Finally this one came around. I had a bottle back in 2015 or so, and it was still backwards, impenetrable. But this 750 ml had arrived, showing aromas of purest dark cherry and plum, on the palate an unmatched purity and depth of fruit. Basically bottomless. This was the Wine of the Night at a tasting that included the 1998 Cheval Blanc and the 1998 L'Eglise Clinet.
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Generously brought by MN (as if he hadn’t done enough!) to the apres tasting, apres In ‘N Out Burger festivities back at BW, and alas, on my 900th TN, my first sadly, badly, irredeemably corked bottle! Next time, perhaps, since you have a few in the bullpen. Guess we’ll have to crack that Ovid.
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Beautiful nose but doesn't quite follow through on the palate. I've had some bottles that are more open but mine seem to be pretty closed down still but there feels like a great wine lurking underneath. 92+
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Winey. Saddle sweat. Pheromones. Manure. Little fruit - all tertiary on the nose. Tightly knit, tannic structure still there, beautiful fruit, tannic, acid balance, so complete and perfect. An understated, classic wow. Love it.
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This is getting close to mature. It only took 26 years. But it was worth the wait. The wine is regal, plush, opulent, and intense with layers of perfectly ripe, powerful, strong black and red fruits, truffles the size of footballs, a bowl of Valrhona chocolate, and an orchard of ripe berries. The wine is palate-staining with its non-stop intensity. This is a muscular Pomerol with a refined edge that offers a thrilling tasting experience. In another decade, this could be a triple-digit wine. My instincts say it is highly possible. Drink from 2024-2050.
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Stunning wine with a beautiful nose and luscious fruit that is giving way to hints of herb and cedar. I think this is entering into a perfect drinking window but will hold on and continue to develop and evolve.
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In a 1998 right bank tasting recently, this was just outstanding. It had that extra element versus all the other super 98’s that night, this was able to standout with its complexity and flavours. Just in a perfect drinking window right now
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After 2 hours in the decanter was nice but still just a tad lean.
Loved that this was mostly merlot with a taste of cab franc. No cabernet sauvignon! Great blend. So tired of the over everything Napa cabs. glad to have a nice blend v another oh so boring napa cab.
Anyway, after about 4 hours in the decanter, kapow! Really gained weight and was stunning. Velvety Pomerol delishishnous yum yum. More please. Oh, I have 3 more. Feels to be in a good drinking window. Will it get better, perhaps. Regardless, they're ready now w a proper decant.
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Giuseppe's (Scottsdale, AZ): Solid fruit here, but a severely clipped finish makes for an angular showing overall. Red and black fruit, cedar, hope chest, dry soil, and dust make for a constricted delivery. The small pour I had threw off a bunch of sediment. A second bite of the apple revealed similar characteristics.
The ’00 La Mish and 1990 Montrose served beside this Trotanoy proved to be more agreeable in conveyance. The Trotanoy seems to be getting overly crotchety and “get off the lawn”-y as it advances. Drink 5 years ago… (though I know this will draw some spitfire from traditionalists who say this is a 40 year wine. And to that, I simply say, “um, no.”)
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Another Grand Tasting in Arizona! (Guiseppe's in Scottsdale): Splashed and slo-O for two hours. Initially tasted when opened, and nice perfumed nose with palate showing lots of tertiary character and some red fruit and chocolate notes. Later, still very nice, but a little muted. After sitting out for a couple more hours, this wine really started to show much better! Red fruit (mostly cherry) became more prominent and it struck a nice balance for my palate between tertiary and fruit flavors. I recommend two to three hours of slow slo-O prior to serving, or probably a one to two hour decant, if drinking soon. No hurry on this wine, but in a great place with some air. 95+ for my palate.
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I would hope to live long enough to finish my stock, as this is outstanding, and is only going to get better, and possibly even surpass the 1982. I am trying to limit myself to a bottle a year to track its progress, but its so seductive that it is difficult. Admittedly, it is in its earlier stages of its drinking window, but with an afternoon in the decanter, it is irresistible. At present, the nose and front palate are its best features with a gorgeously decadent nose of of ripe cherry, strawberry, and raspberry with the 10% of Cabernet Franc surprisingly making its presence felt with residual green pepper notes. It's relatively younger age does mean the tannin is still more left bank than right bank. This is going to be a classic, already just eclipsing the Angelus, and I am drinking the Cheval Blanc in a couple of days, so will reserve judgement if this is the best right banker of 1998. If not, even so it will be possibly touching a perfect score in the next 5 years.
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Everything you could want in a mature bordeaux. Perfect balance and nice fruit structure with a soft elegant finish. This wine seems at its plateau and I suspect will drink well for several years to come.
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2022 New Years Eve: I believe this was a pop and pour, and previous bottles that got more air were more impressive. But this was no slouch, just a bit simple for what it is. Blackberry, damp earth, leather and tobacco (as usual:).
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16x Right Bank Bordeaux 1998: Almost 25 years later, it’s a great time to check in on the wines of the much lauded right bank vintage. All wines tasted single blind. A few observations: A) most wines showed quite open with a melted tannin structure, but still good tension across the board. B) The highlight was rather on the structural side (elegance and finesse in most wines), than on the aromatic depth side, which was limited, also due to… C) …the fact that there is limited tertiary expression yet. Most wines will need at least another 5 to rather 10 years to reach their peak. D) An average rating of 91.9pts in my book and 92.0pts for the group shows that despite a few highlights, the reception was mixed overall. E) Best wines today were Angelus (group average 94.9pts), Valandraud (94.4) and Cheval Blanc (94.0). I would put L’Evangile (rated 95pts) in the top category too but the group (average 92.6) was less enthusiastic.
TN: Very shy nose. Not giving much. On the palate herbal, minerality driven, not a enough fruit to balance it out. With time a bit more red berries and some coffee notes show up but the wine remains lean and green. Elegant frame but overall a bit muted, and light. 90pts, which is probably too generous. Looking at the much more enthusiastic notes here, our bottle was either not correct or decanted for far to long so that all the fruit disappeared.
Decanting: Decanted for probably 4+ hours which was probably far too long.
General observations: Unfortunately, the tasting was below my expectations. The was no real "wow-effect" at any wines as I had with the left bank tasting 1982-1990 we had a year ago. So I had to find out, that, me, personally, I like more the aged left than the aged right banks. In the end, Ridge Montebello (pirate) ended even up being the wine of the night for me.
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TN: evolved on the nose, not enjoyable
very closed and rustical
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Bordeaux Right Bank 1998 tasting (Essenz (Brugg)): Bordeaux right bank 1998 tasting. All wines were served single blind and were decanted several hours. The sample showed i/ generally healthy and structured wines, still quite primary with further aging potential; ii/ the overall performance was below expectations considering the repute of the vintage for the right bank (although this may be due to the very long aeration), iii/ top wine for me were 1. Valandrau (95), 2. L’Evangile (95), 3. Angélus (94) while for the group the ranking was 1. Angélus (94.9), 2. Valandrau (94.4), 3. Cheval Blanc (94.0). Complete list including group scores included in the tasting story.
Tasting note: Rather low intensity. Pretty ripe and on balance darker type of fruit with a fleshy component. The palate lacked balance and felt unripe.
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For the first few hours, this bottle of the 1998 Trotanoy shows plum and ganache with a nuance of black truffle - typical if slightly demure. Revisiting the last glass 24 hours later, oxidation is creeping in but it really has unfolded aromatically. Excellent depth on the palate without any excess of alcohol or extract and a finish that lasts and lasts. Best to decant for 2-3 hours if opening now.
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Dynamite wine. I need to figure out how to acquire some of this. Unfortunately the pricing suggests it's not much of a secret. A wow from the very first sip. Packed with pitch-black fruit and that carob-like, bitter-chocolate characteristic that screams Pomerol plateau. The fruit has a snappy tartness that gives this an acute feel, but it's dense with material as thick as road tar. You're still savoring it when that peacock's tail of extra-bonus flavors unfurl, not even waiting till the back end.
Pizza party (Amy and Scott's house): A half-coravined bonus bottle that was a pop and pour. The nose is rich, damp earth. The palate continues with plum, black fruit, beef blood, iron, leather, tobacco and some tannin. This was really impressive.
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Coravined a couple glasses....no regrets! Nose shows a nice mixture of violets, earth, saddle leather and black cherry. Palate initially shows a core of black fruit, violets, tar, leather and some anise, next comes a wave of tobacco and dark cherry, wisps of blackberry jam and some leather notes. Finishes medium long with spice, cedar, Chinese five spice and anise. Delicious! With a couple hours of air, this turns more tertiary with fruit still very much present, but giving some ground to earth, tobacco and leather notes. A fun journey! I can't imagine this getting any better, but should drink like this for another year or two, IMO. Hold if you prefer lots of tertiary notes, likely past its prime if pure hedonism is your palate, and pretty darn great if you like a balance between the two! I would recommend PnP or an hour slo-O if serving soon. 96+ easily for my palate.
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Wow!!! This is sensational and as a Pomerol groupie it ticks every box for me, and is pipping the Angelus for wine of the vintage. The great thing is that it is only going to get better. The nose is packed with wine gum aromas of ripe red berry fruits and chocolate with floral background notes. It is almost overwhelming with the violet taking me to another dimension. The mouthfeel is to die for and it is like drinking liquid silk. At present tannin is still over dominating end palate and the finish. However, the latter gently nudges past 60 seconds with exquisite balance. It is only going to get better!
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The best bottle of this I've had to date showing great intensity and incredible depth of flavors with notes of dark red fruits, road tar and minerals. Quite youthful but there is a wonderful spicy complexity developing on the finish that is joyful and refreshing. This certainly has the potential to be the wine of this great right bank vintage down the road. L'Appart Commanderie dinner. 95+
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The last few years has added much-needed softness and definition here. Powerful, intense and concentrated, the wine kicks off with violets, chocolate, cherry, licorice and dark red fruits in the nose. Big, rich and almost dense, the finish packs in waves of opulent, chocolate-tinged, red fruits. Give it an hour in the decanter.
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Poured a small glass when I decanted. Initially, dark berries, some green funk: tight, but promising. After a 60-minute decant (plus more in the decanter over subsequent glasses), it opened up with powerful aromas, gradually adding in black cherry to the cassis, bitter chocolate, spice and tobacco. The flavors broadened and lengthened on the palate, with a touch of sweetness on the finish. Medium- to full-bodied, and while still firm, it was smooth as silk. Dry tannins became more assertive towards the last pours. Not quite "fully" mature (that might yet be two decades out), but with a short decant, it exhibits the glories of a great Pomerol in full flight.
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A Guys Night to Remember: Old Napa & Right Bank (Jason's, St. Paul, MN): Very dark red/purple color. Decanted for about 6 hours and drank a glass plus over 3 hours. Drank this next to a '96 Angelus. Definitely drinker younger and more vigorous than its mate tonight. Drank fruits, Lots of dried leaves and mulch, mint, orange zest, wet leather on the nose. The palate is full bodied, more structured, black fruits, dense, tar and graphite, oak, dry wood, tobacco, plum. Despite the decant time this got better in glass too.
