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 | 2019 Ch. Troplong Mondot - Saint Emilion 1er GCC | € 92,75 (€ 112,23) |
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Rij je verloren in Saint Emilion? Geen nood: zoek de watertoren op het hoogste punt en je kan je weer oriënteren. We waren zelfs te vroeg op onze afspraak. Rondom die watertoren vinden we la Butte de Mondot, het hoogste terroir van argilo-calcaire in Saint Emilion. Troplong Mondot bestaat er sinds de XVIIde eeuw. Michel Rolland en Christine Vallette maakten er vroeger uber-geconcentreerde Saint Emilion die veel charme hadden. Ze plukten altijd heel erg laat. In de zomer van 2017 trok de nieuwe eigenaar, de Franse verzekeraar Scor, directeur Aymeric de Gironde (vroeger Pichon Baron en Cos d'Estournel) en consulent Thomas Duclos aan. De revolutie was ingezet. Claude en Lydia Bourguignon gaven een nieuwe kijk op het terroir met meer aandacht voor de bodemstructuur. Een vroegere oogst en vriendelijke extractie veranderden het aanzicht van de wijnen. De oogst was inderdaad snel ingepakt in 2019: hij startte op 7 september en was voor 80% klaargespeeld op 8 dagen tijd. Voor de Cabernets namen ze meer tijd (tot 20 september). Met een rendement van 44hl/ha is er 15% minder wijn dan vorige jaar. Het assemblage werd 85% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon en 2% Cabernet Franc. Malo-lactische gisting gebeurde dit jaar op cuve en niet op vat. Elevage gebeurt op 60% nieuwe eik waaronder 2 foudres van 20hl en 3 amforen. Aymeric de Gironde beoogt daarmee meer zuiverheid. We proeven: stralend robijnrood. Enkele zwarte bessen doorspekken het in essentie rode fruit in de neus. Kersenbloesem bezorgt floraliteit. Het palet is zo smakelijk dat er een gaatje lijkt te zitten onderaan de fles: Troplong Mondot smaakt duidelijk naar méér. Knapperige tannines omgeven een fruitige kern van zomers fruit. Ragfijne zuren werken mondwaterend en geven het geheel een lichtvoetige persoonlijkheid die het kloppend hart van intens fruit in een hogere versnelling brengt. Dit is dus duidelijk een schitterende wijn. De essentie van rijpe kers komt breed over, maar blijft droit et précis tot in de heerlijke, bijzonder uitgestrekte finale. 15%vol. Bravo! (Water)torenhoge scores spreken voor zich. IN DE PERS 96 Neal Martin – vinous.com (Februari 2021) The 2019 Troplong-Mondot, which was the first vintage without any malo in barrel, has a beautifully defined bouquet of blackberry, cranberry, touches of graphite and cedar aromas that gain intensity with aeration. The oak here is very well integrated. The palate is medium-bodied, elegant and poised, with silky-smooth tannins and a complex, black-pepper- and allspice-tinged finish. Caressing in the mouth, delivering extremely well integrated oak and a classically styled, minerally finish. Superb. Drink 2025-2050. 95-97 Neal Martin – vinous.com (Juni 2020) The 2019 Troplong Mondot needs an hour or two to settle and coalesce in the glass. As has been well documented, this is a reconfigured "TM" compared to those a decade ago - less flamboyant and ostentatious. Indeed, once it has shaken off that introspection, it unfurls with mainly black fruit, briary, sous-bois, hints of dark chocolate and mocha, perhaps one of the first Troplongs that I have encountered that is reminiscent of Pomerol. The palate is medium-bodied with very supple tannins. This is beautifully balanced with extremely well judged acidity. Its gentle personality belies the backbone of this Troplong, with touches of white pepper and tobacco toward the cerebral finish. It is a wonderful Saint-Émilion from Aymeric de Gironde and his team, more approachable than the 2018, to be frank, just a wine you are going to want to drink. Drink 2024 - 2050. 97 Antonio Galloni – vinous.com (Februari 2021) The 2019 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. Drink 2031-2049. 96-98 Antonio Galloni – vinous.com (Juni 2020) The 2019 Troplong Mondot is sensational. Rich, vibrant and explosive, the 2019 pulses with energy. Black cherry, violet plum, licorice, lavender and dark spice build in a statuesque Saint-Émilion endowed with tremendous energy and pure power. Troplong Mondot is not as obvious a wine as it was a few years ago, but its grandeur - and more importantly, the grandeur of this site - are evident. Troplong Mondot is a wine that simply can't be denied. The 2019 is aging in 60% new oak and 40% a combination of once-used barrels, foudres and amphora. Troplong Mondot has undergone a radical transformation since 2017 under the stewardship of Managing Director Aymeric de Gironde. Today, picking is earlier, there is greater focus on a parcel by parcel approach at harvest, no SO2 is used until barreling down, and for the first time, none of the malolactic fermentation was done in oak. Harvest took place from September 10 through October 7. De Gironde was among the managers who reported clusters of uneven ripeness, but added he is more comfortable with that than he might have been a few years ago, a way of thinking that is becoming more common in Bordeaux. In tasting, Troplong Mondot remains a big, broad-shouldered Saint-Émilion, but now it also has more energy and vibrancy than in the past. 98 James Suckling - jamessuckling.com (Februari 2022) 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. Try after 2026. 