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Troplong Mondot 2016

RegionBordeaux
Subregion France > Bordeaux > Right Bank > St Emilion
ColourRed
TypeStill
Grape VarietyMerlot/Cabernet Sauvignon

The very well situated Troplong Mondot vineyard produces concentrated St Emilions under the control of consultant wine-maker Michel Rolland. The black coloured wines made here are not for those who prefer the more traditional, subtle style of St Emilion.

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Label

Tasting Notes

Troplong Mondot 2016 is deep garnet-purple in color. The nose is quite shut down at the moment, offering glimpses of profound plum preserves, blackberry pie, and notes of blueberry preserves, followed by hints of candied violets, rose oil, cumin seed, and clove oil. Full-bodied, the palate explodes with tightly wound black fruit preserves, framed by very firm, ripe, rounded tannins and a lively, invigorating backbone, finishing long, long and decadent.

97
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent, December 2022

Coming from one of the coolest terroirs in Saint-Emilion, the 2016 Château Troplong Mondot is a blend of 89% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2% Cabernet Franc brought up in 77% new French oak. This deep purple-hued effort offers a smorgasbord of powerful blue and black fruits, smoked earth, truffle, chocolate, and licorice. Full-bodied, deep, and opulent on the palate, it’s a truly great wine as well as one of the superstars in 2016. It should drink well for upwards of three decades.

97
Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com, February 2019

Inky depths to the colour, this is powerful, full of character. Grilled sandalwood oak notes are dominant on the attack, with the bitter almond and cracked black pepper on the finish not just welcome but essential to balance things out. Showcases the character of Troplong - concentrated, powerful, slow-ageing. Served both double decanted and a straight from bottle, and again the double decanted gives you a better impression of the complexity that is hidden within the waves of concentrated flavour. Needs another decade at least to really reveal itself. 100% new oak.

97
Jane Anson, JaneAnson.com, July 2022

Love the aromas of redcurrants and cherries with flowers. Full body and tight, finely chewy tannins that impress. Linear and focused young red. Try from 2021.

96
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, February 2019

Dark glowing purple. Really taken to the limit of ripeness! Some gaminess and a velvety texture with a strong green streak running through it. Not a comfortable whole. As though exceptional sugar levels were the be all and end all. Not fun to drink, alas.
Drink 2024-2037

16
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, April 2017

The very well situated Troplong Mondot vineyard produces concentrated St Emilions under the control of consultant wine-maker Michel Rolland. The black coloured wines made here are not for those who prefer the more traditional, subtle style of St Emilion. 90% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, and 8% Cabernet Sauvignon with 80% new oak. As we have come to expect from this Chateau, it is a concentrated, inky wine with menthol, camphor and damson on the nose. The tar-like concentration brings liquorice, star anise and exuberant blackcurrant fruit. Bracing, mouthcoating tannins add to the ripe extraction on the palate. This is a big wine, but is impressive rather than over-extracted. Of its style, but still in balance.

91+
Farr Vintners, April 2017

The nose is firm the start of the palate tight with fresh fruits in the middle. There is underlying sweetness a mix of red and black fruits but the back palate is firm and lacking in generosity. 2025-36

85/87
Derek Smedley MW, DerekSmedleyMW.co.uk, April 2017

Consistently among the later pickers, with a preference for rich, opulent super ripe flavours, even Troplong-Mondot has made a more balanced wine in 2016. It’s still ripe and a little figgy, with marked alcohol and lots of new oak, but there’s more freshness and poise than usual here. 2022-30

92
Tim Atkin MW, timatkin.com, April 2017

The 2016 Troplong Mondot is one of the few Saint Émilion wines to come across as rather overripe on the nose, where prunes and dates infuse the black fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with dusty black fruit, firm and dense, and a grippy, solid finish. Pavie-Macquin? It comes across brutish at the moment, but it does have the potential to age. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting. 2021 - 2035

93
Neal Martin, vinous.com, August 2020
Read more tasting notes...

Aged in 77% new and 23% of one year-old French oak barrels and composed of 89% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Cabernet Franc, the 2016 Troplong Mondot has a deep garnet-purple color and comes bursting out of the glass with bold preserved plums, Black Forest cake and Indian spices scents plus suggestions of espresso, black olives, cigar box and tilled soil. Full-bodied, rich, plushly textured and oh-so-decadent, it packs in the spiced black fruit layers and finishes with fantastic persistence. 2022 - 2047

95+
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (Interim No), November 2018

The 2016 Troplong Mondot has a very pretty bouquet of black cherries, boysenberry, crushed stone and light violet aromas that gains vigor with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied and a little fresher than I recall from barrel, with fine tannin and gentle grip on a poised, lightly spiced finish that just feels a little heavy. While I thoroughly enjoy this Troplong, it carries all the remnants of the style of winemaking under Xavier Pariente where everything it is turned up too high. I suspect it will be surpassed by the 2017. 15.5% alcohol. Drink 2021-2045

93
Neal Martin, vinous.com (Jan 2019), January 2019

The 2016 Troplong-Mondot is a blend of 89% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Cabernet Franc cropped at 48 hectoliters per hectare between 3-27 October, matured in 77% new oak. It has a decadent bouquet that seems to carry more alcohol than its peers, very pure and floral and miraculously managing to maintain satisfying delineation. The palate is underpinned by enormous tannins! This is a massive Troplong Mondot that is very dense and sinewy, a bit of a "bruiser" in its infancy. It exerts a vice-like grip in the mouth with layers of fruit laced with black pepper on the prolonged finish. What's the Spinal Tap quote about turning everything up to eleven? This is a Saint Emilion that will either transform into a legend or will topple over by the sheer weight of the tannins, which is why I gave a slightly enlarged banded score. I'll be fascinated to re-taste this in bottle.
Drink Date 2024 - 2045

93/96
Neal Martin, Wine Advocate (230), April 2017

Tar and blackberries here on the palate with very polished tannins and dense, beautiful fruit. Tight and centered. Wow. Can it be better than the 2015? We will see.

96/97
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, March 2017

This is stunning. Troplong never has trouble conjuring up wonderfully rich fruit, but here it is plump and dense without being pumped up. The tannins are chewy rather than chalky, but the elegance of the vintage is unmistakable, and the rich chocolate flavours are dusted with mint. There is a very pretty salinity on the finish that lasts for minutes. I had a fascinating visit here at the start of the week, and retasted several times as this is a wine that I sometimes have trouble understanding. My main takeout is that the majority of the richness here is found naturally in the terroir - limestone on the plateau but with cool clay over the top, which explains why they are such late harvesters. But there are always winemaking and viticultural choices coming into play in any wine, and here there are adjustments being made to bring out a more finely wrought version of what is always a high impact and successful wine. Yields are higher this year, up at 48hl/ha, which helps, as does the style of the vintage and quieter extraction in the cellar, but Troplong remains true to itself. 90% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Cabernet Franc.

Drinking Window 2027 - 2050

95
Jane Anson, Decanter.com, April 2017

I was able to taste the 2016 Troplong Mondot at the estate and it looks to be a perfect wine in the making. Offering an incredible bouquet of black and blue fruits, violets, espresso and graphite, this monster hits the palate with full-bodied richness and depth, yet just glides over the palate with ultra-fine tannin. With awesome purity of fruit and perfect balance, it’s a drop dead gorgeous barrel sample.

97/100
Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com, November 2017
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.