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 hectoliters per hectare): Very deep, rich purple, dense in the center. On the nose, an incredibly concentrated, ripe bouquet with dried-fruit notes, Amarena cherry, vanilla pod and chocolate tones; already complex, with a perfect presence. On the palate, juicy, with full berry concentration and intense astringency; the very pronounced oak influence makes it a bit rustic for now.

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.