The cork broke apart upon opening, so the wine was filtered and transferred quickly into a decanter. Luckily, it was otherwise fine. This Pomerol definitely showed its age with its garnet, almost rust color. Upon opening its nose was plum, blackberry, must, and cedar. Initial tastes were cherry and earth, very similar to burgundy. It evolved rapidly with aromas and tastes of black and blue fruit, leather, and licorice. This Pomerol was definitely at full maturity, but not over the hill. There was adequate fruit and acidity remaining. I was expecting more complexity and richness. The wine was medium bodied with a moderate finish. Smooth tannins. Drink now!
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89 A deep black/garnet core. The nose takes about ten minutes to open but reluctantly reveals scents of dark chocolate, savoury fruits, a faint hint of freshly cut ginger and blackberry. A medium-bodied palate, quite forward with the Cabernet Franc quite noticeable. The tannins are lacking a little structure (like many 1996 Pomerols) and the overall character is rather sulky, dare I say, dour? Dr and conservative on the finish. Perhaps too classic even for this classicist but it may improve. Drink 2010-2015. Tasted July 2007. Neal Martin Wine Journal Dec 2007
88 Dark ruby with surprising pink at the rim, the 1996 Trotanoy seems very tightly knit, with dusty tannins, hints of sweet and sour cherry fruit, finishing to a somewhat liquid minerality and spicy note. The wine has plenty of muscle, very high levels of tannin, but a somewhat unimpressive mid-palate. Whether it fleshes out remains to be seen, but I am somewhat doubtful. This wine seems to be increasingly less impressive. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2016. Last tasted, 2/02.
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Light to medium bodied. Garnet Red, with ambering, displaying full maturity. Signature perfume of pomerol. Fully ripe, sweet,very polished, and easy drinking, good for food. Exits with finish, but not long.
Wine is at full maturity and declines in flavor with decanting. Much better to pop with meal and drink it. Tends to be become raisiny after 2 hours, so drink it fast and enjoy it.
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Orange fringe with brownish hue indicates a good evolution. The nose is superb with blackcurrant, prune, fig, liquor of chocolate, caramel, coconut, smoke delivering Porto like aromas. In mouth, the attack is powerful and also subtle, but quickly leaves the place to dryness in medium of mouth to finish abruptly on a bitter and short final. Disappointing, lack of flesh, is not at the level of the reputation of this domain.
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Very orange hue. On the nose, less berries but more wet stones, in an enjoyable subtle way. Mellow attack, slight bitterness again and some unresolved tannins. Short finish (7.9/10) http://sgbordeaux.blogspot.com/2011/03/ch-trotanoy-vertical-tasting.html
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2011 Simple Series 9: Sean BOD (Imperial Treasure Super Peking Duck @ Paragon): Alcohol :: 13.5% Decanted for about 2hrs. First red of the night and the transition from the great whites to the red was smooth, at least for the nose. Good complexity with lots of sweet fruits intermixed with secondary notes: ripe cherry, fig and plum with floral scents, wildness, earth and leather. This wine possessed really good vibrancy and concentration of fruits, a little bit tannin and earth. The balance is here and is really quite delicious with the slight creamy mouth feel. However it faded in the glass very quickly, become quite dry and austere and lack of precision. Having tasted some vintages of Trotanoy, it has the capable to deliver even in a normal vintage such as 99 & 02, but the 96 clearly not the case. The medium length finish is a little bit savory as well as dry herbs. Drink soon rather than later as I don't think this has any upside potential with age.
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Sean Birthday (Imperial Treasure Super Peking Duck): One of the least Pomerol-like Trotanoy I have tasted (not that I have tasted a lot though) so in terms of distinctiveness this is somewhat lacking. Seems dominated by Cabernet fruit without the lushness and seductiveness. It's not a bad wine, just that there's nothing particularly interesting about it. Doubt it will improve with age. Definitely not a good representation of what Trotanoy can be so I would not recommend this to casual buyers unless you know what you are in for.
