Troplong Mondot (Bottega Coco): Plums, a little red plum and red berries in support, again it has polished oak but slightly less obvious; chocolate. With time and agitation these aromas are joined by black and red currant. Juicy red and black fruits, silky tannins here, a little burr and tug is slightly drying, chocolate joins on the finish accompanied by some non-intrusive alcohol warmth. Okay.
Riper forward profile and dark fruits and baking spices mixed in. Shows some glossy oak influence on the finish. Fine somewhat austere tannins—we’ll managed in this challenging year. Quite good.
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Lovely aroma of blueberry, black tea, star anise, cinnamon, roasted meat, black olives, licorice. On the palate, first boil of black tea（英红9号头啖汤的味道）, red plum. Impressive flavor intensity with medium plus finish. The alcohol is not shy but still well balanced by high acidity and fruits.
Vertical and Lunch with Chateau Troplong Mondot - Singapore 2023: Strawberry and cream on nose. Weaker and less fruity; some under ripe strawberry with some spices. Lacks balance and is quite alcoholic and hot. This is also rather up front with a short finish.
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20 Vintages of Troplong Mondot: This was a trainwreck of a vertical tasting. An average of meager 86.8 pts, only 6 wines with a rating of more than 90pts. Almost all wines pre 2017 and a winemaker/style change have dried out. Too much extraction and heavy oak treatment produced wines that did not age well, have no fruit and charm left. I don’t have group ratings but the sentiment in the room was similar (this was the fastest tasting ever with this group). It was a root day but that can’t explain everything. Also, the provenance or storage of the bottles was no issue (all bought En Primeur, stored perfectly since). Troplong Mondot seems to be a victim of a series of bad choices, mainly the wrong consultant. Luckily, the future looks brighter.
TN: Slightly truffly nose with dark red fruit, quite ripe to complement. A bit hollow mid palate but its not too ripe, not too drying. But not too interesting either.
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Drank in a vertical lineup of Troplong Mondot in celebration of our anniversary and upcoming trip to St Emilion: 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019. Decanted and drank over 3 hours.
Garnet in color; not super dark, more brick.
The nose is strong in alcohol, dark cherries, dark berries, some light funk. Not really a complex nose. With some air, the cherries subside and violets emerge, fresh cut grass, fresh cut flowers.
On the palate, a lot of barely ripe cherries, a tartness, green, vibrant, good acidity. The mouthfeel is very elegant, surprisingly light; not as mouth-coating and opulent as the 2015 and 2018, not as perfectly balanced as the 2019. Fruit forward but not remotely flabby. I would say this is the “thinnest” of the four in terms of mouthfeel, but very nice.
I believe this is the first wine with the new ownership Aymeric de Gironde and shows a move towards elegance, that improves in 2018 and achieves near perfection in 2019. We are big fans of TM and this is excellent. $98.
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No frost damage to Troplong Mondot in 2017. Vibrant and energetic. Blackberry, mulberry, forest floor, earthy tone and a hint of floral. Well integrated, elegant yet powerful. The acidity is beautiful with some latte and light espresso finished.
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Wow, is this good and it's drinking beautifully after a 3-hour decant. Classy and smooth with delicious flavors of dark fruits and bitter chocolate. Beautifully balanced and fine with perfect supple tannins. 93+
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14.5% abv. Dark crimson color, clear. On pnp, alcohol evident then blew off in 30min, black and red fruit, soft green notes, wood. Med plus weight in mouth, plenty of mouth drying tannins, decent acidity. Plenty of fruit on palate, a bit one dimensional today in structure and flavor, but this screams ripe St Emilion merlot, with lots of spicy oak that lingers on a very long finish. 92-94 today with upside.
Expected to like this more than I did. The backing off from the prior blockbustery style is already evident, but unfortunately the plummy fruit never managed a chance to come up for air from under the raw wood. Perhaps will show better with a few more months to come together or perhaps I am spoiled by so many recent 2016s.
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Bordeaux 2017 En Primeur - In Bottle Tasting (Montreal): A very elegant wine with quite a floral profile along with cassis plush and rich black fruit along with a chalky texture, crushed stones, fresh herbs, violets and a rich finish
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Arvi 2017 in the bottle tasting at the Dolder Grand in Zurich. Main conclusions: 1) Less concentration and complexity than 2015 and 2016; 2) generally soft tannins and light structures; 3) often well approachable already. Not a vintage to store for future generations, but one where you probably won't have to wait for a decade or more to pop a bottle and is likely to offer drinking pleasure early on. Of the 20 wines tasted, my top picks would be Smith-Haut-Lafitte, Clinet, Chevalier Blanc, Pichon Lalande (all 96) followed by Leoville Barton, de Fargues and Valandrau (all 95). See the tasting story for some number crunching.
