Chateau Troplong Mondot Reviews
Learn More About Chateau Troplong Mondot Through its Reviews.
2022 Chateau Troplong Mondot Reviews
This Wine is a blend of 85% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2% Cabernet Franc.
100 Pointz Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
“A wine that transcended both my lofty expectations and anything produced at this address in the last 50 years, the 2022 Chateau Troplong Mondot realizes all the potential of this striking terroir. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of dark berries, cherries, exotic spices, bay leaf, and orange zest, it's full-bodied, deep, and multidimensional, with incredible concentration without weight, supple tannins, and a seamless, complete profile, concluding with a long, saline finish. All the work of the last few years in the vineyards and winery makes itself felt, as Troplong Mondot's vineyards took the hot, dry conditions in their stride, and the quality of the fruit that they produced has been preserved by a gentle vinification and a discreet élevage, featuring only 55% new oak and some 20% of the volume in large foudres.”
99 Pointz Jeb Dunnuck
“Clearly the finest wine to date under the new team and direction here, the 2022 Château Troplong Mondot reveals a vivid purple hue as well as sensational notes of black raspberries, cassis, acacia flowers, and graphite, with a beautiful underpinning of chalky minerality. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, it has flawless balance, ultra-fine tannins, no hard edges, and a great, great finish. The purity, precision, and just sheer class are something to behold.”
98 Pointz James Suckling
“Very attractive aromas of plums and chocolate with hints of raspberry bush and hazelnut. So fresh and even savory with medium to full body. Such a wide tannin structure building up on the palate. Shows depth and length with lots of minerality. Floral. Beautiful already. 85% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Cabernet Franc.”
98 Pointz Vinous
“The 2022 Chateau Troplong-Mondot was picked from 29 August when it was 31° Celsius, which according to estate director Aymeric de Gironde, felt cool compared to the rest of summer. The alcohol is 14.9% with the pH of 3.48. It sees no SO2 until it is transferred into barrel. The nose is very attractive and certainly very expressive of its limestone terroir: blackberry, briary, crushed iris petal, and light marine scents. The palate is medium-bodied with crunchy black fruit, quite chalky in texture, that acidic spine governing its overall mouthfeel. Sapid on the finish, this Troplong Mondot builds in the mouth and coats it on the finish. De Gironde and I discussed my previous scores. I always said that he would get better and better during his tenure and this is clearly the case in 2022, the best Troplong Mondot...so far.”
98 Pointz Wine Enthusiast
“The wine has a silky texture, with ripe black tannins, fine acidity, and black fruits. The wine is both succulent and seriously structured. It is one of the best from this estate in many years and shows great tension, depth, and a long-term promise.”
Bonus Reviews
France
98 Pointz Jane Anson, Master of Wine Inside Bordeaux
“Violet edged with an inky core. Expertly delivers the sense of energy that is so key to the best wines in 2022. As powerful as you would expect from these clay-limestone soils, the vintage character shows in dried rosemary and white pepper spice, lacing the fresher blueberry and loganberry fruits. These are big tanins that take a long time to uncurl during tasting and will take a long time in bottle to come around. Contained power, with chocolate block, liqourice, dried roses, delicate but underpinned by menancingly powerful tannins, and a saline twist. Expert construction from director Aymeric de Gironde, carefully containing both the natural power of the soils of Troplong and the natural concentration of the vintage. 50hl/h yield. Harvest began on August 29 through to September 26. Thomas Duclos consultant. Around 3% whole bunch used during fermentation, aged in 55% new oak, 24% one year old, 21% large 2,000l oak casks.”
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United Kingdom
98 Pointz Decanter
“A supremely excellent Troplong in 2022 that has the hallmarks of a concentrated vintage but delivered with ultimate poise and precision. A joy to taste and once again one of my favourites. Sharp, sleek, sour, bright, and cool - I love the instant freshness and drinkability of this, tannins are fresh and detailed with both a plush and cool texture underpinned by layers of flavour with depth and concentration. Clearly muscular but pixelated - it’s not tense, lean or austere but generous, charming, and playful. Supple and succulent, still with ripe strawberry, cherry, and raspberry fruit, a mix of bright red and black berries with wet stone, liquorice, dark chocolate and graphite giving the terroir. Silky, balanced acidity and overall so well controlled and presented. 3.5pH. Ageing 50% new oak, reduced by 5% plus 21% in 20hl foudre, 24% one wine barrels.”