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2011 Simple Series VII: Sean's Birthday (Imperial Treasure Super Peking Duck, Paragon): Good, but barely more. It is very rare that a Trotanoy shows up as the weakest wine of a line-up, but this was unfortunately one of them. It was probably a reflection of both how good the other wines were, as well as how weak a right-bank vintage 1996 was. Indeed, while this had a very nice nose, with sweet dark cherry and cassis notes, these were liberally sprinkled with tea leaves, tobacco and green pepper notes, suggestive of perhaps a higher percentage of Cabernet grapes. The palate was quite un-Pomerol as well. Nicely balanced, but rather lacking the lush depth and opulent power I normally associate with Trotanoy. This was more about lacy dark cherry and cassis fruit, almost left-bank if not for its silky softness and sweet spice and flower edge. It lacked a bit authority, and the smoky, tobacco-laden finish could have been a bit longer. All in all, this was decently good rather than great, and I am not sure age will improve it that much either. A bit disappointing.
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Plum, iron and soy sauce. A much more expressive nose as compared to 89. Slight stemmy and green on the palate but lacks structure as compared to 89. Similar profile as compared to 89 but lacks the finish.
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Very fine, elegant claret. Herbal notes, sous bois and red cherries. Very fine tannins and structure. Gripping but gentle, and very Burgundian. Simply a pleasure to drink. Ready now, will keep for a few more years.
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from Andre's cellar. decanted for 30 min. nose: plum jam, dried fruit, strawberries, menthol, licorice, lychee, wet tobacco, cedar. palate lacks a bit complexity. medium body. red fruit, bitter chocolate, some vegetable notes. tannins become more prominent and sandy with time. coincidentally medium palate loses some of its strength. long finish (16 Caudalie). this is a very lovely "nose wine". doubt that will improve.
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Intense nose. Sweet fruit, flowers. Earth and stone. Complex. Damn! That's good. Sweet dried fruit, full fleshy mid palate, integrated tannins. Shows its age well with a touch of bitter on the finish. Perfect time to drink it but will surely hold out. Chocolate on the finish, dark chocolate powder, cocoa. More later as it evolves. OK, been open awhile. This has happened to me before - the tannins and the structure are more prevalent. Still waves of old world fruit but now clinging to a more tannic frame. No doubt this will continue to improve in bottle. Five hours open. Waves of fruit, touch of spice, sweet integrated tannins, lively acidity. This is the whole package. Thing just tastes great.
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Delicate, fragile, elegant. Doesn't assert itself strongly, but that's not a bad thing. This is more of a subtle, nuanced wine. Drinking well now, and benefited from an hour of decanting.
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Mixed blindtasting (Henriks appartment): Clear, brilliant red color with a slightly brown hue. A very traditional conservative Bordeaux nose with tomato, tomato plant, blackcurrant and cedar wood. Good intensity and purity in the fruit, blackcurrant and some strawberry. Tobaco and cedar wood on the midpalate and finish. Lacking a bit in intensity on the midpalate, but fine length and really good purity.
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Popped and poured at storage. A fragrant nose of earth and minerals...very pleasant. On the palate, tobacco and cherry...medium bodied. A nice long finish.
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1/28/2023 - Endodr Likes this wine: 91 Points
The cork broke apart upon opening, so the wine was filtered and transferred quickly into a decanter. Luckily, it was otherwise fine. This Pomerol definitely showed its age with its garnet, almost rust color. Upon opening its nose was plum, blackberry, must, and cedar. Initial tastes were cherry and earth, very similar to burgundy. It evolved rapidly with aromas and tastes of black and blue fruit, leather, and licorice. This Pomerol was definitely at full maturity, but not over the hill. There was adequate fruit and acidity remaining. I was expecting more complexity and richness. The wine was medium bodied with a moderate finish. Smooth tannins. Drink now!
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7/1/2020 - EJANER wrote:
89
A deep black/garnet core. The nose takes about ten minutes to open but reluctantly reveals scents of dark chocolate, savoury fruits, a faint hint of freshly cut ginger and blackberry. A medium-bodied palate, quite forward with the Cabernet Franc quite noticeable. The tannins are lacking a little structure (like many 1996 Pomerols) and the overall character is rather sulky, dare I say, dour? Dr and conservative on the finish. Perhaps too classic even for this classicist but it may improve. Drink 2010-2015. Tasted July 2007.
