Chateau Tronquoy Lalande 2009
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Wine Enthusiast
The tannins are very fine, with rich fruitcake and smoky flavors. Red berry and black plums give a fruity character, along with delicious acidity. The wine is structured while still remaining very approachable.
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James Suckling
Intense blueberry and blackberry aromas here. Full body, chewy and very rich, with a lovely balance of ripe tannins and spicy finish, with character of nutmeg and cloves. Best ever from here. Try it after 2018.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2009 Tronquoy Lalande, a blend of 51% Merlot, 42% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Petit Verdot, is the finest wine they have yet produced. It reveals an opulent bouquet of mulberries, blueberries, raspberries and spring flowers, full body, silky tannin, low acidity and a lush, pure mouthfeel. This uncharacteristically round, generous, sumptuous wine should be drinkable early on.
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2018- Decanter
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Chateau Tronquoy-Lalande, situated in the heart of the appellation, is one of the oldest Saint-Estèphe wines. It takes its name from François Tronquoy, the estate’s first owner, and the place-name La Lande, meaning the heath, on which the Chateau’s historic vineyard is planted.
The winegrowing estate was formed in the 18th century around the remarkable chateau built for the Tronquoy family on a design by Victor Louis, the architect of the Grand Théatre in Bordeaux. An elegant, white-stone country house typical of the region, its two side towers with their pointed roofs peep above the highest trees in the surrounding park. The estate went through several different owners until 1968, when it was bought by Jean Texier and his wife Arlette Castéja-Texier. She would run the estate for 40 years. In 2006, Martin and Olivier Bouygues discovered this little gem, historically reputed for having one of the finest terroirs in Saint-Estèphe, only a few months after acquiring Chateau Montrose, its illustrious neighbor. On specialist advice, they decided to buy the property, marking the start of a new era in its history. They then embarked on a large-scale modernisation program which culminated in 2010 with the construction of a vast barrel hall and a new vat house equipped with a vertical press and 22 temperature-controlled stainless steel vats.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Deeply colored, concentrated, and distinctive, St. Estephe is the go-to for great, age-worthy and reliable Bordeaux reds. Separated from Pauillac merely by a stream, St. Estephe is the farthest northwest of the highest classed villages of the Haut Medoc and is therefore subject to the most intense maritime influence of the Atlantic.
St. Estephe soils are rich in gravel like all of the best sites of the Haut Medoc but here the formation of gravel over clay creates a cooler atmosphere for its vines compared to those in the villages farther downstream. This results in delayed ripening and wines with higher acidity compared to the other villages.
While they can seem a bit austere when young, St. Estephe reds prove to live very long in the cellar. Traitionally dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon, many producers now add a significant proportion of Merlot to the blend, which will soften any sharp edges of the more tannic, Cabernet.
The St. Estephe village contains two second growths, Chateau Montrose and Cos d’Estournel.