2021 Chateau Troplong Mondot Reviews
This wine is a blend of 85% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Cabernet Franc.
97 Pointz Vinous
“The 2021 Chateau Troplong Mondot is shockingly raw and untamed, but in the very best sense of those terms. A wine of energy and pure power, the 2021 is going to need a number of years to be at its best, but it is certainly very impressive in the early going. The 2021 clocks in at 13.5%, which has not been seen here since the 1990s. The 2021 is not an easy wine to taste at this stage, as it is not fully formed. I won't be surprised if the 2021 turns out even better than this note suggests. It is a dazzling wine by any measure, and a far cry from the wines of decade ago, when the malolactic fermentations were often not finished when en primeur samples were presented! Superb.”
96 Pointz James Suckling
“Lovely density here with a solid center palate of fruit and fine tannins. Medium body. Underlying salinity and oyster-shell character in the finish. Well defined. Grows at the end.”
96 Pointz Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
“The 2021 Chateau Troplong Mondot shows considerable promise, exhibiting aromas of plums and wild berries mingled with notions of sweet spices, rose petals, vine smoke, and raw cocoa, followed by a medium to full-bodied, seamless palate endowed with impressive intensity and texture. Built around beautifully refined, powdery tannins and lively acids, it concludes with a long, mouthwateringly saline finish. Macerations here were long but gentle, including a long cold soak before fermentation, and the blend, after much deliberation, is 85% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Cabernet Franc. Tasted four times.”
Bonus Reviews
United Kingdom
96 Pointz Decanter
“Bright purple rim to the wine. So many aromas on the nose, really captivating and full - dark chocolate, pink flowers giving a soft perfume, cinnamon, raspberries, black cherries, and liquorice too - all intensifying over twenty minutes in the glass. Super bright and charged on the palate, this is off like a firecracker from the initial impact, giving tangy strawberry, red cherry, and raspberry fruit flavours. It's got power no doubt, but a delicate, light style, not so concentrated and intense more lifted and aerial with tension. So much energy here, the flavours come in waves on the palate, red fruits, cooling blue fruits, exotic spices, flowers, and fresh minty, stone notes with a real mineral salinity on the finish. It's perhaps not so weighty or full in the mouth like previous more opulent vintages, but there is clarity and definition of elements on show. I love the mineral finish, so Troplong. Extremely refined. First vintage in the new cellar facilities which helped with precision.
2020 Chateau Troplong Mondot Reviews
This wine is a blend of 85% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2% Cabernet Franc.
98 Pointz Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
“The 2020 Chateau Troplong Mondot may prove to be even better than the brilliant 2019, and it is one of the Right Bank's finest wines in this vintage. Unwinding in the glass with deep aromas of mulberries, blackberries, and red cherries mingled with hints of rose petal, licorice, and exotic spices, it's medium to full-bodied, deep, and layered, with a satiny attack that segues into a vibrant, polished mid-palate, concluding with a long, resonant finish. Having seen only 65% new oak and with malolactic fermentation completed in tank rather than in barrel, it's remarkably pure and seamless. With the 2020 vintage, this estate's stylistic redemption appears to be complete.”
98 Pointz Vinous
“The 2020 Chateau Troplong Mondot is fabulous. Rich, dark, and expansive, the 2020 is wonderfully exuberant right out of the gate. Black cherry, plum, gravel, incense, and licorice are all dialed up. There's tremendous breadth and power, but without the excess weight of the past. Even so, the 2020 is a big, big wine that needs the better part of a decade to soften. All the classic Troplong structure is there, but buffered by vibrant acids and tons of supporting minerality.”
98 Pointz Wine Enthusiast
“This firmly structured wine with its high percentage of Merlot is powerful and dense. The bold black fruits and perfumed density are impressive.”
97 Pointz Jeb Dunnuck
“A clear step up over the 2019, the 2020 Château Troplong Mondot is mostly Merlot yet includes 13% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Cabernet Franc, all of which was raised in 65% new French oak, with the balance in once-used barrels. The level of purity and finesse here is remarkable, and it reveals a deep ruby/purple hue as well as incredible aromatics of cassis, ripe black cherries, graphite, gunpowder, and spring flowers. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, it has building, perfectly ripe tannins, flawless balance, and a great finish. Certainly light years away from the riper, more opulent style of the 2000's, the wines today under consultant Thomas Duclos are much more about finesse and elegance. While I certainly miss the sexy, riper style of the past, there is no denying the incredible quality from this château today.”