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Guys Night Out Again!: Prep: Pulled this bottle from rack at 10 AM....stood it upright to let the sediment settle...opened the bottle, filtered through a screen into a decanter at 2 PM....left the decanter in the cellar until serving the wine at around 8 PM.
Nose: This wine exhibited strong notes of leather, tobacco and earth upon opening with a whiff of alcohol and hints of violets on the nose. When poured after the decant, the nose was much more expressive with purple flowers (mostly violets), a collage of black and blue fruit, with some tobacco, leather and some earthiness.
Palate: This wine was paired with a 1996 Angelus, which was pretty much a PnP. Initially, when I tasted this wine (right when opened and decanted), it showed more tertiary character, with the fruit hiding in the background. However, when the wine was poured, the fruit was singing and the tertiary flavors were much more in balance. The wine remained focused and balanced throughout the night, but I kept waiting for more fruit to show through (similar to drinking the '82). It never happened. The wine was in good balance, but retained some tightness that never quite let go. Also, after the decant, the flavor profile showed black and blue fruit at the forefront, with a good dose of leather, tobacco, forest floor and a hint of spice. Tannins, while not grippy, were definitely present, and it never quite achieved the velvety silkiness I was expecting. After everyone left, I re-tasted the wine, and it also started showing some tart cherry and chocolate character, tannins were a little more resolved, but still present. Gave my wife a taste, and it was her favorite of the four red wines we tasted (96 Angelus, 91 Heitz Martha, 94 Mondavi and this wine). Initially, I scored this wine 94+, but after re-tasting at the end of the night, this wine had upped its game and reached 95. I would say this wine had the most potential to improve with additional cellar age...will likely wait a couple years before re-visiting.
Additional observation: I hope the additional aging will allow this wine to reach its full potential...apparently, decanting helps, but is still limited on what it can do for a wine (at least that is my hope, because I tried the wine the next day, and many of the flavors were more muted, and a slight alcohol (but not heat) on the finish detracted from the wine. I will be curious to see down the road if perhaps there really is no substitute for time (that would be a mixed blessing....good for this wine, not so go for an old guy like me who still has quite a few young wines!)
Additional note: I was initially taken in by the evolution of the Angelus, which was definitely amazing, and perhaps a shorter decant would have allowed me (and the group) to witness more of an evolution of this wine. If you plan on opening a bottle, I would recommend a 1-2 hour decant to anyone opening a bottle, especially if you have a few hours to consume the bottle...I suspect the journey will be much more fun!
Final Note: After re-reading my note a couple times, it struck me that it sounded a little negative....make no mistake, this is an excellent wine that I hope will get even better! The 95 points is based on how the wine is drinking today,,,,and 95 is an excellent score, especially from me as I have not rated a wine higher than 98. Hope this note helps put things in context! Cheers!
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Decanted for ~4-hrs prior to serving. Nose of chocolate, black-cherries, earth & plums, this was still very much a "serious" wine with nice underlying spine of tannins in place. Still youngish on the palate, with good concentration/intensity as well as freshness, this was primarily dark-fruit driven with pencil-lead & a slight hint of blood/iron. This definitely still had plenty of legs to last the distance, and likely to get even better with more cellar age!
Very bright and crisp with excellent depth of dark black and red fruits and a regal structure. A young Pomerol with excellent precision and cut sporting notes of bitter chocolate, truffles and dark spices on the grippy finish. Will be brilliant in time but at least a decade away from full maturity. 94+
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Beautiful nose but needs time to develop on the palate. I’d sock this away for another 4 - 5 years. If drinking today, decant for at least 2 hrs or more.
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Gave this a quick double decant 2 hours before serving so I could take out any sediment from the bottle (some fine sediment but enough that you would want to take it out). This really benefited from some air and was more open than previous bottles that I PnP-ed.
Amazing dark cherry, leather, truffle, chocolate, t’n’a kinkiness on the nose. Pomerols seem to have gone out of fashion after the 80s/early 90s but my goodness this is so seductive and delicious. Palate is rich yet balanced. Still tastes young but lovely fruit and secondary characteristics coming through. Tastes very similar to how it smells. Some soil, truffle notes on the palate too. This is so morish and delicious we got through it so quickly. Absolutely stunning and a top 5 wine of the year!
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This is better than my last bottle almost 3 years ago. Lovely red plum, ripe cherry, milk chocolate and truffle notes. Better than the Evangile 1998 at the moment. Feels very youthful but love the balance between the playful and serious, very energetic and uplifting. Better freshness of fruit than Evangile which was more masculine and brooding. Delicious now but very much in its ascendency still. Hard to resist. The fruit is glossy and inviting and you want to drink more of it. Best compliment for any wine! Enjoy with confidence now and at 6x its original release price I guess the market also highly rates this wine too!
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Drank Trotanoy 1998 in Helsingør. Dissapointing experience, Wine was boring and never opened up for any interesting flavours. Decanted in glass for quite some time.
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On our 17th wedding anniversary dinner with a amazing beef vegetable dish. The nose is with crushed currents and ancient soil o Bordeaux of pencil lead and earth. The palate of intense black berries and ink nuances of stone fruits flow on forever. Decanted for two hours, and drank over three hours with an amazing meal. Could write for another 6 hours about this wine-one of the best I have had over the past 20 years. Bravo Bordeaux.
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The highly acclaimed Trotanoy 1998 is still an infant today. Old school style of structure and fragrant (less new oak / lower toast?). Rich and exuberant dark fruits and complex meaty nose, blackcurrant, mocha, earthy truffles and dark plums. Great concentration with a solid core, the meaty structure reminds me of 1989 Montrose. FYI: The winemaker preferred Trotanoy 1998 over Petrus 1998. Though I preferred the lushness of Petrus 1998. Drink from 2030. (91-92/100)
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Menthol, tobacco, layers of plummy fruit, truffles, luxurious aura. Dense, powerful, concentrated and structured, this was slow to open up. It should evolve into a magnificent 98 right bank right up there with the very best. Revisit in 2025 when it may merit an even higher score.
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Sumptuous in the extreme; rich and deep yet light on its feet, with superb balance and integrity Dark and plummy, ripe, opulent, and I WANT MORE. Outstanding
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Backward, this stubbornly youthful, potentially stunning wine is holding out. It takes at least 2-3 hours of air here before its purity of fruit, vibrant, floral, truffle and chocolate covered plums starts to shine. Powerful, concentrated and intense, it is going to take at least 5 more years in the cellar before this starts to pop.
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Great nose, distinctively Pomerol and restrained in the Trotanoy style. The palate isn't in harmony with the nose., it's pretty tight and unyielding. The rich food we're having helps that out a bit, but it's still a bit of a chore. This should be a great wine one day, but it'll take a while longer to get there, maybe 10 more years.
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These had 2 hours of air before getting into the glass and showed a super-potent dark plum, truffle, cedar, clay nose. Very big indeed and while immature, not really withholding. It's worth checking in on this if you have a bunch to see it in a young, vigorous stage. I would expect that it would be fun to see this in another 5 years and that it will really begin to approach its apogee in 10. I thought this was a nice way to set the tone for the vertical, including 98, 90, 86, 82, 81, 75, 71, 70.
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Nose: Beautiful deep plum fruit, blueberry, charcoal embers, truffle, cedar and slight caramel tones. Palate: Enters dense, but still tight showing a frame of ripe dark tannin right now with plump black cherry, plum and coffee/spice notes. Very youthful as expected. Finish: Exceptional length.
This has an extremely promising future. As we got into the older vintages you could really see how the layers might unfold as it develops a softer palate feel.
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One of the most youthful wines of the vintage, the wine remains an adolescent. Intense, concentrated, powerful and tannic, there is the structure to age for decades. Clearly this is loaded with layers of dense, ripe, black plums and all the truffles required for a sublime experience. But even at 20, this is not fully ready to go.
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Decanted for two hours but needed more. Drank over next two hours and second glass it started to show its stuff. Ripe Berries and some earth tones. Well structured in the glass with slow legs Good delicious finish. I am glad I have more.
Very ripe, very powerful wine. Tannic, but they're so polished and buried under so much fruit they really just sustain the finish. Maybe a touch of VA, which really isn't unwelcome in a wine this ripe. Smoky and earthy red and black fruit. Think dark cherry or black plums. Definitely a wine worth spending some time with over the course of an evening.
Would also note I think it's very sensitive to serving temperature. I tried a small glass after removing from the cellar and thought it was wonderful but in need of a little air. Poured into a decanter and then, about half an hour later, my wife poured herself a glass. She told me she found it raisiny and a little port-y. And she was dead on. The wine had opened up but also probably come up about 5-7F degrees despite the cool night. About 10 minutes before dinner, I poured the wine back into the bottle and dropped it into a bucket of ice. The wine snapped back into focus. Not blowsy, or raisiny or porty at all. It had sort of crossed back over a line.
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The 1998 Trotanoy is dominated with notes of plums, iron, fudge, raspberries and hints of tobacco. Medium-bodied, with red cherries, minerals, herbs and earth. Glides across the palate effortlessly and is very light on its feet, yet packs quite a punch flavor-wise. There are no hard edges here, just waves of pleasure from the moment that the wine hits the olfactory senses to long after it is swallowed. An exemplary Pomerol that is still on the upswing. A remarkable elixir! 97.
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Still drinking very well. Has at least another 5 years at peak. Earthy nose and a touch sweet on the pallet but still has some beautiful berry taste. Long finish.
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BU avec les FOUDUVINS de Sherbrooke, René, Claude, Olivier, Mike LM et FrançoisD… c’était pour fêter les 50 ans de notre ami François D au resto AVV La Suite! Fait de Merlot à 100%. Beau nez sur la fumée, le tabac, la terre, les fruits noirs et le cèdre. En bouche, pas mal à point at d’une belle finesse. Des cerises et du graphite avec des tannins polis et fins sur une finale longue et tout en soie. Excellent.
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Trotanoy Vertical with Edouard Moueix (Nomad): Wow! Awesome smokiness. Soft tannins but plenty of structure left. Similar lean structure as the 2009. Trotanoy vertical 1945-1982 (+1998, 2009,2010)
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Clearly the best Trotanoy of the 1990s, this bottle has never disappointed me. It's wonderfully open and fragrant, with ripened plums and truffle dominating the aromas. But where this shines is on the palate, where you can almost separate and delineate each individual component. There's a nice balance and equilibrium, with the sweetness melding together with the fresh, lingering acidity. This is a wine just starting to enter its peak maturity, but I expect this to drink well for decades.