Neal Martin
Wine Journal Dec 2007
88
Dark ruby with surprising pink at the rim, the 1996 Trotanoy seems very tightly knit, with dusty tannins, hints of sweet and sour cherry fruit, finishing to a somewhat liquid minerality and spicy note. The wine has plenty of muscle, very high levels of tannin, but a somewhat unimpressive mid-palate. Whether it fleshes out remains to be seen, but I am somewhat doubtful. This wine seems to be increasingly less impressive. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2016. Last tasted, 2/02.
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11/8/2019 - Mackmoo Likes this wine: 91 Points
Drinking well now. Plenty of secondary development on the nose and palate. Balanced.
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7/23/2019 - RayOB wrote: 92 Points
Drank at 67
Rich mouth coating and still very young
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3/1/2014 - Purple Tooth wrote: 90 Points
Light to medium bodied.
Garnet Red, with ambering, displaying full maturity.
Signature perfume of pomerol.
Fully ripe, sweet,very polished, and easy drinking, good for food.
Exits with finish, but not long.
Wine is at full maturity and declines in flavor with decanting. Much better to pop with meal and drink it. Tends to be become raisiny after 2 hours, so drink it fast and enjoy it.
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3/28/2013 - Astero wrote: 80 Points
Orange fringe with brownish hue indicates a good evolution. The nose is superb with blackcurrant, prune, fig, liquor of chocolate, caramel, coconut, smoke delivering Porto like aromas. In mouth, the attack is powerful and also subtle, but quickly leaves the place to dryness in medium of mouth to finish abruptly on a bitter and short final. Disappointing, lack of flesh, is not at the level of the reputation of this domain.
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10/9/2011 - Andice wrote: 79 Points
Very orange hue. On the nose, less berries but more wet stones, in an enjoyable subtle way. Mellow attack, slight bitterness again and some unresolved tannins. Short finish (7.9/10) http://sgbordeaux.blogspot.com/2011/03/ch-trotanoy-vertical-tasting.html
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9/1/2011 - Sleepy Dave wrote: 86 Points
2011 Simple Series 9: Sean BOD (Imperial Treasure Super Peking Duck @ Paragon): Alcohol :: 13.5%
Decanted for about 2hrs. First red of the night and the transition from the great whites to the red was smooth, at least for the nose. Good complexity with lots of sweet fruits intermixed with secondary notes: ripe cherry, fig and plum with floral scents, wildness, earth and leather. This wine possessed really good vibrancy and concentration of fruits, a little bit tannin and earth. The balance is here and is really quite delicious with the slight creamy mouth feel. However it faded in the glass very quickly, become quite dry and austere and lack of precision. Having tasted some vintages of Trotanoy, it has the capable to deliver even in a normal vintage such as 99 & 02, but the 96 clearly not the case. The medium length finish is a little bit savory as well as dry herbs. Drink soon rather than later as I don't think this has any upside potential with age.
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9/1/2011 - Dbrane wrote: 84 Points
Sean Birthday (Imperial Treasure Super Peking Duck): One of the least Pomerol-like Trotanoy I have tasted (not that I have tasted a lot though) so in terms of distinctiveness this is somewhat lacking. Seems dominated by Cabernet fruit without the lushness and seductiveness. It's not a bad wine, just that there's nothing particularly interesting about it. Doubt it will improve with age. Definitely not a good representation of what Trotanoy can be so I would not recommend this to casual buyers unless you know what you are in for.
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9/1/2011 - Paul S wrote: 90 Points
2011 Simple Series VII: Sean's Birthday (Imperial Treasure Super Peking Duck, Paragon): Good, but barely more. It is very rare that a Trotanoy shows up as the weakest wine of a line-up, but this was unfortunately one of them. It was probably a reflection of both how good the other wines were, as well as how weak a right-bank vintage 1996 was. Indeed, while this had a very nice nose, with sweet dark cherry and cassis notes, these were liberally sprinkled with tea leaves, tobacco and green pepper notes, suggestive of perhaps a higher percentage of Cabernet grapes. The palate was quite un-Pomerol as well. Nicely balanced, but rather lacking the lush depth and opulent power I normally associate with Trotanoy. This was more about lacy dark cherry and cassis fruit, almost left-bank if not for its silky softness and sweet spice and flower edge. It lacked a bit authority, and the smoky, tobacco-laden finish could have been a bit longer. All in all, this was decently good rather than great, and I am not sure age will improve it that much either. A bit disappointing.
