Trotanoy 2023

The 2023 Trotanoy is showing brilliantly, wafting from the glass with aromas of dark berries, rose petals, baking chocolate, spices and pencil shavings, followed by a medium to full-bodied, layered and elegantly muscular palate that's rich, dense and powerful, while remaining unusually sensual and harmonious for the standards of an estate that can sometimes produce hulking, monolithic wines. Concentrated and penetrating, it's an especially strong performer this year.

The 2023 Trotanoy was picked September 7 to 19. This sample was curiously reticent on the nose. Usually, Trotanoy comes out and shows it means business, yet here, it demands coaxing and only reluctantly offers brambly black fruit and black truffle shavings. The palate is medium-bodied, framed by beautifully chiseled tannins. Very precise and focused. Here, Trotanoy steps up a gear, and it delivers an exquisitely tensile, symmetric finish. Maybe the nose had just closed down on the day of my visit? I'll be prudent for now, but this could merit a much higher score if the aromatics coalesce and gain intensity.

Deep in colour with dark fruit, coffee bean and violets on the nose. There is excellent definition to the fruit on nose and palate, a refined sense of balance that layers darker fruits through to high blossom top notes. The wood is characterful and present, laying smoky, sweet notes over the fruit. Chewy, dense tannins give an ample structure to this wine, it is broad-shouldered and quite firm for now. This is a wine of real density that will need some time, but with a positive elevage it could well deserve a higher score.

Entirely crafted from Merlot and matured in 50% new oak, the 2023 Trotanoy has turned out superbly, revealing a perfumed, complex bouquet of dark berries, rose petals, incense and pencil shavings. Medium- to full-bodied, dense and deep, it is built around a multidimensional core of fruit framed by structured tannins, yet it remains remarkably sensual and velvety in texture. It may well surprise after several years in the cellar. Drink 2030-2050

The focus and polish are so enticing, reminding me of a seamless piece of the finest cashmere. Medium to full body with blackberry, tapenade and dark-chocolate character. A hint of salt at the end. 100% merlot.

The 2023 Trotanoy, 100% Merlot, is deep garnet-purple in color. It needs a lot of swirling and shaking to wake up notes of plum preserves, blackberry pie, and wild blueberries giving way to an undercurrent of wet slate, black truffle, and chargrill with a waft of wood smoke. The medium to full-bodied palate is dense with black fruit and earthy/mineral-inspired flavors, with a firm grainy texture and beautifully knit freshness, finishing long and savory. This is classic, great Trotanoy!

A wine to sink into, as ever with this supremely consistent estate, all about dark tight black fruits on opening, but as soon as you give it a few minutes in the glass, the return brings baked and fragrant turmeric spices, roasted coffee beans, cappuccino creaminess and step by step construction of autumnal berry fruits and carved tannins. Single point upscore. 50% new oak for ageing.

100% Merlot. Cask sample.
Dark-fruit aromas. Full and solidly built, the tannins firm and persistent giving a dynamic of power on the finish. Long. (JL)
Drink 2032 – 2048