Château Troplong Mondot 1997

Lovely fruit on the nose of this young wine, with lots of plum, tobacco and berry aromas. Medium-bodied, with polished tannins, but slightly short on the finish. Best after 2000.

Brick rim and no great colour intensity. Strong autumnal scents – attractively round and firm, again with some perceptible acidity and tannin. A little stodgy but I can quite see why restaurants would be glad to serve an eight year old wine at this price. A little inky. Falls away on the finish.

(with an extremely low yield of 30 hectolitres per hectare): Very deep, saturated purple, dense in the centre. On the Nose an incredibly dense, ripe Bouquet with dried fruit aromas, amarena cherry tone, vanilla pod, chocolate notes, already complex, perfect in its radiance. On the Palate, juicy, full berry concentration, intense astringency, currently somewhat rustic due to the massive wood impact.

98: Barrel sample (17/20): With just 30 hl/ha, an extremely low yield: incredibly dense, ripe bouquet smelling of dried fruit, plus amarena cherries, vanilla pods, chocolate; already comes across as complex and perfectly poised. On the palate, juicy, full berry concentration, intense astringency, currently a bit rustic due to the pronounced oak presence. 00: Deep purple, delicately brightening ruby rim. Dreamy cherry bouquet with a subtle coffee note, discreet, balanced sweetness with a perfumed accent. On the palate, fleshy, plenty of substance, good backbone, tannins still gently firm, here too a Burgundian character (17/20). 02: Next to it was the Gazin 1997, almost embarrassingly light but pleasing. Troplong-Mondot seems to be one of the most concentrated and also still youngest St. Emilions: lots of power and aromas, the texture is still grainy and needs to round out a bit. The potential runs for at least ten years. For now, decant for half an hour. (17/20). 12: Drunk at a dinner at Franc-Mayne with Hervé Laviale. Even after more than 12 years in bottle, it is still coconut-oaky. But it gave a lot of pleasure.

Closed, austere bouquet with wood. Dry, bitter palate with lots of tannins. Long, dry finish. 17/20 2008 - 2020

Logo on the cork: LB On the nose, it smells of strawberry jam before turning woody when the glass is swirled. Dry palate! It’s undrinkable!

This gorgeously elegant, concentrated wine exhibits a dark ruby/purple color, and a beautifully knit, blackberry- and cherry-scented nose with toasty oak in the background. Not a massive effort, it offers beautifully supple fruit flavors, an attractive fragrance, a ripe, sweet mid-palate, and soft tannin. Drink this seductive, lush Troplong-Mondot over the next decade.