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Somewhat translucent garnet red color. Attractively fragrant and quite ripe nose with aromas of dark berries, some slightly wizened plummy fruit, a light iron hint of blood, subtle inky character, a hint of sweetness and a touch of something more toasty and savory, lingering between aromas of licorice root and burnt hair. The wine is quite juicy and relatively full-bodied on the palate with flavors of licorice, ripe dark berries, some blackcurrant character, a little bit of tobacco, a herbal hint of mint and a succulent touch of juicy plums. At times the alcohol pushes a bit through as a mouthwarming sensation. The wine is a bit on the easy side in the acid department, but fortunately the tannins are still going strong, so the structure relies mainly on the grippy astringency. The finish is ripe and somewhat sweet with moderate tannic grip and juicy flavors of red fruits, tobacco, some blackcurrant, a little bit of cedar and a hint of leafy autumnal character.
Overall the wine feels very nice, sophisticated and on the palate somewhat younger than what the nose at first suggests. However, at almost 20 years of age, the wine is still surprisingly straightforward, relying more on straightforward power and grippy intensity than freshness or harmony. The intensity of the fruit is quite impressive here and I enjoy the bold power the wine shows, but I would've enjoyed a bit more finesse and, what's even more important, higher acidity. Now the wine is very good, but a bit less impressive than what I expected. An enjoyable effort nonetheless - let the wine breathe a few moments in a decanter and pair it with something hearty enough to soften the tannic structure. At 260€ the wine felt rather overpriced.
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Powerful, concentrated, and tannic, the wine seems like it wants at least 5 more years to soften. Still youthful, it is impossible not to see all that is going on here. Intensity and concentration, perfectly ripe, black cherries and plums, a truffle filled nose, volume and length let you know you are in for an incredible, decadent, Pomerol experience, if you can show just a bit of patience.
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Rating is for start of the evening-this dropped off with time, but my it was good to start! Ruby with some bricking, effulgent nose with heady tobacco (misjudged it for a graves wine initially) and fruit/floral aspects, filled the mouth with a luscious medium weight. Turned more tannic and lost fruit with extended air, so don't wait too long. Delicious!
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Occasional dinner group: Riesling GG and Top Pomerol (@ Zarzo): Mature and very luxurious bouquet with great dark berries. On the palate a concentrated wine with creamy fruits, earth, autumn impressions, some chocolate and beautiful oak. A beautiful and classical style wine with a great length and future.
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Deep garnet/ruby. Glossy and healthy looking. Very interesting nose of blueberry, plum, touch of wet earth. More floral after 30 mins. Very balanced and easy to drink. Wonderful length and poise. Ripe but with a balancing acidity to keep it all so uplifting. Excellent but still so young At 19 years old! Will be great in due course and loads of upside from here. Shame about the price now but it was great value on release at $68/bt!
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This is one sexy beast that is only starting to show its real essence. Purity of fruit, layers of concentration, silky, opulent, velvet drenched textures and a finish that leaves you begging for another pour, after your glass was emptied, far too quickly!
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Very sharp acidity. Nose has truffle, black fruit, and forest note. Its still too young but the potential is huge. I would score this higher if it has a proper long enough decant.
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The wine looks garnet colored. The legs are medium. There is moderate sediment in the bottle. It smells like blueberry, black currant (cassis), fig, cherry and barnyard. It tastes like blackberry, black currant (cassis), barnyard and plum. The body is medium/full. The wine has silky texture. The wine finishes medium. The wine has medium acidity.
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Decanted for about 4 hours. Cherry and cedar on the nose. Red at the rim. Red fruit, plumb and coffee on the palate. Smooth tannins. Very nice wine but I always miss the Cabernet Savignon in these right bank wines
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Initially this had terrific aromatics with layers of plum, black cherry, tobacco and violets. However, within about a half hour or so this completely shut down for me. Really couldn't coax much of anything out of the glass. The brief glimpse was pretty impressive and the potential is clear but it's hard for me to really assess this wine. The only thing that's clear is that I wouldn't touch this for a very long time.
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Burdigala, my bottle - really a beautiful Pomerol with a soft, voluptuous texture with lovely flavors of red/black plums and an array of spices and minerals. Finishes crisp and pliant with notes of bitter chocolate and truffles. Good acidity and lively but ripe tannins help balance things out and while this wine is clearly young and not showing much secondary flavor development, it can definitely be drunk now with pleasure. Out of magnum. 94+
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From magnum. On the nose, white pepper, light earth, dark fruit (including blackberry). Smooth white pepper palate, quite smooth but for slight bitterness on the backpalate. Very nice, would have been great with better food.
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Tout dans l'équilibre. Rien qui ne dépasse. Un peu déroutant, car on cherche l'arôme qui va envouter ou domineer. Mais c'est simplement la perfection de l'équilibre. Particulièrement intéressant pour l'acidité présente, mais tout en finesse.
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Chateau Trotanoy Dinner with Edouard Moueix - A matter of taste (Singapore): Medium-dark garnet. Nose of dark fruit with some additional secondary, animalic notes compared to the young vintages. Remains reserved but in a nice way. This wine is not ostentatious but impresses with great depth and length. Not for the modernist.
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Still young, but with so much going on, it's impossible to put the glass down, and who would want to? Packed with silky, ripe, opulent layers of sweet, fat, juicy plums, black cherry, chocolate and truffles all wrapped in silk. If you're looking for sexy, you came to the right place.
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1998 POMEROL; 2/15/2014-2/17/2014: Tasted blind: Intensive deep ruby in color. Nose of barn, truffles and earth combined with a minty freshness. Nice length, good balance and lots of power. Still on the young side, tannins are still 'hard'. Great wine. Wait for a few more years and this will be a blockbuster.
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Drinks at the North End Grill with Matt L. in town (NYC): Still incredibly primary and youthful, showing no real development yet but it's quite wonderful to drink nonetheless with a core of very pure red and dark fruited flavours seasoned with cedar, tobacco and more flamboyant smoky and floral elements. The palate presence is quite remarkable, powerful with a plush, velvety texture, and just fantastic balance. Impeccably balanced, very long and the structure and depth here suggests this will be truly amazing with a lot more time, though it's a treat to drink now.
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Dinner in NYC (North End Grill - New York, NY): This was a great experience. Lovely rich dark fruits, smokey notes, cedar, and some tobacco. The palate was sweet, floral and precise. Didn't have that second gear that one would hope for, but I think it's just hopelessly young at this point. On its own, I can see this being quite attractive and sexy - but in this company it seemed a bit big and burly.
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decanted 3 hours prior to drinking. one of the best wines I have had. Amazing balance, structure, elegance and power. I couldnt stop smelling the wine. Merlot based bordeaux that will continue to develop. complex and revealed more over the course of the dinner.
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Trotanoy Vertical (Au Jardin @ Botanic Garden): Alcohol :: 13.5% While this is not as expressive as the previous bottle, this is nonetheless promising. This has all the elements of a great wine with great upside potential over the next decades. Mouth coating intensity, incredible weight and structure but with great concentration of dry extract and sweet ripe fruits for the perfect balance. A bit austere at the back-end, palate staining with mineral, leather and tobacco note tailing at the super long finish. 93-95
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Violets, chocolate, boysenberry, black cherry, truffle and tobacco scents create an intoxicating perfume. On the palate, the real fireworks take off, with its polished, sensuous, pure silk and velvet textures. The long, fresh, sweet, ripe, black raspberry, fudge and boysenberry finish makes it difficult to put the glass down without enjoying another sniff and sip. The wine is effortless to taste. 20 minutes of decanting was all it took for everything to fall into place. 1998 Trotanoy is what hedonism in Pomerol is all about.
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Typical right bank profound, perfumed attractive nose with hint of pungent kick from alcohol. Attractive polished, elegant lushness really embraced this wine. Sweet tobacco, plum, currants are the dominant flavours. The fine, silky tannins are firm with good structure, and has impressive depth and density in it. There is also some spice, and dark chocolate-like bitterness at the end of the palate, which lingers in the finish as well.
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A wonderful example of Pomerol! Drinks beautifully right now and offers the elegance, completeness, balance and depth that causes people to pay small fortunes for LePin and Petrus. From a very similar terroir and very well made. Expensive, but if you are in search of that elusive Pomerol greatness this is a good buy!
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Slightly less impressed with the last two bottles I've drunk. Nose is still forthcoming but not as opulent as the last few bottles I've had. On the palate, nice texture, richness and full body but slightly less impressive versus past bottles. Maybe the wine is going through a phase given the case I got was ex-chateau so I would expect minimal bottle variation. Will likely sleep on my remaining bottles for a few years and try again.
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2011 Casual Session - 21 @ Jade Palace (Jade Palace Seafood Restaurant, The Forum Shopping Mall, Orchard Road): Alcohol :: 13.5% Decanted for about 2hrs. This is definitely younger than the GPL, while not as powerful, this does offer better lushness and sense of elegance. Quite sweet on the nose that is highly intense and focus, with sweet plum, blackcurrant on the core that extended to the outer layer with violet, mineral, spices, leather and earth with underlying power. Entry with bitter sweet cocoa, fresh mineral that continue to show the detail layer of complex flavors with sweet currant fruits, dark chocolate and a little touch of herbs. The juice gained more weight toward the mid palate and continue to show the very refine, polished texture, solid structured and fine-grained tannin with no hard edge. Everything is in the right place for the harmony. While the finish is long and lingering, this doesn't possess the explosive power, and a little bit less intense from the previous bottle. Nonetheless, this is still a great Trotanoy that shouting for additional bottle edge in order to develop more. Delicious! 92-93+
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Dark chocolate, violets, black cherry, plums, 5 spice and fresh shaved truffle aromatics is the first thing you notice. Sensuous textures, melted silk and velvet on the palate, this decadent Pomerol is all about hedonism. The long, pure, ripe, dark fruit and chocolate finish remains in your senses for over 45 seconds. Still young, because of its ripe, opulent textures, this stunning Bordeaux wine offers immense pleasure today.
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Drunk vs Magdelaine 2000 and Trotanoy 1990. This wine had what a fellow voisin de table called the ‘nose of the evening’ which evolved from meaty, savoury to slightly nutty aromas with cassis and blue berries. The palate had a velvety mouth feel that would give pleasure for another 5 to 10 years.
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Excellent wine as per previous notes, needs at least 4 hours of decanting but what a marvelous wine. Very faint hint of ageing on the rim. Glad I still have 6 more bottle.
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Alcohol :: 13.5% Deep, powerful and broad shoulder nose, leathery, minty, black currant, roasted herb, soil, earth with touch of barnyard and meatiness. Opulent, powerful, superb richness, kinda austere though but this can't stop the wine to show off layer and layer of dark chocolate, roasted coffee bean and herb, tobacco surrounded by an array of sweet plum, fig and bright mineral that perfectly support by the firm, solid structure that form by the lively acidity and superb fine tannin. Polish texture, good freshness, finished is long and detail with dark chocolate bitterness. Still youthful but already showing off it's class, depth and complexity. This juice has all the material for long term aging to be a great wine. Buy - If I can afford.
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Simple Series Dinner 2 (Huat Kee): Distinctively right bank. Great intensity. Bursting with young fruit. Very balanced. Not a light-bodied wine but this had tonnes of grace and class. This is not a wine made by a farmer, but rather an aristocrat. An outstanding Bordeaux.