97 Pointz James Suckling
“A soft and round red with plum and milk chocolate. Hazelnuts. Full-bodied and layered. Juicy. Hints of sea salt. Power is there. Turns firm and vivid. So attractive now. Savory. Needs three to four years to open.
Bonus Reviews
France
97 Pointz Jane Anson, Master of Wine Inside Bordeaux
“Powerful and knitted down, this feels both crafted and hewn out of the clay-limestone slopes of Troplong. Blueberry, plum, slate, cocoa, espresso, all the power of this estate delivered with salt-studded chocolate, liqourice root, cocoa powder, mint leaf, just a brilliant wine, that ends with a whoosh of freshness and lift. Just 2mm of rain in July and 30mm in August but the deep clay-limestones at Troplong kept their freshness, and there were no blockages in ripening.”
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United Kingdom
100 Pointz Decanter
“A sensational Troplong. Vibrant and vivid, this makes you smile from the first smell: milk chocolate, floral notes of roses and lavender, wet stones, liquorice, cinnamon, and ripe bramble fruits. Round and thrilling on the palate, tannins are abundant with a chalky blueberry coolness while a salty tang settles around the mouth. Lovely precision and purity of fruit; you feel the sharp definition - still linear which makes it less immediately charming than the 2019 but giving undeniable complexity. Deep but not heady, this remains pure and detailed, with a leanness from the terroir really setting this apart. After a few minutes, the glamour starts to appear giving a salivating, succulent, and moreish aspect to the finish. An absolute beauty.”
2019 Chateau Troplong Mondot Reviews
100 Pointz Wine Enthusiast
Top 100 Cellar Selections of 2022
“The magnificent Merlot in the blend has pushed up the alcohol, while also giving a velvet touch and power to the wine. This estate is now on top form, producing this generously ripe, black plum flavored wine. It is lifted by acidity while powering the wine’s intensity.”
98 Pointz James Suckling
“The purity of fruit is pretty phenomenal here with blackcurrants, cherries, and crushed-stone undertones. Floral notes of roses and violets, too. Full-bodied, yet this is a linear style with super fine tannins and great length and beauty. You really want to drink it. It grows on the palate and shows real power, with breadth and depth. Remains fresh throughout. Really something.”
98 Pointz Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
“Has any Bordeaux château realized a more wholesale stylistic revolution in so short a time than Troplong Mondot? Since Aymeric de Gironde arrived at the estate in late 2017, the ultra powerful "shock and awe" style of the 2000s is out, and a new refinement is in. Of course, the deep clays that define the core vineyards around the château itself are never likely to produce light or ephemeral wines, but de Gironde has astutely understood that (to develop an analogy), when driving down hill, one can ease off on the accelerator. The 2019 Chateau Troplong Mondot is a ringing endorsement of the new direction, wafting from the glass with complex aromas of wild berries, violets, coniferous forest floor, licorice, raw cocoa, and subtle spices, followed by a full-bodied, velvety, and layered palate that's seamless and perfumed, its enveloping core of succulent fruit framed by rich, powdery tannins and lively acids. Harmonious and penetrating, I never thought I'd taste a wine like this from Chateau Troplong Mondot.”
95 Pointz Vinous
The 2019 Chateau Troplong Mondot is without question one of the wines of the vintage. Vertical and explosive in feel, the 2019 dazzles with its magnificent balance. Inky red/purplish fruit, cinnamon, chocolate, dried flowers,, and lavender open with a bit of time, but Troplong is not a wine for the here and now, but rather a wine for readers who can be patient. The 2019 is all class and refinement. Those qualities become increasingly apparent over time, once some of the initial power and density subsides with air. This is the first time the Grand Vin was blended before the malolactic fermentation.’
Bonus Reviews
France
98 Pointz Jane Anson, Master of Wine Insider Bordeaux
“A brilliant vintage at Troplong, displaying an enticing blend of power and restraint, or rather measured extraction and controlled power. This was a warm year with leisurely ripening where you could go all out, but here the team has captured the natural freshness of limestone, and it tiptoes rather than storms across the palate. It is huge, with ripe damson and black cherry flavours, cut through with slate, sage, and bitter black chocolate, all nuanced and characterful and just a wonderful poem to the stunning soils and potential of Troplong. For me it is the best of the flight. Improving from when I tasted it in bottle - and even then I was hugely impressed. 65% new oak, and 35% one year old barrels, with trials on amphoras and with larger 70hl oak casks. Harvest September 11 to October 5. Vibrant violet in colour, just excellent. 60% new oak, Thomas Duclos consultant.”