Tasting note: Red and blue berries, had a whiff of sauerkraut initially, but disappeared over time. Fruity and pleasant palate, light but with tangible structure. Hope the initial off-note was an outlier. Would tread with caution here.
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Barrel sample at BB&R 2017 en primeur tasting. Lovely nose, dark colour. Had that telltale 2011 excess acidity hence the score suffered but this is only a barrel sample and the final selection could be excellent.
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Licorice, smoke, black cherry, plum and crushed rocks create the nose. On the palate, the wine is full bodied, sweetly authentic and luxuriously textured. There is more virtue in the fruit but less density and lower alcohol than in previous vintages. The wine shows more influence from the limestone, instead of the clay. This dramatic change in style is a matter of choice by the new director, Aymeric de Gironde who is seeking more aromatic complexity and balance over power and ripeness in the wine. The wine was produced from a blend of 85% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Cabernet Franc, reaching 14.2% alcohol. The harvest took place September 18, finishing September 27.
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2/12/2024 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
Salt and mineral and licorice on the nose. Very provocative. Salty and lively and very mineral. Kinda profound
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1/27/2024 - Sean Tay wrote: 94 Points
Tasted at Fruits of the Vine 2024 at Edition Hotel Singapore. Not able to write down tasting notes, only rating score.
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9/18/2023 - chatters wrote:
Troplong Mondot (Bottega Coco): Plums, a little red plum and red berries in support, again it has polished oak but slightly less obvious; chocolate. With time and agitation these aromas are joined by black and red currant. Juicy red and black fruits, silky tannins here, a little burr and tug is slightly drying, chocolate joins on the finish accompanied by some non-intrusive alcohol warmth. Okay.
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7/31/2023 - Nutty08 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Riper forward profile and dark fruits and baking spices mixed in. Shows some glossy oak influence on the finish. Fine somewhat austere tannins—we’ll managed in this challenging year. Quite good.
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7/25/2023 - Jason Wu Likes this wine: 94 Points
Lovely aroma of blueberry, black tea, star anise, cinnamon, roasted meat, black olives, licorice.
On the palate, first boil of black tea（英红9号头啖汤的味道）, red plum. Impressive flavor intensity with medium plus finish. The alcohol is not shy but still well balanced by high acidity and fruits.
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6/16/2023 - houstonjeff@hotmail.com Likes this wine: 93 Points
Very young and should wait a few years to drink this wine. Powerful and silky so it should age well.
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2/21/2023 - remyworldpeace wrote: 89 Points
Vertical and Lunch with Chateau Troplong Mondot - Singapore 2023: Strawberry and cream on nose. Weaker and less fruity; some under ripe strawberry with some spices. Lacks balance and is quite alcoholic and hot. This is also rather up front with a short finish.
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12/13/2022 - levicn wrote: 91 Points
醒酒两个半小时，深宝石红色，闻香有碾碎的新鲜水果，水果糖，红黑果香和草本气息，香气有点脂粉气，入口酸度中等，单宁紧涩，细砂纸颗粒，成熟的红果混合着果糖的香气，给人感觉酒的年份还很新，令人印象深刻的集中度，酒体不轻，酒风强劲，后段有酒精感，余味非常漂亮，精致的木质香调，红果伴随着奶香。酒体扎实，结构不小，没有完全打开，还可以进一步醒酒。现在饮用稍微早了些，有些毛糙，需要陈年把它打磨得更光滑，还有很长的陈年潜力。
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11/23/2022 - Cailles wrote: 92 Points
20 Vintages of Troplong Mondot: This was a trainwreck of a vertical tasting. An average of meager 86.8 pts, only 6 wines with a rating of more than 90pts. Almost all wines pre 2017 and a winemaker/style change have dried out. Too much extraction and heavy oak treatment produced wines that did not age well, have no fruit and charm left. I don’t have group ratings but the sentiment in the room was similar (this was the fastest tasting ever with this group). It was a root day but that can’t explain everything. Also, the provenance or storage of the bottles was no issue (all bought En Primeur, stored perfectly since). Troplong Mondot seems to be a victim of a series of bad choices, mainly the wrong consultant. Luckily, the future looks brighter.