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2011 Simple Series II: Henry's Dinner (Huat Kee, Amoy Street): Great stuff - quite clearly the red wine of the night. Picked this out as a 1998 Pomerol - hard to mistake it as a wine from anywhere else in the world. Lovely nose was richly layered, with scents of savoury earth, mushrooms and meat, deep black plum accents, dark chocolate and whiffs of spice and tobacco. Alluring stuff. The palate was so velvety - rich and thickly voluptuous, yet so smooth, with perfumy spices, violets and plums all integrated into a meltingly delicious whole. The wine really had power to burn, along with very serious depth and concentration, but it was the wonderfully seductive texture and mouthfeel here that really got me. The rich, long finish pulled away with a final kiss of exotics Indian spices. Oh so young, but already a ravishing beauty of a Pomerol. This wine has a trememdous future ahead of it - I can only imagine how good it will be in 10 years' time.
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See previous note but last two bottles drunk a bit shy from first. Might be closing down. Will wait a few months before I retry and stick to the 1995 which are drinking well.
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1998 Chateau Trotanoy played the Latour to '98 Vieux Chateau Certan's Lafite. With a nose that needed coaxing and swirling, aromas of chocolate fudge, truffle black cherry, mint, jammy blackberries and caramel coated candied apples could be detected. This Bordeaux wine earns its money with its satin and velvet textures. Rich, thick and voluptuous, this sexy, decadent wine is pure sensuality. Still young, and wanting another 5 years of age, as this wine will improve, this plushy styled Pomerol is a hedonist delight!
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Sublime and phenomenal. 1 hour+ of decanting and this wine is truly one of the greats. Deep purplish ruby color, hardly any sign of aging. Excellent nose of blackberries, plums, blackcurrants, rasberries, truffles and sweet tobacco. On the attack fat and opulent, explosion of dark red and black fruits mid palate and a great velvety finish. Great balance, full body, great texture and refinement. This wine is open for business and bottle time should only add to the complexity and pleasure.
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i totally embraced this wine. it had everything i want, and by that i mean some retained primary fruit overlaying the secondary development. only rarely have i had that "get out!" secondary/tertiary reward, so i am content to enjoy them young (10-15 years). can't wait to try my 2000s. this 98 is simply fantastic tonight. drink or hold.
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Tasted with Oenologue of Clos Rene in Pomerol. I dare say the 1998 Trotanoy is the one of the "big five" of the exceptional 1998 vintage in Pomerol.(The other four I will list Petrus, Lafleur,l'Eglise Clinet and Vieux Chateau Certan) . Puuuuure fruit and flower,mocha,truffle, it's sublime, concentrated, showing activity. You can enjoy it now perfectly but I will say it will reach its peak in 5 years' time. Bought another one and intended to enjoy it with my wife to celebrate our marriage anniversary.
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Quite mute at first, but great balance of full bright fruit, delightful texture and feel, savoury finish with a saline density, quite special and still with a puckering finish, needs time to shine fully, but it will.
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(at Charleston – Baltimore) A bit tight, but hinting to greatness. Plum fruit, a touch of eucalyptus – majestic and long. I think this would be the wine of the night in 10 years time. (95++)
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rode kleur, fijne neus, fruitig, klassiek, alles mooi in balans, smaak is prettig met elegantie en mooie frisse ondertoon, wijn komt nog wat jong over, geeft nog niet alles, prima glas
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Deep inky garnet. Dense and tight on the nose; sweet blackcurrant and spicy tobacco. Powerful, rich body with mouthfilling blackcurrant and liquorice. Full and spicy with fine tannins. Lingering black fruits on the long finish.
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Amazed at how young this is! Big wine, grippy, lots of acid. Despite showing a little maturity this needs at least 5+ years to give it justice. Special wine.
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While the wine was being double decanted five hours prior to drinking, aromas of red and black fruits filled the area where I was pouring. In particular, we detected a whiff of strawberry. In the glass later, the wine was a dark black/red color with just the first signs of bricking present. The nose was at first a bit muted and cedary, and while it did open somewhat over time to a more accessible array of fruit and complex wood, it continued to hold something back and was not the strongest point of the wine. But the wine definitely sings on the palate: sweet dark fruits including cassis, an herbal note, a caressing mouthfeel, good complexity, and a long and powerful finish. This is still drinking in a very primary fashion, though nonetheless extremely well. There isn't much in the way of secondary or tertiary aromas or flavors at this stage. Hopefully they will develop a bit with time.
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Drank at Mariposa so was at a high altitude. Decanted for 45 mins while we enjoyed appetizers / a white bottle. Classic pomerol nose of fruit plus the forest floor and ruby-to-purple color. Darker fruits on the palate with well-integrated tannins and a long finish. Fantastic wine that continued to improve with time in the glass. Fantastic now but should continue to improve with age.
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One of the true “Rock Star” Bordeaux wines of the vintage! The color remains deep and dark. The nose is explosive with ripe plums, blackberry, chocolate and spice. Stunning levels of concentration. Multiple layers of polished, black and red fruit fill your mouth, taking over your tactile senses! The mouth feel is pure, rich, fat, silky and velvety. There is not a hard edge to be found in this decadent wine. This sublime wine feels like each individual berry was polished on a velvet cloth, one berry at a time! Still young, this absolutely, stunning vintage for Trotanoy will get better over the next 3 or 4 decades!
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Aromas off coffee, truffels and dark red fruit. Full-bodied, rich and intense. Exellent balance and sweetness but at the same time quite backward. A great wine with a exellent future. 94+
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Deep dark red in the glass. Very closed on the nose, but as the wine got a little bit warmer in the glass, notes of apple-pie and mustard appeared. Lots of ripe fruit here. Huge on the attack, but sweet and not overly powerful or strong. Immense aging potential. So closed on the nose, yet so wonderfully structured and penetrated by a focused beem of ripe acid. This wine has an incredibly strong spinal skeleton, and seems very balanced and complex. Excellent finish. Very impressive.
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5/19/2024 - CSteefel wrote: 98 Points
Finally this one came around. I had a bottle back in 2015 or so, and it was still backwards, impenetrable. But this 750 ml had arrived, showing aromas of purest dark cherry and plum, on the palate an unmatched purity and depth of fruit. Basically bottomless. This was the Wine of the Night at a tasting that included the 1998 Cheval Blanc and the 1998 L'Eglise Clinet.
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4/15/2024 - MN Wine Junkie wrote: flawed
Unfortunately corked....needless to say I hate when that happens!
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4/15/2024 - sfwinelover1 wrote: flawed
Generously brought by MN (as if he hadn’t done enough!) to the apres tasting, apres In ‘N Out Burger festivities back at BW, and alas, on my 900th TN, my first sadly, badly, irredeemably corked bottle! Next time, perhaps, since you have a few in the bullpen. Guess we’ll have to crack that Ovid.
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4/11/2024 - dream Likes this wine: 92 Points
Beautiful nose but doesn't quite follow through on the palate. I've had some bottles that are more open but mine seem to be pretty closed down still but there feels like a great wine lurking underneath. 92+
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2/9/2024 - Oddbod wrote: 96 Points
Winey. Saddle sweat. Pheromones. Manure. Little fruit - all tertiary on the nose. Tightly knit, tannic structure still there, beautiful fruit, tannic, acid balance, so complete and perfect. An understated, classic wow. Love it.
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1/13/2024 - Jeff Leve wrote: 98 Points
This is getting close to mature. It only took 26 years. But it was worth the wait. The wine is regal, plush, opulent, and intense with layers of perfectly ripe, powerful, strong black and red fruits, truffles the size of footballs, a bowl of Valrhona chocolate, and an orchard of ripe berries. The wine is palate-staining with its non-stop intensity. This is a muscular Pomerol with a refined edge that offers a thrilling tasting experience. In another decade, this could be a triple-digit wine. My instincts say it is highly possible. Drink from 2024-2050.
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1/8/2024 - Wine Kat Likes this wine: 94 Points
Stunning wine with a beautiful nose and luscious fruit that is giving way to hints of herb and cedar. I think this is entering into a perfect drinking window but will hold on and continue to develop and evolve.
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12/16/2023 - LB88 wrote: 95 Points
In a 1998 right bank tasting recently, this was just outstanding. It had that extra element versus all the other super 98’s that night, this was able to standout with its complexity and flavours. Just in a perfect drinking window right now
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11/16/2023 - essenceofreal wrote: 94 Points
Beautiful.
After 2 hours in the decanter was nice but still just a tad lean.
Loved that this was mostly merlot with a taste of cab franc. No cabernet sauvignon! Great blend. So tired of the over everything Napa cabs. glad to have a nice blend v another oh so boring napa cab.
Anyway, after about 4 hours in the decanter, kapow! Really gained weight and was stunning. Velvety Pomerol delishishnous yum yum. More please. Oh, I have 3 more. Feels to be in a good drinking window. Will it get better, perhaps. Regardless, they're ready now w a proper decant.
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7/27/2023 - csimm wrote: 91 Points
Giuseppe's (Scottsdale, AZ): Solid fruit here, but a severely clipped finish makes for an angular showing overall. Red and black fruit, cedar, hope chest, dry soil, and dust make for a constricted delivery. The small pour I had threw off a bunch of sediment. A second bite of the apple revealed similar characteristics.
The ’00 La Mish and 1990 Montrose served beside this Trotanoy proved to be more agreeable in conveyance. The Trotanoy seems to be getting overly crotchety and “get off the lawn”-y as it advances. Drink 5 years ago… (though I know this will draw some spitfire from traditionalists who say this is a 40 year wine. And to that, I simply say, “um, no.”)
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6/21/2023 - I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine Likes this wine: 95 Points
Another Grand Tasting in Arizona! (Guiseppe's in Scottsdale): Splashed and slo-O for two hours. Initially tasted when opened, and nice perfumed nose with palate showing lots of tertiary character and some red fruit and chocolate notes. Later, still very nice, but a little muted. After sitting out for a couple more hours, this wine really started to show much better! Red fruit (mostly cherry) became more prominent and it struck a nice balance for my palate between tertiary and fruit flavors. I recommend two to three hours of slow slo-O prior to serving, or probably a one to two hour decant, if drinking soon. No hurry on this wine, but in a great place with some air. 95+ for my palate.
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5/24/2023 - djhammond wrote: 98 Points
I would hope to live long enough to finish my stock, as this is outstanding, and is only going to get better, and possibly even surpass the 1982. I am trying to limit myself to a bottle a year to track its progress, but its so seductive that it is difficult. Admittedly, it is in its earlier stages of its drinking window, but with an afternoon in the decanter, it is irresistible. At present, the nose and front palate are its best features with a gorgeously decadent nose of of ripe cherry, strawberry, and raspberry with the 10% of Cabernet Franc surprisingly making its presence felt with residual green pepper notes. It's relatively younger age does mean the tannin is still more left bank than right bank. This is going to be a classic, already just eclipsing the Angelus, and I am drinking the Cheval Blanc in a couple of days, so will reserve judgement if this is the best right banker of 1998. If not, even so it will be possibly touching a perfect score in the next 5 years.
