Chateau Trotanoy 2018

Professional Ratings

• 100 James Suckling

  Super nose of dried blueberry, black plum, walnut, myrrh and sandalwood. Lavender, violet, and chocolate, too. Ripe with wood now, but fresh. It’s full-bodied with firm, ultra fine tannins. Lots of dark spice is interlaced with the ripe fruit, giving this complex, perfumed character. Muscular, long and seamless with incredible depth and concentration. Reminds me of the great 2009, but this is better with more structure. Amazing wine. This is 100% merlot. Try from 2027.

• 100 Jeb Dunnuck

  Another heavenly Pomerol in the vintage, the 2018 Château Trotanoy checks in as 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc brought up in (I suspect) lots of new French oak (although it's certainly not apparent). Revealing a dense purple hue as well as a smorgasbord-like bouquet of blackcurrants, dried flowers, cured meats, violets, tobacco, and chocolate, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a sexy, seductive texture, building yet sweet tannin's, and just a rich, concentrated, yet flawless profile on the palate that's already impossible to resist. Nevertheless, a good 7-8 years of bottle age are warranted, and this magical elixir is going to evolve for 40 years or more.

• 99 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

  The 2018 Trotanoy is composed of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc. Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, it slowly unfurls to reveal a jaw-dropping perfume of Black Forest cake, black raspberries, blackberry pie and kirsch, followed by hints of cast-iron pan, violets, woodsmoke, Chinese five spice and eucalyptus, with a waft of tree bark. The full-bodied palate explodes with exotic spice and mineral fireworks, grounded by a concentrated, black and red berry preserves core and framed by firm, grainy tannins, finishing with epic length and depth. It will need a good five years in bottle to tame some of the youthfully overt, showy fruit and allow the mineral and earth nuances to emerge, then it should easily cellar another 35 years or more.

• 98 Decanter
  This is powerful and beautiful, pulsating with black fruits, liquorice and confident tannins - it doesn't just walk the line, it owns the line. While it perhaps doesn’t quite have the pure and absolute majesty of 2010, it is another crazy good year for Trotanoy offering an unusually seductive charm along with the power. There’s no question that the vintage was handled with aplomb; there’s not the slightest trace of the warmth of the summer with the feeling that the wine ate it right up just taking what it needed.
  Barrel Sample
• 96 Wine Enthusiast

  This is a great estate performing at its best. In this latest release, massive tannins give blackplum fruits concentration and layers of spice and licorice flavors. The wine is set for long-term aging and certainly should not be touched before 2027. Cellar Selection

• 95 Wine Spectator

  Rich, with a velvety feel to the mix of crushed plum and steeped fig and boysenberry fruit. Lots of dried anise, tobacco, charcoal and black tea curl around the finish, where a graphite spine is deeply imbedded. Well-structured for the cellar too. Best from 2023 through 2038.