TN: Slightly truffly nose with dark red fruit, quite ripe to complement. A bit hollow mid palate but its not too ripe, not too drying. But not too interesting either.
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6/24/2022 - Brendel Likes this wine: 93 Points
Drank in a vertical lineup of Troplong Mondot in celebration of our anniversary and upcoming trip to St Emilion: 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019. Decanted and drank over 3 hours.
Garnet in color; not super dark, more brick.
The nose is strong in alcohol, dark cherries, dark berries, some light funk. Not really a complex nose. With some air, the cherries subside and violets emerge, fresh cut grass, fresh cut flowers.
On the palate, a lot of barely ripe cherries, a tartness, green, vibrant, good acidity. The mouthfeel is very elegant, surprisingly light; not as mouth-coating and opulent as the 2015 and 2018, not as perfectly balanced as the 2019. Fruit forward but not remotely flabby. I would say this is the “thinnest” of the four in terms of mouthfeel, but very nice.
I believe this is the first wine with the new ownership Aymeric de Gironde and shows a move towards elegance, that improves in 2018 and achieves near perfection in 2019. We are big fans of TM and this is excellent. $98.
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3/11/2022 - Lec617 Likes this wine: 93 Points
No frost damage to Troplong Mondot in 2017. Vibrant and energetic. Blackberry, mulberry, forest floor, earthy tone and a hint of floral. Well integrated, elegant yet powerful. The acidity is beautiful with some latte and light espresso finished.
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12/25/2021 - dream Likes this wine: 93 Points
Wow, is this good and it's drinking beautifully after a 3-hour decant. Classy and smooth with delicious flavors of dark fruits and bitter chocolate. Beautifully balanced and fine with perfect supple tannins. 93+
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10/25/2020 - dclaggett Likes this wine:
14.5% abv. Dark crimson color, clear. On pnp, alcohol evident then blew off in 30min, black and red fruit, soft green notes, wood. Med plus weight in mouth, plenty of mouth drying tannins, decent acidity. Plenty of fruit on palate, a bit one dimensional today in structure and flavor, but this screams ripe St Emilion merlot, with lots of spicy oak that lingers on a very long finish. 92-94 today with upside.
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6/13/2020 - Keith Levenberg wrote:
Expected to like this more than I did. The backing off from the prior blockbustery style is already evident, but unfortunately the plummy fruit never managed a chance to come up for air from under the raw wood. Perhaps will show better with a few more months to come together or perhaps I am spoiled by so many recent 2016s.
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1/18/2020 - Alexander Smith Likes this wine: 92 Points
Bordeaux 2017 En Primeur - In Bottle Tasting (Montreal): A very elegant wine with quite a floral profile along with cassis plush and rich black fruit along with a chalky texture, crushed stones, fresh herbs, violets and a rich finish
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11/4/2019 - sirpat00 wrote: 92 Points
Arvi 2017 in the bottle tasting at the Dolder Grand in Zurich. Main conclusions: 1) Less concentration and complexity than 2015 and 2016; 2) generally soft tannins and light structures; 3) often well approachable already. Not a vintage to store for future generations, but one where you probably won't have to wait for a decade or more to pop a bottle and is likely to offer drinking pleasure early on. Of the 20 wines tasted, my top picks would be Smith-Haut-Lafitte, Clinet, Chevalier Blanc, Pichon Lalande (all 96) followed by Leoville Barton, de Fargues and Valandrau (all 95). See the tasting story for some number crunching.
Tasting note:
Red and blue berries, had a whiff of sauerkraut initially, but disappeared over time. Fruity and pleasant palate, light but with tangible structure. Hope the initial off-note was an outlier. Would tread with caution here.
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7/14/2018 - wineforth Likes this wine: 90 Points
Barrel sample at BB&R 2017 en primeur tasting. Lovely nose, dark colour. Had that telltale 2011 excess acidity hence the score suffered but this is only a barrel sample and the final selection could be excellent.
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4/26/2018 - Jeff Leve wrote: 95 Points
Licorice, smoke, black cherry, plum and crushed rocks create the nose. On the palate, the wine is full bodied, sweetly authentic and luxuriously textured. There is more virtue in the fruit but less density and lower alcohol than in previous vintages. The wine shows more influence from the limestone, instead of the clay. This dramatic change in style is a matter of choice by the new director, Aymeric de Gironde who is seeking more aromatic complexity and balance over power and ripeness in the wine. The wine was produced from a blend of 85% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Cabernet Franc, reaching 14.2% alcohol. The harvest took place September 18, finishing September 27.
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