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2/3/2023 - cubswinws Likes this wine: 95 Points
Everything you could want in a mature bordeaux. Perfect balance and nice fruit structure with a soft elegant finish. This wine seems at its plateau and I suspect will drink well for several years to come.
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1/1/2023 - galewskj wrote: 93 Points
2022 New Years Eve: I believe this was a pop and pour, and previous bottles that got more air were more impressive. But this was no slouch, just a bit simple for what it is. Blackberry, damp earth, leather and tobacco (as usual:).
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12/18/2022 - Cailles wrote: 90 Points
16x Right Bank Bordeaux 1998: Almost 25 years later, it’s a great time to check in on the wines of the much lauded right bank vintage. All wines tasted single blind. A few observations: A) most wines showed quite open with a melted tannin structure, but still good tension across the board. B) The highlight was rather on the structural side (elegance and finesse in most wines), than on the aromatic depth side, which was limited, also due to… C) …the fact that there is limited tertiary expression yet. Most wines will need at least another 5 to rather 10 years to reach their peak. D) An average rating of 91.9pts in my book and 92.0pts for the group shows that despite a few highlights, the reception was mixed overall. E) Best wines today were Angelus (group average 94.9pts), Valandraud (94.4) and Cheval Blanc (94.0). I would put L’Evangile (rated 95pts) in the top category too but the group (average 92.6) was less enthusiastic.
TN: Very shy nose. Not giving much. On the palate herbal, minerality driven, not a enough fruit to balance it out. With time a bit more red berries and some coffee notes show up but the wine remains lean and green. Elegant frame but overall a bit muted, and light. 90pts, which is probably too generous. Looking at the much more enthusiastic notes here, our bottle was either not correct or decanted for far to long so that all the fruit disappeared.
Decanting: Decanted for probably 4+ hours which was probably far too long.
Group score: 92.4
Group rank: 9th out of 16 reds
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11/26/2022 - La Sprezzatura wrote: 89 Points
1998 Horizontal Bordeaux Right Bank Tasting (private) (Essen'z): All wines were tasted single blind and were decanted before tasting. 14 right bank bordeaux and 2 pirates. All wines were from the vintage 1998.
General observations:
Unfortunately, the tasting was below my expectations. The was no real "wow-effect" at any wines as I had with the left bank tasting 1982-1990 we had a year ago. So I had to find out, that, me, personally, I like more the aged left than the aged right banks. In the end, Ridge Montebello (pirate) ended even up being the wine of the night for me.
_______
TN:
evolved on the nose, not enjoyable
very closed and rustical
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11/26/2022 - sirpat00 wrote: 89 Points
Bordeaux Right Bank 1998 tasting (Essenz (Brugg)): Bordeaux right bank 1998 tasting. All wines were served single blind and were decanted several hours. The sample showed i/ generally healthy and structured wines, still quite primary with further aging potential; ii/ the overall performance was below expectations considering the repute of the vintage for the right bank (although this may be due to the very long aeration), iii/ top wine for me were 1. Valandrau (95), 2. L’Evangile (95), 3. Angélus (94) while for the group the ranking was 1. Angélus (94.9), 2. Valandrau (94.4), 3. Cheval Blanc (94.0). Complete list including group scores included in the tasting story.
Tasting note:
Rather low intensity. Pretty ripe and on balance darker type of fruit with a fleshy component. The palate lacked balance and felt unripe.
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11/10/2022 - englishman's claret wrote: 94 Points
For the first few hours, this bottle of the 1998 Trotanoy shows plum and ganache with a nuance of black truffle - typical if slightly demure. Revisiting the last glass 24 hours later, oxidation is creeping in but it really has unfolded aromatically. Excellent depth on the palate without any excess of alcohol or extract and a finish that lasts and lasts. Best to decant for 2-3 hours if opening now.
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11/3/2022 - Keith Levenberg Likes this wine: 99 Points
Dynamite wine. I need to figure out how to acquire some of this. Unfortunately the pricing suggests it's not much of a secret. A wow from the very first sip. Packed with pitch-black fruit and that carob-like, bitter-chocolate characteristic that screams Pomerol plateau. The fruit has a snappy tartness that gives this an acute feel, but it's dense with material as thick as road tar. You're still savoring it when that peacock's tail of extra-bonus flavors unfurl, not even waiting till the back end.
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10/2/2022 - galewskj wrote: 95 Points
Pizza party (Amy and Scott's house): A half-coravined bonus bottle that was a pop and pour. The nose is rich, damp earth. The palate continues with plum, black fruit, beef blood, iron, leather, tobacco and some tannin. This was really impressive.
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9/29/2022 - I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine Likes this wine: 96 Points
Coravined a couple glasses....no regrets! Nose shows a nice mixture of violets, earth, saddle leather and black cherry. Palate initially shows a core of black fruit, violets, tar, leather and some anise, next comes a wave of tobacco and dark cherry, wisps of blackberry jam and some leather notes. Finishes medium long with spice, cedar, Chinese five spice and anise. Delicious! With a couple hours of air, this turns more tertiary with fruit still very much present, but giving some ground to earth, tobacco and leather notes. A fun journey! I can't imagine this getting any better, but should drink like this for another year or two, IMO. Hold if you prefer lots of tertiary notes, likely past its prime if pure hedonism is your palate, and pretty darn great if you like a balance between the two! I would recommend PnP or an hour slo-O if serving soon. 96+ easily for my palate.
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6/11/2022 - djhammond Likes this wine: 98 Points
Wow!!! This is sensational and as a Pomerol groupie it ticks every box for me, and is pipping the Angelus for wine of the vintage. The great thing is that it is only going to get better. The nose is packed with wine gum aromas of ripe red berry fruits and chocolate with floral background notes. It is almost overwhelming with the violet taking me to another dimension. The mouthfeel is to die for and it is like drinking liquid silk. At present tannin is still over dominating end palate and the finish. However, the latter gently nudges past 60 seconds with exquisite balance. It is only going to get better!
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4/29/2022 - dream Likes this wine: 95 Points
The best bottle of this I've had to date showing great intensity and incredible depth of flavors with notes of dark red fruits, road tar and minerals. Quite youthful but there is a wonderful spicy complexity developing on the finish that is joyful and refreshing. This certainly has the potential to be the wine of this great right bank vintage down the road. L'Appart Commanderie dinner. 95+
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4/5/2022 - Jeff Leve wrote: 97 Points
The last few years has added much-needed softness and definition here. Powerful, intense and concentrated, the wine kicks off with violets, chocolate, cherry, licorice and dark red fruits in the nose. Big, rich and almost dense, the finish packs in waves of opulent, chocolate-tinged, red fruits. Give it an hour in the decanter.
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2/11/2022 - ChrisR Likes this wine:
Poured a small glass when I decanted. Initially, dark berries, some green funk: tight, but promising. After a 60-minute decant (plus more in the decanter over subsequent glasses), it opened up with powerful aromas, gradually adding in black cherry to the cassis, bitter chocolate, spice and tobacco. The flavors broadened and lengthened on the palate, with a touch of sweetness on the finish. Medium- to full-bodied, and while still firm, it was smooth as silk. Dry tannins became more assertive towards the last pours. Not quite "fully" mature (that might yet be two decades out), but with a short decant, it exhibits the glories of a great Pomerol in full flight.
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8/12/2021 - galewskj wrote: 94 Points
Guys Night - Older Napa Cab and middle age Bordeaux (Jason's House): Decanted 4 hours. This drinks really young. It has a great structure with dark red fruit. Tobacco is evident. 94 on potential.
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8/12/2021 - rocknroller wrote: 94 Points
A Guys Night to Remember: Old Napa & Right Bank (Jason's, St. Paul, MN): Very dark red/purple color. Decanted for about 6 hours and drank a glass plus over 3 hours. Drank this next to a '96 Angelus. Definitely drinker younger and more vigorous than its mate tonight. Drank fruits, Lots of dried leaves and mulch, mint, orange zest, wet leather on the nose. The palate is full bodied, more structured, black fruits, dense, tar and graphite, oak, dry wood, tobacco, plum. Despite the decant time this got better in glass too.
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8/12/2021 - I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine Likes this wine: 95 Points
Guys Night Out Again!: Prep: Pulled this bottle from rack at 10 AM....stood it upright to let the sediment settle...opened the bottle, filtered through a screen into a decanter at 2 PM....left the decanter in the cellar until serving the wine at around 8 PM.
Nose: This wine exhibited strong notes of leather, tobacco and earth upon opening with a whiff of alcohol and hints of violets on the nose. When poured after the decant, the nose was much more expressive with purple flowers (mostly violets), a collage of black and blue fruit, with some tobacco, leather and some earthiness.
Palate: This wine was paired with a 1996 Angelus, which was pretty much a PnP. Initially, when I tasted this wine (right when opened and decanted), it showed more tertiary character, with the fruit hiding in the background. However, when the wine was poured, the fruit was singing and the tertiary flavors were much more in balance. The wine remained focused and balanced throughout the night, but I kept waiting for more fruit to show through (similar to drinking the '82). It never happened. The wine was in good balance, but retained some tightness that never quite let go. Also, after the decant, the flavor profile showed black and blue fruit at the forefront, with a good dose of leather, tobacco, forest floor and a hint of spice. Tannins, while not grippy, were definitely present, and it never quite achieved the velvety silkiness I was expecting. After everyone left, I re-tasted the wine, and it also started showing some tart cherry and chocolate character, tannins were a little more resolved, but still present. Gave my wife a taste, and it was her favorite of the four red wines we tasted (96 Angelus, 91 Heitz Martha, 94 Mondavi and this wine). Initially, I scored this wine 94+, but after re-tasting at the end of the night, this wine had upped its game and reached 95. I would say this wine had the most potential to improve with additional cellar age...will likely wait a couple years before re-visiting.
Additional observation: I hope the additional aging will allow this wine to reach its full potential...apparently, decanting helps, but is still limited on what it can do for a wine (at least that is my hope, because I tried the wine the next day, and many of the flavors were more muted, and a slight alcohol (but not heat) on the finish detracted from the wine. I will be curious to see down the road if perhaps there really is no substitute for time (that would be a mixed blessing....good for this wine, not so go for an old guy like me who still has quite a few young wines!)
Additional note: I was initially taken in by the evolution of the Angelus, which was definitely amazing, and perhaps a shorter decant would have allowed me (and the group) to witness more of an evolution of this wine. If you plan on opening a bottle, I would recommend a 1-2 hour decant to anyone opening a bottle, especially if you have a few hours to consume the bottle...I suspect the journey will be much more fun!
Final Note: After re-reading my note a couple times, it struck me that it sounded a little negative....make no mistake, this is an excellent wine that I hope will get even better! The 95 points is based on how the wine is drinking today,,,,and 95 is an excellent score, especially from me as I have not rated a wine higher than 98. Hope this note helps put things in context! Cheers!
