Château Troplong Mondot 1992

Troplong-Mondot is performing at an exceptional quality level. Readers who have not followed the superb wines emanating from this estate (particularly since 1988) need a wake-up call. At three separate bottle tastings, Troplong-Mondot’s 1992 blew away much of the other St.-Emilion competition, and embarrassed many of the premier grand cru classes. The wine boasts a saturated black/purple color, and a huge, sweet, ripe nose of blackcurrant fruit intermingled with scents of toasty new oak, herbs, and licorice. It is amazingly concentrated for the vintage, with superb denseness and ripeness of fruit, moderate tannin, and a long, pure, beautifully proportioned finish. It will benefit from 2–3 years of cellaring and last for 15 years. Once it has more bottle age, it may merit an outstanding score. Kudos to proprietress Christine Fabre-Valette, the dedicated architect behind Troplong-Mondot’s resurgence.

Complex aromas of dark chocolate, tobacco and fruit. Very velvety vanilla, grape and chocolate flavors. Medium-to-full body; medium finish. Drinkable now.

Still dark in color, with only very slight signs of evolution. An increasingly open bouquet: smoky Merlot, dried fruits, dark caramel. Firm, generous palate, good concentration and accompanying astringency, spicy finish once again marked by dried fruits. Still a great wine, even if fully mature.

93: Barrel sample (18/20): 100% Merlot. The star of the St. Emilion scene in the 1992 vintage – perhaps the best Bordeaux overall: superb nose; Amarena cherries, coffee, and almond wood with a seductive roasted note. Very dense yet refined structure, rich in extract, plenty of substance, the acidity flows nicely into the extract. In 1994, I compared it directly with the estate’s own ’93 at the Château: the 1992 vintage seemed more balanced to me. In 1996, drunk from a Jeroboam at a dinner at Angélus: it showed softer and less forceful, much like the regular bottles are now. Two weeks later in Vienna at a small vertical, it was loved by almost everyone. Still, it seemed to me that it will only pick up again in two or three years and needs a bit of rest now. 99: Still dark in color with very little maturity. The bouquet is opening more and more, showing smoky Merlot, dried fruits, and dark caramel. Firm, ample palate, good concentration and a supportive astringency, spicy finish once again marked by dried fruits. Great wine (18/20)! 04: It’s fair to say that this successful Troplong from a modest year gave immense pleasure to many wine lovers for ten years. The fruit is now slowly fading and the wine shows chocolate and date notes. 17/20 drink up

Closed, dense, full bouquet with black berries and truffles. Dense, closed palate with plenty of substance and good tannins. Long finish. 18/20 2001 - 2015

This is a well-made ’92 that’s still alive twenty years on. Fruity nose, but simple. Pleasant palate with medium body, without any vegetal notes or harshness. Ready to drink. Would be ideal in a large format. Another tasting from magnum two months earlier: 15.5. I expected a bigger difference compared with the bottle.