Bonus Reviews
United Kingdom
99 Pointz Decanter
“Such a seductive soft perfume to the nose, delicate yet generous aromatics of cherry and rose. The palate is juicy and fresh, charming yet energetic with such crystalline purity and balance. Tannins are smooth but softly textured giving nuance to the flavours where refreshing high toned ripe red and black cherry fruit play alongside mint, dark chocolate, and graphite. Clearly powerfully but carefully controlled from start to finish giving such a satisfying overall mouthful and lasting impression. Incredible.”
2018 Chateau Troplong Mondot Reviews
This wine is a blend of 85% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2% Cabernet Franc,
98 Pointz James Suckling
“This is a very linear red and layered at the same time, showing blackberry, blueberry, black-truffle, bark, and stone character. Chalk and minerality, too. It’s full-bodied and well framed with gorgeous intensity and freshness. Muscular with wonderful structure and brightness. Salty and savory notes on the finish. Try after 2024.”
97 Pointz Vinous
“The 2018 Chateau Troplong Mondot will take readers who haven't tasted these wines in a few years aback. Stunning in its aromatic presence, the 2018 is silky, medium-in body and super-refined. Once again, I am blown away by the wine's total sense of precision. The Cabernets are only 15% of the blend, and yet the 2018 is so strongly marked by floral and savory accents. Sweet red cherry, blood orange, mint, rose petal,, and lavender all build in the glass. The 2018 is regal, refined, and absolutely exquisite.”
97 Pointz Wine Enthusiast
“The tannins are beautifully integrated into this velvet-textured wine. It has density and richness allied to concentration. At the same time, it has kept wonderful freshness and acidity to give it fine lift. The aging potential is obvious.”
96 Pointz Jeb Dunnuck
“The 2018 Château Troplong Mondot showed beautifully. Based on 85% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Cabernet Franc, it reveals a dense purple color as well as ripe beautiful aromatics of black cherries, red plums, graphite, espresso, Asian spices, and gravelly earth. Beautiful on the palate as well, it's medium to full-bodied and has a rounded, expansive texture, plenty of mid-palate depth, building tannins, and present yet integrated oak. This classic, impressive Troplong Mondot will need 5-7 years of bottle age but will evolve for 30 years or more.”
96 Pointz Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
“The 2018 Chateau Troplong Mondot is blended of 85% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2% Cabernet Franc, with 15% alcohol. Deep garnet-purple colored, with considerable coaxing and swirling it slowly emerges from the glass like a waking giant, building to a towering bouquet of preserved plums, blueberry pie and Morello cherries with gentler wafts of violets, star anise, fruitcake and cast-iron pan. The concentrated, full-bodied palate possesses impressive purity and brightness of fruit commingled with richer, riper elements and supported by firm, velvety tannins, finishing with lovely freshness and on a lingering ferrous note. It's a wine that's not just delicious, it's seriously interesting too.”
94 Pointz Wine Spectator
“This shows the profile of the vintage, with a touch of plum pit and savory austerity along the edges of a core of red and black currant and cherry paste flavors. Late tugs of warm earth and tobacco on the finish. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.”
Bonus Reviews
United Kingdom
97 Pointz Decanter
“One of the stories of the 2018 vintage in Bordeaux was Troplong Mondot bringing in its first grapes on 7 September. Proof, many suggested, of director Aymeric de Gironde going too far in his quest to rewrite Troplong's powerful style. It certainly made me excited to try this wine, and I hope the sceptics were too, because this is a brilliant Troplong. Oh, and although around 80% of the grapes did come in during those first 10 days, the final harvest date was 10 October. There's clear depth just in the colour alone, and impressive complexity on the nose. There's still a whole lot of Troplong strength and concentration here, you can't get away from that with these clay and flint over limestone soils, but now it is softer, with more minerality. The relatively high alcohols are apparent in the texture but not as heat. I love the persistency here, as it drags things out in the most delicious of ways, with a slate and white pepper finish.”