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4/28/2021 - etyc Likes this wine:
Decanted for ~4-hrs prior to serving. Nose of chocolate, black-cherries, earth & plums, this was still very much a "serious" wine with nice underlying spine of tannins in place. Still youngish on the palate, with good concentration/intensity as well as freshness, this was primarily dark-fruit driven with pencil-lead & a slight hint of blood/iron. This definitely still had plenty of legs to last the distance, and likely to get even better with more cellar age!
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4/9/2021 - dream Likes this wine: 94 Points
Very bright and crisp with excellent depth of dark black and red fruits and a regal structure. A young Pomerol with excellent precision and cut sporting notes of bitter chocolate, truffles and dark spices on the grippy finish. Will be brilliant in time but at least a decade away from full maturity. 94+
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12/26/2020 - nihraguk Likes this wine:
Beautiful nose but needs time to develop on the palate. I’d sock this away for another 4 - 5 years. If drinking today, decant for at least 2 hrs or more.
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12/19/2020 - dchain Likes this wine: 96 Points
Gave this a quick double decant 2 hours before serving so I could take out any sediment from the bottle (some fine sediment but enough that you would want to take it out). This really benefited from some air and was more open than previous bottles that I PnP-ed.
Amazing dark cherry, leather, truffle, chocolate, t’n’a kinkiness on the nose. Pomerols seem to have gone out of fashion after the 80s/early 90s but my goodness this is so seductive and delicious. Palate is rich yet balanced. Still tastes young but lovely fruit and secondary characteristics coming through. Tastes very similar to how it smells. Some soil, truffle notes on the palate too. This is so morish and delicious we got through it so quickly. Absolutely stunning and a top 5 wine of the year!
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10/10/2020 - Zweder wrote: 98 Points
Bordeaux 1996 Left bank versus 1998 Right bank (more or less) (By SK In Vught Aan het Fornuis): In the bouquet dark berries, a lot of herbs and spices and green bell pepper. On the palate creamy and round with beautiful acidity and tannin. Great length. Beautiful wine with a great future of at least another decade (or two).
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10/1/2020 - pclin wrote: 96 Points
Another beautiful bottle of ‘98 right bank Bordeaux. Clean floral nose, fine tannins and deceptively long. Wow! Great showing today with years to go.
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4/30/2020 - dchain Likes this wine: 95 Points
This is better than my last bottle almost 3 years ago. Lovely red plum, ripe cherry, milk chocolate and truffle notes. Better than the Evangile 1998 at the moment. Feels very youthful but love the balance between the playful and serious, very energetic and uplifting. Better freshness of fruit than Evangile which was more masculine and brooding. Delicious now but very much in its ascendency still. Hard to resist. The fruit is glossy and inviting and you want to drink more of it. Best compliment for any wine! Enjoy with confidence now and at 6x its original release price I guess the market also highly rates this wine too!
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3/10/2020 - havana4 🍾🍇 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Fully mature.. Decant 1.5 hours and it is a totally different wine. Graphite, stone, minerals, black fruit
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11/17/2019 - OleDK wrote: 85 Points
Drank Trotanoy 1998 in Helsingør. Dissapointing experience, Wine was boring and never opened up for any interesting flavours. Decanted in glass for quite some time.
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10/19/2019 - Hanibal Likes this wine: 92 Points
needed some time to show its belly. A very good wine with more to give in the mouth than the nose
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10/19/2019 - Scottlmatthews Likes this wine: 100 Points
On our 17th wedding anniversary dinner with a amazing beef vegetable dish. The nose is with crushed currents and ancient soil o Bordeaux of pencil lead and earth. The palate of intense black berries and ink nuances of stone fruits flow on forever. Decanted for two hours, and drank over three hours with an amazing meal. Could write for another 6 hours about this wine-one of the best I have had over the past 20 years. Bravo Bordeaux.
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7/27/2019 - vinhonotte Likes this wine: 93 Points
Fine Wines SG - Pomerol and Graves Grand Cru Tasting (Fine Wines SG): Seems like some black cherries, plums, and cassis, punching through the base of redcurrant and grass, and some red peppers. A fair finish, and somewhat meaty, spicy and peppery. Enjoyable
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6/12/2019 - Jammy Wine Likes this wine: 92 Points
The highly acclaimed Trotanoy 1998 is still an infant today. Old school style of structure and fragrant (less new oak / lower toast?). Rich and exuberant dark fruits and complex meaty nose, blackcurrant, mocha, earthy truffles and dark plums. Great concentration with a solid core, the meaty structure reminds me of 1989 Montrose. FYI: The winemaker preferred Trotanoy 1998 over Petrus 1998. Though I preferred the lushness of Petrus 1998. Drink from 2030. (91-92/100)
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6/8/2019 - Comte Flaneur wrote: 96 Points
Menthol, tobacco, layers of plummy fruit, truffles, luxurious aura. Dense, powerful, concentrated and structured, this was slow to open up. It should evolve into a magnificent 98 right bank right up there with the very best. Revisit in 2025 when it may merit an even higher score.
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6/8/2019 - rocon17 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Trotanoy vertical, Decanter Masterclass, Edouard Moueix Jun 8, 2019
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3/4/2019 - sooper65 wrote: 97 Points
Sumptuous in the extreme; rich and deep yet light on its feet, with superb balance and integrity
Dark and plummy, ripe, opulent, and I WANT MORE.
Outstanding
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2/22/2019 - kennygie99 Likes this wine: 97 Points
An intoxicating perfume of ripe berries, black truffles and kirsch.
So wonderfully smooth and rounded on the palate, it is like drinking liquid silk. Powerful but feminine, with a seamless finish.
Easily another 2 decades ahead.
Pure and sexy!
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2/9/2019 - Jeff Leve wrote: 96 Points
Backward, this stubbornly youthful, potentially stunning wine is holding out. It takes at least 2-3 hours of air here before its purity of fruit, vibrant, floral, truffle and chocolate covered plums starts to shine. Powerful, concentrated and intense, it is going to take at least 5 more years in the cellar before this starts to pop.
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1/1/2019 - wilbur_t wrote: flawed
Bottle was flawed
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12/31/2018 - vulgar little monkey wrote: 92 Points
Great nose, distinctively Pomerol and restrained in the Trotanoy style. The palate isn't in harmony with the nose., it's pretty tight and unyielding. The rich food we're having helps that out a bit, but it's still a bit of a chore. This should be a great wine one day, but it'll take a while longer to get there, maybe 10 more years.
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11/3/2018 - englishman's claret wrote: 95 Points
These had 2 hours of air before getting into the glass and showed a super-potent dark plum, truffle, cedar, clay nose. Very big indeed and while immature, not really withholding. It's worth checking in on this if you have a bunch to see it in a young, vigorous stage. I would expect that it would be fun to see this in another 5 years and that it will really begin to approach its apogee in 10. I thought this was a nice way to set the tone for the vertical, including 98, 90, 86, 82, 81, 75, 71, 70.
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11/3/2018 - RockinCabs wrote: 95 Points
Nose: Beautiful deep plum fruit, blueberry, charcoal embers, truffle, cedar and slight caramel tones. Palate: Enters dense, but still tight showing a frame of ripe dark tannin right now with plump black cherry, plum and coffee/spice notes. Very youthful as expected. Finish: Exceptional length.
This has an extremely promising future. As we got into the older vintages you could really see how the layers might unfold as it develops a softer palate feel.
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9/8/2018 - Jeff Leve wrote: 98 Points
One of the most youthful wines of the vintage, the wine remains an adolescent. Intense, concentrated, powerful and tannic, there is the structure to age for decades. Clearly this is loaded with layers of dense, ripe, black plums and all the truffles required for a sublime experience. But even at 20, this is not fully ready to go.
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8/30/2018 - rashcar Likes this wine: 95 Points
Decanted for two hours but needed more. Drank over next two hours and second glass it started to show its stuff. Ripe Berries and some earth tones. Well structured in the glass with slow legs
Good delicious finish. I am glad I have more.
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7/14/2018 - ducster72 Likes this wine: 96 Points
Very ripe, very powerful wine. Tannic, but they're so polished and buried under so much fruit they really just sustain the finish. Maybe a touch of VA, which really isn't unwelcome in a wine this ripe. Smoky and earthy red and black fruit. Think dark cherry or black plums. Definitely a wine worth spending some time with over the course of an evening.
Would also note I think it's very sensitive to serving temperature. I tried a small glass after removing from the cellar and thought it was wonderful but in need of a little air. Poured into a decanter and then, about half an hour later, my wife poured herself a glass. She told me she found it raisiny and a little port-y. And she was dead on. The wine had opened up but also probably come up about 5-7F degrees despite the cool night. About 10 minutes before dinner, I poured the wine back into the bottle and dropped it into a bucket of ice. The wine snapped back into focus. Not blowsy, or raisiny or porty at all. It had sort of crossed back over a line.
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6/14/2018 - M.S.L. wrote: 98 Points
Bordeaux right bank 1998 tasting. 16 wines including Petrus, Cheval Blanc and VCC (Copenhagen, Denmark): A really lovely and completely delicious wine in absolute balance. Right now the best wine of Petrus, Lafleur and Eglise-Clinet in the same flight. Bravo!
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5/19/2018 - J o e wrote: 97 Points
The 1998 Trotanoy is dominated with notes of plums, iron, fudge, raspberries and hints of tobacco. Medium-bodied, with red cherries, minerals, herbs and earth. Glides across the palate effortlessly and is very light on its feet, yet packs quite a punch flavor-wise. There are no hard edges here, just waves of pleasure from the moment that the wine hits the olfactory senses to long after it is swallowed. An exemplary Pomerol that is still on the upswing. A remarkable elixir! 97.
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4/25/2018 - mike410 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Still drinking very well. Has at least another 5 years at peak. Earthy nose and a touch sweet on the pallet but still has some beautiful berry taste. Long finish.
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4/12/2018 - maxima wrote: 92 Points
BU avec les FOUDUVINS de Sherbrooke, René, Claude, Olivier, Mike LM et FrançoisD…
c’était pour fêter les 50 ans de notre ami François D au resto AVV La Suite!
Fait de Merlot à 100%.
Beau nez sur la fumée, le tabac, la terre, les fruits noirs et le cèdre.
En bouche, pas mal à point at d’une belle finesse. Des cerises et du graphite avec des tannins polis et fins sur une finale longue et tout en soie.
Excellent.
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1/18/2018 - nywine68 Likes this wine: 97 Points
Trotanoy Vertical with Edouard Moueix (Nomad): Wow! Awesome smokiness. Soft tannins but plenty of structure left. Similar lean structure as the 2009. Trotanoy vertical 1945-1982 (+1998, 2009,2010)
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1/16/2018 - DrinkBordeaux wrote: 97 Points
Clearly the best Trotanoy of the 1990s, this bottle has never disappointed me. It's wonderfully open and fragrant, with ripened plums and truffle dominating the aromas. But where this shines is on the palate, where you can almost separate and delineate each individual component. There's a nice balance and equilibrium, with the sweetness melding together with the fresh, lingering acidity. This is a wine just starting to enter its peak maturity, but I expect this to drink well for decades.
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1/12/2018 - forceberry wrote: 90 Points
13,5% alcohol.
