Trotanoy 2016

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.