Chateau Trotanoy 2019

WEINWISSER: "Besonderheit: 100 % Merlot. Purpurrot mit dunkelroten Reflexen. Dicht verwobenes Bouquet mit schier schwarzbeeriger Erotik, dunklen Kirschen, Trüffelspüren, herrlicher Mix aus sattem Brombeermark, Trüffel und einer kühl wirkenden, dunklen Mineralität. Am mächtigen, konzentrierten Gaumen mit seidiger Textur, komplex-dichtem Tanningerüst und wieder diese kühle blaubeerige Art, die zusammen mit der pfeffrigen Rasse und der royalen Adstringenz diesem Pomerol-Giganten mit seinen espressoartigen Tanninen die perfekten Proportionen gibt und seine maskulinen Muskeln eine unglaubliche Tiefe verleiht. Ein Charakterkopf mit grosser innerer Kraft, kompakt und eng verwoben wie eh und je, ein wahrer Zehnkämpfer, muskulös, kraftvoll, athletisch und dennoch schnell. Flirtet mit der perfekten Note."

JEB DUNNUCK: "Reminding me a little of the 1998, the 2019 Château Trotanoy is all Merlot sourced from a 7-hectare vineyard planted on dark clay and gravelly soils. A prodigious wine in every way, it offers a serious, dense, powerful, full-bodied style as well as notes of ripe black cherries, damp earth, tobacco, cedar pencil, and graphite. As with the other top wines in the vintage, it has an incredible sense of purity and precision, building, firm tannins, awesome mid-palate depth, and a huge finish. It's not for those seeking instant gratification and is much more structured and backward than I would have thought from barrel. It needs a solid decade of bottle age and will have 40+ years of longevity. It's another brilliant, brilliant wine from this team that I wish every reader could taste."

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "This could rival the heart-stopping 2018. The depth of color lets you know this is special. One whiff of its showy display of plums, flowers, truffle, chocolate, black cherries, and incense, and you are sold. But when you get to the velvet-textured, opulent palate, you are blown away by how this caresses your palate. Plush, lush, silky, velvet-drenched layers of fruit hit you in non-stop waves. When this wine matures, it is going to be one of the great vintages of Trotanoy, Fans of the estate, and Pomerol with the disposable income should be all of this gem. Wait a minimum of a decade, twice that if you can, and enjoy for 2-3 decades after that! Drink from 2030-2055."

JAMES SUCKLING: "Aromas of peanut brittle, blackberries, crushed stones, violets and blueberries. Full-bodied and powerful with layers of creamy, velvety and juicy tannins. A classic Trotanoy with true character of itself. Wonderful length and character. Best after 2027."

DECANTER: "Ripe and expressive on the nose, with a serious perfumed edge that stands out. Quite floral in fact. Powerful and well built, this has muscles and walls of tannin but they're so smooth and velvety, supporting the fruit and giving an excellent frame to the palate. Certainly a masculine style, it's dark and brooding with lots of mint, liquorice and stone. Textured and taught. It's all muscle at the moment, almost chewy but so cool and refreshing. I love the intensity and the precision from start to finish. Incredible. Drinking Window 2025 - 2047"

FALSTAFF: "Dunkles Rubingranat, violette Reflexe, dezente Randaufhellung. Dunkle Kirschen, aber auch feine rotbeerige Nuancen, zart nach Lakritze und Nougat, feiner Edelholzanklang. Stoffig, schokoladig, gleichzeitig voller Kirschfrucht und Frische, tragende, reife Tannine, mineralisch und anhaftend, zeigt sehr große Länge, wirkt bei aller Kraft ungemein lebendig im Abgang, bleibt sehr lange haften, großes Zukunftspotenzial."

WINE SPECTATOR: "Dense and ripe but with a sleekness and sense of reserve, as the core of cassis, blackberry paste and fig pâte de fruit notes is flanked by warm earth, roasted alder and tobacco notes. The finish is underscored by a bolt of cast iron, with everything knitting steadily through to the end. Offers a serious tarry grip, too. Best from 2026 through 2042. 1,250 cases made, 162 cases imported. "

WINE ENTHUSIAST: "Fine structure and dark Merlot flavors give this wine its richness. Despite the alcohol, it has style, the fruit not overwhelmed by the weight. It will take time, so drink from 2027. "

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "The most powerful wine in the Mouiex portfolio this year is the 2019 Trotanoy, a rich, muscular effort that is also unusually open out of the gates for a young wine from this estate. Offering up aromas of cherries, dark berries, cedarwood, rich spices, sweet soil tones and creamy new oak, it's full-bodied, deep and textural, with a lavish attack, notable concentration and plenty of ripe tannin that asserts itself on the youthfully chewy finish."

JANCIS ROBINSON: "Dried fruits on the nose. Lots of freshness on the palate and sweet attack. Really dramatic and unignorable."