Somewhat translucent garnet red color. Attractively fragrant and quite ripe nose with aromas of dark berries, some slightly wizened plummy fruit, a light iron hint of blood, subtle inky character, a hint of sweetness and a touch of something more toasty and savory, lingering between aromas of licorice root and burnt hair. The wine is quite juicy and relatively full-bodied on the palate with flavors of licorice, ripe dark berries, some blackcurrant character, a little bit of tobacco, a herbal hint of mint and a succulent touch of juicy plums. At times the alcohol pushes a bit through as a mouthwarming sensation. The wine is a bit on the easy side in the acid department, but fortunately the tannins are still going strong, so the structure relies mainly on the grippy astringency. The finish is ripe and somewhat sweet with moderate tannic grip and juicy flavors of red fruits, tobacco, some blackcurrant, a little bit of cedar and a hint of leafy autumnal character.
Overall the wine feels very nice, sophisticated and on the palate somewhat younger than what the nose at first suggests. However, at almost 20 years of age, the wine is still surprisingly straightforward, relying more on straightforward power and grippy intensity than freshness or harmony. The intensity of the fruit is quite impressive here and I enjoy the bold power the wine shows, but I would've enjoyed a bit more finesse and, what's even more important, higher acidity. Now the wine is very good, but a bit less impressive than what I expected. An enjoyable effort nonetheless - let the wine breathe a few moments in a decanter and pair it with something hearty enough to soften the tannic structure. At 260€ the wine felt rather overpriced.
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12/24/2017 - Jeff Leve wrote: 98 Points
Powerful, concentrated, and tannic, the wine seems like it wants at least 5 more years to soften. Still youthful, it is impossible not to see all that is going on here. Intensity and concentration, perfectly ripe, black cherries and plums, a truffle filled nose, volume and length let you know you are in for an incredible, decadent, Pomerol experience, if you can show just a bit of patience.
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11/2/2017 - aerlith Likes this wine: 96 Points
Rating is for start of the evening-this dropped off with time, but my it was good to start! Ruby with some bricking, effulgent nose with heady tobacco (misjudged it for a graves wine initially) and fruit/floral aspects, filled the mouth with a luscious medium weight. Turned more tannic and lost fruit with extended air, so don't wait too long. Delicious!
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5/19/2017 - Zweder wrote: 95 Points
Occasional dinner group: Riesling GG and Top Pomerol (@ Zarzo): Mature and very luxurious bouquet with great dark berries. On the palate a concentrated wine with creamy fruits, earth, autumn impressions, some chocolate and beautiful oak. A beautiful and classical style wine with a great length and future.
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3/11/2017 - dchain Likes this wine: 94 Points
Deep garnet/ruby. Glossy and healthy looking. Very interesting nose of blueberry, plum, touch of wet earth. More floral after 30 mins. Very balanced and easy to drink. Wonderful length and poise. Ripe but with a balancing acidity to keep it all so uplifting. Excellent but still so young At 19 years old! Will be great in due course and loads of upside from here. Shame about the price now but it was great value on release at $68/bt!
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11/28/2016 - Jeff Leve wrote: 97 Points
This is one sexy beast that is only starting to show its real essence. Purity of fruit, layers of concentration, silky, opulent, velvet drenched textures and a finish that leaves you begging for another pour, after your glass was emptied, far too quickly!
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10/5/2016 - Burgnick wrote: 93 Points
Very sharp acidity. Nose has truffle, black fruit, and forest note. Its still too young but the potential is huge. I would score this higher if it has a proper long enough decant.
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6/4/2016 - cubswinws Likes this wine: 96 Points
Just lovely. Nice leather on the nose with soft fine fruit and a along finish. Bordeaux at its best!
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5/15/2016 - Old Vino Likes this wine: 95 Points
very enjoyable now but has lots of potential needing few years of cellar time
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3/6/2016 - phol Likes this wine: 95 Points
The wine looks garnet colored. The legs are medium. There is moderate sediment in the bottle. It smells like blueberry, black currant (cassis), fig, cherry and barnyard. It tastes like blackberry, black currant (cassis), barnyard and plum. The body is medium/full. The wine has silky texture. The wine finishes medium. The wine has medium acidity.
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10/10/2015 - Ispendtoomuchmoneyonwine Likes this wine: 91 Points
Decanted for about 4 hours. Cherry and cedar on the nose. Red at the rim. Red fruit, plumb and coffee on the palate. Smooth tannins. Very nice wine but I always miss the Cabernet Savignon in these right bank wines
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8/2/2015 - Dmiller3 wrote: 93 Points
Really nice - smooth as silk. Oaky plum notes - would drink sooner than noted as I think it is topping out
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6/30/2015 - FrancoisD Likes this wine: 94 Points
Eli, didi, claude, del
Robe rubis profond
Mure, cerise en premiere bouche
Liaison sur la violette et figue
Finale sur la petite culotte en cuir
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6/25/2015 - enochling Likes this wine: 93 Points
Concentrated nose of graphite and black fruit
Rich palate with dark fruit.
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3/21/2015 - bill00 wrote:
Initially this had terrific aromatics with layers of plum, black cherry, tobacco and violets. However, within about a half hour or so this completely shut down for me. Really couldn't coax much of anything out of the glass. The brief glimpse was pretty impressive and the potential is clear but it's hard for me to really assess this wine. The only thing that's clear is that I wouldn't touch this for a very long time.
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3/14/2015 - dream Likes this wine: 94 Points
Burdigala, my bottle - really a beautiful Pomerol with a soft, voluptuous texture with lovely flavors of red/black plums and an array of spices and minerals. Finishes crisp and pliant with notes of bitter chocolate and truffles. Good acidity and lively but ripe tannins help balance things out and while this wine is clearly young and not showing much secondary flavor development, it can definitely be drunk now with pleasure. Out of magnum. 94+
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3/13/2015 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 93 Points
From magnum. On the nose, white pepper, light earth, dark fruit (including blackberry). Smooth white pepper palate, quite smooth but for slight bitterness on the backpalate. Very nice, would have been great with better food.
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11/23/2014 - FrancoisD Likes this wine: 92 Points
Tout dans l'équilibre. Rien qui ne dépasse. Un peu déroutant, car on cherche l'arôme qui va envouter ou domineer. Mais c'est simplement la perfection de l'équilibre. Particulièrement intéressant pour l'acidité présente, mais tout en finesse.
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11/22/2014 - Collector1855 wrote: 95 Points
Chateau Trotanoy Dinner with Edouard Moueix - A matter of taste (Singapore): Medium-dark garnet. Nose of dark fruit with some additional secondary, animalic notes compared to the young vintages. Remains reserved but in a nice way. This wine is not ostentatious but impresses with great depth and length. Not for the modernist.
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10/20/2014 - Jeff Leve wrote: 97 Points
Still young, but with so much going on, it's impossible to put the glass down, and who would want to? Packed with silky, ripe, opulent layers of sweet, fat, juicy plums, black cherry, chocolate and truffles all wrapped in silk. If you're looking for sexy, you came to the right place.
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2/15/2014 - Wine_lvr wrote: 93 Points
1998 POMEROL; 2/15/2014-2/17/2014: Tasted blind: Intensive deep ruby in color. Nose of barn, truffles and earth combined with a minty freshness. Nice length, good balance and lots of power. Still on the young side, tannins are still 'hard'. Great wine. Wait for a few more years and this will be a blockbuster.
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4/20/2013 - salil wrote: 92 Points
Drinks at the North End Grill with Matt L. in town (NYC): Still incredibly primary and youthful, showing no real development yet but it's quite wonderful to drink nonetheless with a core of very pure red and dark fruited flavours seasoned with cedar, tobacco and more flamboyant smoky and floral elements. The palate presence is quite remarkable, powerful with a plush, velvety texture, and just fantastic balance. Impeccably balanced, very long and the structure and depth here suggests this will be truly amazing with a lot more time, though it's a treat to drink now.
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4/20/2013 - tooch wrote: 90 Points
Dinner in NYC (North End Grill - New York, NY): This was a great experience. Lovely rich dark fruits, smokey notes, cedar, and some tobacco. The palate was sweet, floral and precise. Didn't have that second gear that one would hope for, but I think it's just hopelessly young at this point. On its own, I can see this being quite attractive and sexy - but in this company it seemed a bit big and burly.
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2/6/2013 - Dsen Likes this wine: 97 Points
decanted 3 hours prior to drinking. one of the best wines I have had. Amazing balance, structure, elegance and power. I couldnt stop smelling the wine. Merlot based bordeaux that will continue to develop. complex and revealed more over the course of the dinner.
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11/24/2012 - LFCHALA Likes this wine: 95 Points
Drunk at Spiaggia, an italian restaurant at Chicago. Unbeliveable aromas. Some edges in the mouth, but wonderful
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11/20/2012 - THA wrote:
CdBaH 83rd (RDG): From magnum. Closed. Showed no signs whatsoever of maturity. A massive, extracted wine. Broad shoulders. Loads of fruit and tannin.
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11/12/2012 - Sleepy Dave wrote: 93 Points
Trotanoy Vertical (Au Jardin @ Botanic Garden): Alcohol :: 13.5%
While this is not as expressive as the previous bottle, this is nonetheless promising. This has all the elements of a great wine with great upside potential over the next decades. Mouth coating intensity, incredible weight and structure but with great concentration of dry extract and sweet ripe fruits for the perfect balance. A bit austere at the back-end, palate staining with mineral, leather and tobacco note tailing at the super long finish. 93-95
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11/4/2012 - Jeff Leve wrote: 97 Points
Violets, chocolate, boysenberry, black cherry, truffle and tobacco scents create an intoxicating perfume. On the palate, the real fireworks take off, with its polished, sensuous, pure silk and velvet textures. The long, fresh, sweet, ripe, black raspberry, fudge and boysenberry finish makes it difficult to put the glass down without enjoying another sniff and sip. The wine is effortless to taste. 20 minutes of decanting was all it took for everything to fall into place. 1998 Trotanoy is what hedonism in Pomerol is all about.
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1/16/2012 - Vin Lover wrote: 93 Points
Typical right bank profound, perfumed attractive nose with hint of pungent kick from alcohol. Attractive polished, elegant lushness really embraced this wine. Sweet tobacco, plum, currants are the dominant flavours. The fine, silky tannins are firm with good structure, and has impressive depth and density in it. There is also some spice, and dark chocolate-like bitterness at the end of the palate, which lingers in the finish as well.
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12/18/2011 - Ed Chen wrote: 94 Points
Holiday Tastings; 12/16/2011-12/20/2011 (Redlands): Only had a sip of this as the vultures gobbled this up while I was cooking. Plummy red fruit with mineral and blood; 94
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12/11/2011 - aegerter Likes this wine: 98 Points
A wonderful example of Pomerol! Drinks beautifully right now and offers the elegance, completeness, balance and depth that causes people to pay small fortunes for LePin and Petrus. From a very similar terroir and very well made. Expensive, but if you are in search of that elusive Pomerol greatness this is a good buy!
