2021 Château Troplong Mondot En Primeur
Released this morning, 2021 Château Troplong Mondot is offered at £426 per six bottles. Aymeric de Gironde (formerly of Cos d'Estournel) has been reinvigorating this superb estate, with investment from the new owners, to emphasise freshness and terroir. The result in 2021 has been described as a 'cerebral' and 'dazzling' wine, with Galloni awarding it 95-97 points.
Bordeaux En Primeur, landing in spring 2024.
To order, e-mail us at sales@richardkihl.ltd.uk
Producer Profile
Château Troplong Mondot
The vineyards of Château Troplong Mondot were originally part of the Pavie estate, but became a separate entity in 1850, when they were acquired by Raymond Troplong. The pretty little château itself was built in 1745. The estate passed through various hands until it was bought by the Valette family in the 1930s. Troplong Mondot's modern history began in 1980, when Christine Valette took over the running of the estate, introducing many of the fundamentals of making high quality Bordeaux such as hand-harvesting, reducing yields, increasing the use of new oak and vinifying parcel by parcel. The estate quickly became a leading light of new wave St-Emilions.
Christine Valette passed away in 2014 and her relative Xavier Parente took over, bringing in Aymeric de Gironde (formerly of Cos d'Estournel) as winemaker. In 2017 the property was sold to a French insurance company SOCR, who invested in new cellars. Aymeric de Gironde has set about taking Troplong Mondot in a new direction, with less new oak and a fresher, more terroir-driven style.
| RED | 2021 | Château Troplong Mondot | 75cl | £850 per case of 12 | Château Troplong Mondot 2021 / / 75cl £850 per case of 12 |
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Tasting Notes"85% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Cabernet Franc. 47 hl/ha. Cask sample. Deep colour. Floral notes with an attractive density of fruit. Finely structured, velvety tannins providing the framework. Minty freshness as well, the finish chalky. Balanced with all the components in place. 13.5%. Drink 2027 – 2042. 17 points" jancisrobinson.com (JL)------"Aymeric de Gironde, who without exaggeration has revolutionized this Saint-Émilion estate, told me that in 2021, the Troplong Mondot comes exclusively from the heart of the original vineyard, mainly on molasse soils. It was picked from September 17 to October 18, unusually finishing with the Merlot, and has 13.5% alcohol without any chaptalization or saignée. The focused blackberry, raspberry and iris petal scented nose is very delineated, yet more reserved than recent vintages. (A second sample at the château had a little more chutzpah.) The palate is medium-bodied with firm, slightly chalky tannins and a fine bead of acidity that imports liveliness and verticality. This Troplong-Mondot is imbued with a palpably mineral-driven finish. I am full of admiration for this cerebral wine, though I wager that it will need several years in bottle. 93-95 points" Neal Martin, Vinous.com------"The natural density that they have at Troplong was extremely helpful in a vintage like 2021. This is a little more reserved than a typical year, but very much delivers signature power. Expect gunsmoke, fern and raspberry leaf alongside cherry pit and saffron salinity, black cherry fruits, rosebud, anis, fennel spice, all with the powerful and concentrated signature of limestone. I was here on the last day of harvest, and I remember how healthy the grapes were. This is the first vintage where the cellar has been completely finished, moving from 20 to 42 tanks. No chaptilisation (but the natural 13.5%abv is extremely rare at this late ripening property, and a real indication of how long it took for sugars to climb in this vintage). 95 points" janeanson.com------"The 2021 Troplong Mondot shows considerable promise, exhibiting aromas of plums and wild berries mingled with notions of sweet spices, rose petals, vine smoke and raw cocoa, followed by a medium to full-bodied, seamless palate endowed with impressive intensity and texture. Built around beautifully refined, powdery tannins and lively acids, it concludes with a long, mouthwateringly saline finish. Macerations here were long but gentle, including a long cold soak before fermentation, and the blend, after much deliberation, is 85% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Cabernet Franc. Tasted four times. 93-96 points" William Kelley, RobertParker.com------"Lovely density here with a solid center-palate of fruit and fine tannins. Medium body. Underlying salinity and oyster-shell character in the finish. Well defined. Grows at the end. 95-96 points" jamessuckling.com------"The 2021 Troplong Mondot is shockingly raw and untamed, but in the very best sense of those terms. A wine of energy and pure power, the 2021 is going to need a number of years to be at its best, but it is certainly very impressive in the early going. The 2021 clocks in at 13.5%, which has not been seen here since the 1990s. The 2021 is not an easy wine to taste at this stage, as it is not fully formed. I won't be surprised if the 2021 turns out even better than this note suggests. It is a dazzling wine by any measure, and a far cry from the wines of decade ago, when the malolactic fermentations were often not finished when en primeur samples were presented! Superb. 95-97 points" Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com |
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