It brings another level of density and depth, with gorgeous notes of black cherries, hints of mulberries, graphite, and crushed stone. Medium-bodied on the palate, it shines for its beautiful purity of fruit and has plenty of background oak, a creamy, rounder mouthfeel, beautiful tannins, and a great finish.
Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com (May 2024)
About this WINE
Château Troplong Mondot
Château Troplong Mondot is a wine estate in St Émilion on the Right Bank of Bordeaux. Ranked a Premier Grand Cru Classé B in 2006, the estate occupies an enviable terroir atop St Émilion’s famed limestone plateau.
Aymeric de Gironde, formerly of Cos d'Estournel, has led the property since 2017. Consultant Thomas Duclos took over from Michel Rolland the same year. Together, they have taken Troplong Mondot in a new direction, producing profoundly fresh wines that encapsulate an overarching stylistic shift in St Émilion. The estate’s owners, SCOR Insurance, have invested heavily in building a brand-new winery and renovating the estate’s Michelin-starred restaurant, Les Belles Perdrix.
St Émilion
St Émilion is one of Bordeaux's largest producing appellations, producing more wine than Listrac, Moulis, St Estèphe, Pauillac, St Julien and Margaux put together. St Emilion has been producing wine for longer than the Médoc but its lack of accessibility to Bordeaux's port and market-restricted exports to mainland Europe meant the region initially did not enjoy the commercial success that funded the great châteaux of the Left Bank.
St Émilion itself is the prettiest of Bordeaux's wine towns, perched on top of the steep limestone slopes upon which many of the region's finest vineyards are situated. However, more than half of the appellation's vineyards lie on the plain between the town and the Dordogne River on sandy, alluvial soils with a sprinkling of gravel.
Further diversity is added by a small, complex gravel bed to the north-east of the region on the border with Pomerol. Atypically for St Émilion, this allows Cabernet Franc and, to a lesser extent, Cabernet Sauvignon to prosper and defines the personality of the great wines such as Ch. Cheval Blanc.
In the early 1990s there was an explosion of experimentation and evolution, leading to the rise of the garagistes, producers of deeply-concentrated wines made in very small quantities and offered at high prices. The appellation is also surrounded by four satellite appellations, Montagne, Lussac, Puisseguin and St. Georges, which enjoy a family similarity but not the complexity of the best wines.
St Émilion was first officially classified in 1954, and is the most meritocratic classification system in Bordeaux, as it is regularly amended. The most recent revision of the classification was in 2012
Merlot
The most widely planted grape in Bordeaux and a grape that has been on a relentless expansion drive throughout the world in the last decade. Merlot is adaptable to most soils and is relatively simple to cultivate. It is a vigorous naturally high yielding grape that requires savage pruning - over-cropped Merlot-based wines are dilute and bland. It is also vital to pick at optimum ripeness as Merlot can quickly lose its varietal characteristics if harvested overripe.
In St.Emilion and Pomerol it withstands the moist clay rich soils far better than Cabernet grapes, and at it best produces opulently rich, plummy clarets with succulent fruitcake-like nuances. Le Pin, Pétrus and Clinet are examples of hedonistically rich Merlot wines at their very best. It also plays a key supporting role in filling out the middle palate of the Cabernet-dominated wines of the Médoc and Graves.
Merlot is now grown in virtually all wine growing countries and is particularly successful in California, Chile and Northern Italy.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
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Description
84% Merlot; 13% Cabernet Sauvignon; 3% Cabernet Franc.
The wine sees 60% new oak, 22% large foudres and the balance in second-fill barrels. Notes of red cherry, ripe plum and sweet spice make for a very aromatic and pleasurable bouquet. The palate is packed full of vibrant fruit, with a firm tension and racy acids. You really feel the limestone edge here, which leads to a very long and seductive finish. This is a tremendous effort from director Aymeric de Gironde and his team – and one of the best we’ve tasted under his tenure.
Our score: 17.5/20
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