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10/30/2011 - the player wrote: 94 Points
Slightly less impressed with the last two bottles I've drunk. Nose is still forthcoming but not as opulent as the last few bottles I've had. On the palate, nice texture, richness and full body but slightly less impressive versus past bottles. Maybe the wine is going through a phase given the case I got was ex-chateau so I would expect minimal bottle variation. Will likely sleep on my remaining bottles for a few years and try again.
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10/25/2011 - Sleepy Dave wrote: 92 Points
2011 Casual Session - 21 @ Jade Palace (Jade Palace Seafood Restaurant, The Forum Shopping Mall, Orchard Road): Alcohol :: 13.5%
Decanted for about 2hrs. This is definitely younger than the GPL, while not as powerful, this does offer better lushness and sense of elegance. Quite sweet on the nose that is highly intense and focus, with sweet plum, blackcurrant on the core that extended to the outer layer with violet, mineral, spices, leather and earth with underlying power. Entry with bitter sweet cocoa, fresh mineral that continue to show the detail layer of complex flavors with sweet currant fruits, dark chocolate and a little touch of herbs. The juice gained more weight toward the mid palate and continue to show the very refine, polished texture, solid structured and fine-grained tannin with no hard edge. Everything is in the right place for the harmony. While the finish is long and lingering, this doesn't possess the explosive power, and a little bit less intense from the previous bottle. Nonetheless, this is still a great Trotanoy that shouting for additional bottle edge in order to develop more. Delicious! 92-93+
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7/17/2011 - Jeff Leve wrote: 97 Points
Dark chocolate, violets, black cherry, plums, 5 spice and fresh shaved truffle aromatics is the first thing you notice. Sensuous textures, melted silk and velvet on the palate, this decadent Pomerol is all about hedonism. The long, pure, ripe, dark fruit and chocolate finish remains in your senses for over 45 seconds. Still young, because of its ripe, opulent textures, this stunning Bordeaux wine offers immense pleasure today.
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5/13/2011 - roquenroell wrote: 95 Points
Drunk vs Magdelaine 2000 and Trotanoy 1990. This wine had what a fellow voisin de table called the ‘nose of the evening’ which evolved from meaty, savoury to slightly nutty aromas with cassis and blue berries. The palate had a velvety mouth feel that would give pleasure for another 5 to 10 years.
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4/28/2011 - ricknat1 wrote: 91 Points
Dinner at Collichio and Sons with Mike and Stuart et al (Collichio and Sons): Started out think (probably open 90 minutes at this point)and watery and iI put it aside. An hour later, it started to take on strength. Got to fairly nice after a while, but could not keep up with the magnificent company.
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4/22/2011 - the player wrote: 95 Points
Excellent wine as per previous notes, needs at least 4 hours of decanting but what a marvelous wine. Very faint hint of ageing on the rim. Glad I still have 6 more bottle.
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3/5/2011 - the player wrote: 95 Points
Delicious wine but see previous note. I think it's going through one of these awkward phases and I won't touch another bottle for at least a year.
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1/25/2011 - Sleepy Dave wrote:
Alcohol :: 13.5%
Deep, powerful and broad shoulder nose, leathery, minty, black currant, roasted herb, soil, earth with touch of barnyard and meatiness. Opulent, powerful, superb richness, kinda austere though but this can't stop the wine to show off layer and layer of dark chocolate, roasted coffee bean and herb, tobacco surrounded by an array of sweet plum, fig and bright mineral that perfectly support by the firm, solid structure that form by the lively acidity and superb fine tannin. Polish texture, good freshness, finished is long and detail with dark chocolate bitterness. Still youthful but already showing off it's class, depth and complexity. This juice has all the material for long term aging to be a great wine. Buy - If I can afford.
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1/25/2011 - Dbrane wrote: 92 Points
Simple Series Dinner 2 (Huat Kee): Distinctively right bank. Great intensity. Bursting with young fruit. Very balanced. Not a light-bodied wine but this had tonnes of grace and class. This is not a wine made by a farmer, but rather an aristocrat. An outstanding Bordeaux.
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1/25/2011 - Paul S wrote: 95 Points
2011 Simple Series II: Henry's Dinner (Huat Kee, Amoy Street): Great stuff - quite clearly the red wine of the night. Picked this out as a 1998 Pomerol - hard to mistake it as a wine from anywhere else in the world. Lovely nose was richly layered, with scents of savoury earth, mushrooms and meat, deep black plum accents, dark chocolate and whiffs of spice and tobacco. Alluring stuff. The palate was so velvety - rich and thickly voluptuous, yet so smooth, with perfumy spices, violets and plums all integrated into a meltingly delicious whole. The wine really had power to burn, along with very serious depth and concentration, but it was the wonderfully seductive texture and mouthfeel here that really got me. The rich, long finish pulled away with a final kiss of exotics Indian spices. Oh so young, but already a ravishing beauty of a Pomerol. This wine has a trememdous future ahead of it - I can only imagine how good it will be in 10 years' time.
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1/9/2011 - the player wrote: 95 Points
See previous note but last two bottles drunk a bit shy from first. Might be closing down. Will wait a few months before I retry and stick to the 1995 which are drinking well.
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12/23/2010 - Jeff Leve wrote: 97 Points
1998 Chateau Trotanoy played the Latour to '98 Vieux Chateau Certan's Lafite. With a nose that needed coaxing and swirling, aromas of chocolate fudge, truffle black cherry, mint, jammy blackberries and caramel coated candied apples could be detected. This Bordeaux wine earns its money with its satin and velvet textures. Rich, thick and voluptuous, this sexy, decadent wine is pure sensuality. Still young, and wanting another 5 years of age, as this wine will improve, this plushy styled Pomerol is a hedonist delight!
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12/15/2010 - FMW wrote: 97 Points
Beautiful wine. Will still keep for at least 15-25 years, but drinks well now with some time in a decanter.
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11/8/2010 - the player wrote: 96 Points
Sublime and phenomenal. 1 hour+ of decanting and this wine is truly one of the greats. Deep purplish ruby color, hardly any sign of aging. Excellent nose of blackberries, plums, blackcurrants, rasberries, truffles and sweet tobacco. On the attack fat and opulent, explosion of dark red and black fruits mid palate and a great velvety finish. Great balance, full body, great texture and refinement. This wine is open for business and bottle time should only add to the complexity and pleasure.
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8/19/2010 - jeff nowak wrote: 95 Points
i totally embraced this wine. it had everything i want, and by that i mean some retained primary fruit overlaying the secondary development. only rarely have i had that "get out!" secondary/tertiary reward, so i am content to enjoy them young (10-15 years). can't wait to try my 2000s. this 98 is simply fantastic tonight. drink or hold.
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8/18/2010 - Button Yang Likes this wine: 98 Points
Tasted with Oenologue of Clos Rene in Pomerol. I dare say the 1998 Trotanoy is the one of the "big five" of the exceptional 1998 vintage in Pomerol.(The other four I will list Petrus, Lafleur,l'Eglise Clinet and Vieux Chateau Certan) . Puuuuure fruit and flower,mocha,truffle, it's sublime, concentrated, showing activity. You can enjoy it now perfectly but I will say it will reach its peak in 5 years' time. Bought another one and intended to enjoy it with my wife to celebrate our marriage anniversary.
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8/18/2010 - Russell Faulkner wrote:
Quite mute at first, but great balance of full bright fruit, delightful texture and feel, savoury finish with a saline density, quite special and still with a puckering finish, needs time to shine fully, but it will.
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8/12/2010 - dbkitc wrote: 95 Points
(at Charleston – Baltimore) A bit tight, but hinting to greatness. Plum fruit, a touch of eucalyptus – majestic and long. I think this would be the wine of the night in 10 years time. (95++)
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2/23/2010 - Biglama wrote: 92 Points
rode kleur, fijne neus, fruitig, klassiek, alles mooi in balans, smaak is prettig met elegantie en mooie frisse ondertoon, wijn komt nog wat jong over, geeft nog niet alles, prima glas
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11/22/2009 - Biggsy wrote: 94 Points
Deep inky garnet. Dense and tight on the nose; sweet blackcurrant and spicy tobacco. Powerful, rich body with mouthfilling blackcurrant and liquorice. Full and spicy with fine tannins. Lingering black fruits on the long finish.
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10/20/2009 - lumpyelbow wrote: 94 Points
Amazed at how young this is! Big wine, grippy, lots of acid. Despite showing a little maturity this needs at least 5+ years to give it justice. Special wine.
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7/4/2009 - TheBusiness724 wrote: 93 Points
While the wine was being double decanted five hours prior to drinking, aromas of red and black fruits filled the area where I was pouring. In particular, we detected a whiff of strawberry. In the glass later, the wine was a dark black/red color with just the first signs of bricking present. The nose was at first a bit muted and cedary, and while it did open somewhat over time to a more accessible array of fruit and complex wood, it continued to hold something back and was not the strongest point of the wine. But the wine definitely sings on the palate: sweet dark fruits including cassis, an herbal note, a caressing mouthfeel, good complexity, and a long and powerful finish. This is still drinking in a very primary fashion, though nonetheless extremely well. There isn't much in the way of secondary or tertiary aromas or flavors at this stage. Hopefully they will develop a bit with time.
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2/22/2009 - staren937 wrote: 97 Points
Drank at Mariposa so was at a high altitude. Decanted for 45 mins while we enjoyed appetizers / a white bottle. Classic pomerol nose of fruit plus the forest floor and ruby-to-purple color. Darker fruits on the palate with well-integrated tannins and a long finish. Fantastic wine that continued to improve with time in the glass. Fantastic now but should continue to improve with age.
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10/15/2008 - Jeff Leve wrote: 98 Points
One of the true “Rock Star” Bordeaux wines of the vintage! The color remains deep and dark. The nose is explosive with ripe plums, blackberry, chocolate and spice. Stunning levels of concentration. Multiple layers of polished, black and red fruit fill your mouth, taking over your tactile senses! The mouth feel is pure, rich, fat, silky and velvety. There is not a hard edge to be found in this decadent wine. This sublime wine feels like each individual berry was polished on a velvet cloth, one berry at a time! Still young, this absolutely, stunning vintage for Trotanoy will get better over the next 3 or 4 decades!
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8/17/2008 - Whitman wrote: 94 Points
Aromas off coffee, truffels and dark red fruit. Full-bodied, rich and intense. Exellent balance and sweetness but at the same time quite backward. A great wine with a exellent future. 94+
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12/24/2006 - wilbur_t wrote: 96 Points
Great Wine
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3/20/2003 - Joe Belmaati wrote: 98 Points
Deep dark red in the glass. Very closed on the nose, but as the wine got a little bit warmer in the glass, notes of apple-pie and mustard appeared. Lots of ripe fruit here. Huge on the attack, but sweet and not overly powerful or strong. Immense aging potential. So closed on the nose, yet so wonderfully structured and penetrated by a focused beem of ripe acid. This wine has an incredibly strong spinal skeleton, and seems very balanced and complex. Excellent finish. Very impressive.
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