Winemaker Notes
Good deep red color with slight purple reflections. Fruity nose with aromas of blackcurrant and black cherry, discreetly oaked with a subtle note of menthol. Clean and full attack on the palate. Good concentration with smooth and well-structured tannins. A long finish, very elegant and upright. This wine can be enjoyed in its youth while offering good potential for aging.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Aromas of blackberries, licorice and spices. Full-bodied, dense and layered. Shows the structure and muscle of this estate. Needs time to soften and come together. Serious.
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Vinous
The 2015 Tronquoy Lalande has a delightful bouquet with blackberry, bilberry and light licorice scents that gain vigor with aeration. The palate is balanced and medium-bodied with firm tannins and neatly integrated oak. Tarry black fruit is layered on the finish and leaves a firm grip, suggesting it will require.
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Wine Spectator
While a step back from the sensational looking 2016, the 2015 Tronquoy Lalande is nevertheless a smokin’ good bottle of wine. Plums, graphite, earth and smoked herb notes all flow to a medium to full-bodied, nicely concentration, plump, rounded 2015 that’s a huge success for the northern Médoc in 2015. Give it a few years and enjoy over the following two decades.
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.