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Trotanoy 2016

RegionBordeaux
Subregion France > Bordeaux > Right Bank > Pomerol
ColourRed
TypeStill
Grape VarietyMerlot

Trotanoy is one of the top names of the Pomerol appellation and is has been made by the Jean-Pierre Moueix company since the 1950's. The 7.2 hectare vineyard is planted with 93% Merlot and 7% Cabernet Franc. Very limited quantities available.

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Label

Tasting Notes

The 2016 Trotanoy is deep garnet in color. It needs a lot of swirling and convincing to coax out earthy notions of tar, black truffles, and tilled soil, over a core of stewed black plums and black cherry preserves, plus hints of licorice and dark chocolate. Full-bodied, concentrated and decadent, the palate has a firm, grainy texture and taut, muscular black fruit, finishing very long and earthy.

99
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent, December 2022

The 2016 Trotanoy offers black cherry, raspberry and rose petal scents on the nose, developing more red fruit and touches of brown spice. This is a mercurial bouquet, very involving, and I wish I could have spent longer with it! The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins and a fine bead of acidity, tightening up toward a structured finish that is clearly built for long-term cellaring. Good potential, but this needs serious time. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.

96+
Neal Martin, vinous.com, August 2020

There’s decadence and complexity to this young wine, which offers spellbinding dark fruit. But there are also wild mushrooms, sandalwood, blackberries and violets on the nose, not to mention black olives. Full bodied, very deep and layered. Powerful finish. Drink after 2025.

98
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, February 2019

Trotanoy more than delivers on its promise in this vintage, the purity of the black fruit, the confidence of its delivery, the depth of the flavours that just keep on giving. This has the line walking thing, where on the one side you have austerity, on the other you have richness, and it keeps tilting but never declaring its hand on either side. What a wine - fruits, minerals, texture, layers; crazy! 95% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc. 98-100 points.

Drinking Window 2027 - 2050

99
Jane Anson, Decanter.com, April 2017

Dark crimson. Meaty nose and lots of polish on the palate. Really quite exciting spark with very refined tannins. Everything is packed in here.
Drink 2026-2045

18
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, April 2017

Trotanoy is one of the top names of the Pomerol appellation and is has been made by the Jean-Pierre Moueix company since the 1950's. The 7.2 hectare vineyard is planted with 93% Merlot and 7% Cabernet Franc. Very limited quantities available. The 2016 is 95% Merlot with 5% Cabernet Franc in the blend. Initially reticent on the nose, swirling reveals layers of graphite, sweet cherry, and light vanilla. The palate is mouthfilling in intensity with creamy red and black fruits, vanilla bean, smoky wood char and violets. Pure Pomerol with no hard edges and weightless density which drives the palate forward with supreme freshness and harmony. Layeded, subtle, elegant and fine on the long finish.

96
Farr Vintners, April 2017

A structured, powerful wine, the 2016 Château Trotanoy checks in as 95% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc from one of the great sites in Pomerol, a 7-hectare vineyard located on gravelly, black clay soils. This ruby/purple-hued effort gives up a brilliant bouquet of crème de cassis, blackberry and black raspberry fruits intermixed with loads of iron and crushed rock-like minerality, smoke tobacco, and graphite. It's deep, full-bodied, and concentrated on the palate, with sensational purity of fruit and balance as well as building tannins and structure. It's built for the long haul and needs a solid 7-8 years of bottle age, but it will keep for 3 decades or more. Drink 2026-2056.

99
Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com, February 2019

The nose has a powerful mix of black fruits the palate fleshy with ripe black plum the sweet fruit supported by fine integrated tannins. There is balance underlying bramble fresher at the back with ripe plum giving fleshy richness on the finish. 2025-40

90/95
Derek Smedley MW, DerekSmedleyMW.co.uk, April 2017

Big, bold, butch and structured, this is an immense Trotanoy with ferrous grip, layers of tannin, dark plum, cassis and blackberry fruit, a grassy undertone and the power and concentration to age for 20 years or more. The freshness of the finish is a delight. 2026-40

96
Tim Atkin MW, timatkin.com, April 2017
Read more tasting notes...

Composed of 95% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc, the 2016 Trotanoy is characteristically a little closed at this youthful stage, slowly unfurling to reveal compelling notions of chocolate-covered cherries, black raspberries and mulberries with touches of pencil lead, crushed rocks, underbrush and chargrill plus a fragrant waft of star anise. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has a rock-solid frame of grainy tannins and invigorating freshness supporting the densely packed, muscular fruits, finishing very long and mineral laced. 2022 - 2055

99
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (Interim No), November 2018

The 2016 Trotanoy is one of my favorite Pomerols. I have now tasted in excess of 40 vintages, and it’s becoming clearer to me which ones belong in the top drawer. The 2016 is nearly there. It has a disarming bouquet of blackberry, wild hedgerow, black truffle and crushed stone, plus a trace of pencil box in the background. The palate is medium-bodied with immense density and grip. It coats the mouth in Merlot and borrows the backbone of Lafleur. I adore the mineralité and tension flowing through the persistent finish. Does it have the profundity of the greatest vintages? I need to be convinced about that. But for certain, it is a brilliant follow-up to the 2015. Drink 2026-2070

98
Neal Martin, vinous.com (Jan 2019), January 2019

The 2016 Trotanoy is a blend of 95% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc this year. It easily possesses the finest bouquet within the J-P Moueix portfolio. It blossoms in the glass with exuberant black and red fruit infused with minerals, black truffle and a hint of blood orange, yet there is always something enigmatic about Trotanoy at this primordial stage, something on which you cannot put your finger. The palate is medium-bodied with firm structure, slightly chalky tannins surrounded by wondrous, vibrant black fruit that shimmers in the glass. It is a brilliant Trotanoy that is bound up with energy and tension. Superb from start to finish, this is likely to surpass the 2015 and is one of the stars of Pomerol this vintage.
Drink Date 2028 - 2055

96/98
Neal Martin, Wine Advocate (230), April 2017

Wow. This is really powerful and structured with a tight and linear backbone of tannins that run through the wine, making it a solid and beautiful thing. Full-bodied, layered and strong. Exciting energy here.

97/98
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, March 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.