98 William Kelley - robertparker.com (April 2022) 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 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 Troplong Mondot. Drink 2027-2060. It's hard to think of any estate in contemporary Bordeaux that has witnessed a revolution more profound than that effected by Aymeric de Gironde at Troplong Mondot since his arrival here just after the 2017 harvest. The château itself sits at the peak of a dome of clay (known to geologists as molasses de l'Agenais) some 11-12 meters thick that has never been eroded away, and it's the vines that grow here that represent the heart of Troplong Mondot. These clays were compacted, so one of de Gironde's first initiatives was to work to undo that, ploughing by horse and employing cover crops. But Troplong's vineyards aren't limited to this dome: they encompass a range of altitudes from 40 to 110 meters above sea level, ranging onto the plateau toward the town of Saint-Émilion and almost to its edge to the south, obligating a broad window of harvesting dates, with greater attention paid to avoiding over-ripeness. Other evolutions have occurred in the winery and cellar: malolactic fermentation now completes in tank instead of in barrel; and the percentage of new oak is much reduced and, more importantly, less impactful in profile. All of which has brought new aromatic range and textural finesse and, above all, better balance to wines that, in trying to push the boundaries, in the past tended to exceed them. Having tasted Troplong Mondot back to 1959 over the years, I can attest that this site, well-farmed, is never going to produce light, ephemeral wines: power can be taken for granted. What's less self-evident is to render that power with finesse. The 2019 vintage demonstrates that de Gironde and his team are capable of doing just that. 96+ Lisa Perrotti-Brown – thewineindependent.com (May 2022) The 2019 Troplong Mondot is composed of 85% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple colored, it needs coaxing to unleash exuberant scents of crushed blackberries and black raspberries, giving way to a core of juicy plums, dusty soil, aniseed, and sandalwood with wafts of rose oil and cracked pepper. Full-bodied, lively, and bursting with youthful red and black fruits, it has a fine-grained texture and lively backbone, finishing long with lots of savory layers. 96-98 Lisa Perrotti-Brown – robertparker.com (Juni 2020) The 2019 Troplong Mondot is a blend this year of 85% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Cabernet Franc, harvested from the 10th to the 25th of September. The pH is 3.55—pretty incredible when you consider the alcohol is nearly 15%! I hasten to add that from tasting, I would have guessed this was 14.3% to 14.5% alcohol. It is the kind of wine with so much energy it practically does pirouettes on your palate. Opaque purple-black colored, the nose is fantastically floral, bursting from the glass with notes of candied violets, red roses and lavender over a core of plum preserves, wild blueberries and black raspberries with touches of garrigue, tilled soil, wild fungi and crushed rocks plus a waft of powdered cinnamon. The medium-bodied palate is like a tightly coiled spring, featuring beautifully knit layers of black and red fruits, earth and floral notes within a firm, fine-grained frame and bags of freshness, finishing long and mineral laced. This is a far cry from the old-school style of Troplong Mondot from a few years back, and it is incredibly impressive. This wine is aging in French oak barriques, some larger vats, and a small proportion is in amphorae. The oak portion is 60% new. 98 Jane Anson – janeanson.com (Juli 2022) 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. 96 Jane Anson – decanter.com (Juni 2020) Clear salinity, this grips with a dual character of seduction alongside precision. Estate signature in that it has coiled power with its berry fruits and cocoa notes, with a chalky depth to the tannins reflecting the clay and limestone soils. Complex and rich, but conserving its energy. The hidden power is perhaps the biggest difference with the old Troplong pre-2017, when they were happy to show the power right from the start. There are a lot of layers going on here, real complexity that is in no hurry to reveal itself. A creaminess comes in as the texture widens and softens. High alcohol despite earlier picking dates, because the terroir is the boss here! 3.55pH, tannin index of 70IPT. Thomas Duclos consultant. Drink 2024-2050. 17,5/20 James Lawther MW – jancisrobinson.com (Juni 2020) Cool and contained with floral and dark-fruit notes. Cassis as it opens. Delightful texture. Silkier than Mondot and less chalky but fresh and terroir-driven. Juicy, saline, the tannins channelled to give length and drive. Clean, firm finish. Drink 2027-2040. 98-99 Terre de Vins – terredesvins.com (Juni 2020) Troplong MondotTroplong Mondot kijkt uit over Saint Emilion en is er één van de grootste Châteaux met 43 hectare "d'un seul tenant". Het bezit un grand terroir argilo-calcaire (molasses calcaires de l'Agenais met 25 sous-terroirs, met ook silex en kalk. Die geologie zorgt voor fraîcheur, minéralité en verfijning. Chemische onkruidverdelgers, meststoffen of insecticides worden er geweerd. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||