Château Troplong Mondot 2014

Here, they pulled off the feat of staying true to the massive style without vinifying against the vintage, balancing the power with freshness. The finest Troplong in a long time.

Solidly built, with some heft to the core of raspberry, blackberry and boysenberry confiture flavors. Delivers ample cut and drive thanks to the racy graphite beam. Hints of ganache and Turkish coffee add a bass line without taking away definition or purity. Best from 2022 through 2035. 5,583 cases made.

Voluptuous aromas of dense black fruits. Concentrated and chocolatey palate; a touch extracted but shows freshness on the finish. Tannic, but has no rough edges.

The dark, savory, earthy and plum aromas, plus the serious tannins, give this wine a lot of character, but it really needs a couple of years to open up. The finish packs a big tannic punch. Built for the long term. Try in 2024.

Tasted blind. Very dark, blackish crimson. Hints of treacle, but much fresher and more floral than that. Five years ago this would have been a standout. Now perhaps we’re looking for even more, but it’s still a good wine. (JR)

The 2014 Troplong Mondot is super-impressive. Dark cherry, plum, smoke, chocolate and dark spice notes meld together in this stunningly beautiful, opulent Saint-Émilion. Large-scale, ample and totally flamboyant in style, the 2014 is going to need time to fully come together, but it is striking even today. The blend is 90% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Cabernet Franc.

Deep in color, the wine is round, concentrated, and loaded with dark chocolate–covered cherries and plums, smoke, licorice, and truffle. With depth of flavor, intensity, and richness, this is a full-bodied effort that will reward a decade in the cellar before everything really comes together.

Inky dark ruby-purple colour. Intense, pure nose with dark fruit, blackberry, cassis, tobacco, some stoniness and a hint of black truffle. The palate shows very high concentration, with perfectly ripe tannins and fine extraction, bright acidity lifting the dense dark fruit, layered and very long finish, excellent potential.

The 2014 Troplong Mondot is unquestionably one of the wines of the vintage, and this beauty has more intensity, richness, and exuberance than just about every other wine in 2014. A blend of 90% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Cabernet Franc brought up in 85% new French oak, it sports a deep purple/plum color as well as a smorgasbord of blackcurrants, blackberries, scorched earth, toasty oak, graphite, espresso, and earth. With full-bodied richness, beautiful purity of fruit, and a rich, yet weightless texture, it’s a big, yet classy, elegant, and seamless wine from Xavier Pariente that should be snatched up by readers. It’s already drinking well but has 20-25 years of prime drinking to go.

Deep purple-garnet, dense at the core, with a lilac hue on the rim. Very intense, warm bouquet with an almost schizophrenic aromatic profile. On the one hand, raisin notes and Amarena cherries; on the other, green-spiced components with a hint of eucalyptus. On the palate, very concentrated, substantial, even almost austere. Thus it becomes—along with Clos de Sarpe—quite possibly the toughest Saint-Émilion. This needn’t have happened had the logical vintage-driven approach been chosen during vinification. Modernity has struck here. Here is my potential rating, definitely without any intention to buy.

Deep purple-garnet, dense at the core, with a lilac shimmer on the rim. Very intense, warm bouquet with an almost schizophrenic aromatic profile. On one hand there are raisin notes and Amarena cherries, on the other hand green-spiced components with a hint of eucalyptus. On the palate, very concentrated, full-bodied, even almost unyielding. Thus, it turns—together with Clos de Sarpe—into probably the hardest Saint-Émilion. This wouldn’t have been necessary if the logical vintage approach had been chosen during vinification. Modernity has struck here. Here is my potential rating, definitely without any purchase intention:

Silky, broad, opulent bouquet with chocolate, blackberries, dried fruits, tobacco, mocha. Powerful, sweet, opulent palate with rich, sweet fruit, fine sandy tannins, pronounced aromatics, broad finish. 17/20 2021 - 2032

Smoked and grilled caramel notes, oak present but nuanced, with a play of light and shade that lets you pause and enjoy the red and black fruits building across the palate. Caramel, butterscotch, black cherry, raspberry purée, its powerful character tempered by nuanced saffron and white truffle. A more challenging vintage on the Right than the Left Bank, with rain during harvest, but I am impressed by what they have achieved here, where the natural exuberance and power are softened by gentle acidities. 100% new oak, Michel Rolland consultant.

The 2014 Troplong Mondot is medium to deep garnet-brick in color. Scents of cedar and unsmoked cigars are followed by nuances of dried blackberries and plum pudding with a waft of spice cake. The medium-bodied palate is chock full of mature black fruit and spicy layers, supported by firm, lightly chewy tannins and great tension, finishing with impressive length. Tasted blind with the Southwold Group in London in February 2024.

With a magnificent chalky drive, a fine, tight, precise texture, the 2014 asserts its tactile presence with remarkable authority and distinction.

The sample of Troplong-Mondot is a powerful, massive, concentrated wine, with very present acidity that makes it feel a bit dry despite the lovely dark chocolate notes on the finish. The wine is clearly not yet harmonized. It should age for a long time.

The 2014 shows a touch of élevage with hints of crème brûlée and caramel, but it also displays candied notes, indicating a certain maturity. Lovely breadth on the palate with convincing balance and a youthful character. You can start enjoying it now, but I think it still deserves a bit more time.

The nose is elegant. It reveals lovely notes of ripe black fruits, crème de cassis, black fruits and, more subtly, small black berries, fresh fruit, spices, as well as hints of oak and tobacco. The palate is beautifully crafted, fresh, elegant, complex, dense, and offers lovely tension along with a silky, fleshy, full-bodied and tight texture. A fine tannic framework guides the tasting. On the palate, it expresses notes of blackberry cream, black fruits and, more subtly, blueberry, fig, combined with some notes of fresh red fruits, spices, chocolate and a touch of pepper. The tannins are fine, abundant and well integrated. A lovely wine.

Logo on the cork: MS Dry on the palate.

92–94. Barrel Sample. This wine is rich and concentrated, with great weight and personality—every element seems larger than life. The ripe plum flavors are forward and juicy. The finish has a subtle warmth of alcohol.

The 2014 Troplong-Mondot performed to my expectation now that the wine is in bottle. It has a refined bouquet with black cherries, raspberry preserve and mineral scents that gain intensity in the glass, but never get carried away. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, tensile in the mouth but surprisingly linear and conservative, at least in the first half. It is fresh and precise, then delivers the weight and concentration as it fans out on the finish, a residue of white pepper tingling on the aftertaste. This is a delicious Troplong Mondot that should age with style and grace.