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5/28/2011 - zroberto wrote:
een gedronken door vader
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4/23/2011 - Rani wrote: 90 Points
Not as good as previous bottle, slightly less gripping. Otherwise similar - red and black fruit, good acidity and fine tannins. Elegant.
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3/26/2011 - astroman wrote: 90 Points
Plum, iron and soy sauce. A much more expressive nose as compared to 89. Slight stemmy and green on the palate but lacks structure as compared to 89. Similar profile as compared to 89 but lacks the finish.
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2/3/2011 - emkc wrote: 89 Points
Nice perfume nose; elegant and very pomerol. Medium to full body. However, the wine does not seem to be evolving in the glass.A bit simple and boring.
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12/12/2010 - unrelenting wrote: 91 Points
lacked the complexity I would have expected for a 14-yr old wine
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10/13/2010 - Rani wrote: 92 Points
Very fine, elegant claret. Herbal notes, sous bois and red cherries. Very fine tannins and structure. Gripping but gentle, and very Burgundian. Simply a pleasure to drink. Ready now, will keep for a few more years.
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2/21/2010 - microbox wrote: 91 Points
from Andre's cellar. decanted for 30 min. nose: plum jam, dried fruit, strawberries, menthol, licorice, lychee, wet tobacco, cedar. palate lacks a bit complexity. medium body. red fruit, bitter chocolate, some vegetable notes. tannins become more prominent and sandy with time. coincidentally medium palate loses some of its strength. long finish (16 Caudalie). this is a very lovely "nose wine". doubt that will improve.
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9/19/2009 - milwaukeewino wrote:
Intense nose. Sweet fruit, flowers. Earth and stone. Complex.
Damn! That's good. Sweet dried fruit, full fleshy mid palate, integrated tannins.
Shows its age well with a touch of bitter on the finish. Perfect time to drink it but will surely hold out.
Chocolate on the finish, dark chocolate powder, cocoa.
More later as it evolves.
OK, been open awhile. This has happened to me before - the tannins and the structure are more prevalent. Still waves of old world fruit but now clinging to a more tannic frame.
No doubt this will continue to improve in bottle.
Five hours open. Waves of fruit, touch of spice, sweet integrated tannins, lively acidity. This is the whole package.
Thing just tastes great.
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12/30/2008 - Ericdwar wrote: 86 Points
Quite good, but perhaps over the peak
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9/26/2008 - John McCabe wrote: 92 Points
Delicate, fragile, elegant. Doesn't assert itself strongly, but that's not a bad thing. This is more of a subtle, nuanced wine. Drinking well now, and benefited from an hour of decanting.
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8/2/2008 - Terkel wrote: 92 Points
Mixed blindtasting (Henriks appartment): Clear, brilliant red color with a slightly brown hue. A very traditional conservative Bordeaux nose with tomato, tomato plant, blackcurrant and cedar wood. Good intensity and purity in the fruit, blackcurrant and some strawberry. Tobaco and cedar wood on the midpalate and finish. Lacking a bit in intensity on the midpalate, but fine length and really good purity.
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2/8/2008 - winenewb068 wrote: 88 Points
Popped and poured at storage. A fragrant nose of earth and minerals...very pleasant. On the palate, tobacco and cherry...medium bodied. A nice long finish.
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2/1/2008 - Claudio161 wrote: 90 Points
Hart Davis Hart Wine Co Comparative Bordeaux Tasting Vintages 1995 & 1996 (Newberry Library, Chicago IL): Surprisingly different from 1996. Even stronger and more tannic than the 1995. Garden herbs are more present in this wine along with red tree fruit. This is good, but still big. I think it needs a little more time. But I do love this Chateau - really impressive fruit!
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2/1/2008 - KeithAkers wrote: 88 Points
HDH 95/96 Comparative Tasting (Newberry Library, Chicago IL): nose: interesting dusty nose with some blueberry, red fruit, and minerals
taste: nice flavors of tobbacco, spices, blueberry, and a bit of leather. flavors are a bit muted though
overall: It's a nice solid wine, but nothing really stands out and it. The flavors are a bit muted on the palate and the nose isn't all that deep
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10/3/2006 - 60ouvrees wrote:
Badly corked but underlying material seemed to be there.
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