Winemaker Notes
A meticulous fermentation takes place in a plot sized tank room during about 4 weeks. Wine is aged in 100% French oak new barrels during 18 to 24 months.
Pair with game, red meat, lamb and cheeses.
Blend: 56% Cabernet Franc, 43% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Sauvignon
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Wonderfully perfumed with decadence and richness, showing crushed berries, fresh flowers, wet earth, orange peel and peaches. Mushrooms, too. Full-bodied, yet very tight and reserved with ultra-fine yet strong tannins. It goes on for minutes on the palate, giving a balanced and beautiful feel all along the way. A blend of 56% cabernet franc, 43% merlot and 1% cabernet sauvignon. Try after 2023 and onward.
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Wine Enthusiast
This spicy wine with hints of wood aging and a direct line of black fruits is in a classic style. It is about balance, fruitiness and acidity combining in an harmonious whole. The wine will age well; drink from 2024.
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Decanter
This is definitely an impressive 2017 with white pepper spice showcasing its own character that diverts sharply from St Emilion's fruitbombs. It's good quality, grown up and not trying to please. Cassis and again Cabernet dominant, something that I have found very much to be the case in 2017 across the board. This one deepens in the glass - it will take its time to come around.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2017 Trotte Vieille gives up notes of baked plums, stewed black cherries and dried mulberries with touches of spice cake, chocolate box and new leather with a waft of cedar. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has great density and weight with a firm level of rounded tannins and lovely freshness, finishing on a compelling mineral note.
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.
Marked by its historic fortified village—perhaps the prettiest in all of Bordeaux, the St-Émilion appellation, along with its neighboring village of Pomerol, are leaders in quality on the Right Bank of Bordeaux. These Merlot-dominant red wines (complemented by various amounts of Cabernet Franc and/or Cabernet Sauvignon) remain some of the most admired and collected wines of the world.
St-Émilion has the longest history in wine production in Bordeaux—longer than the Left Bank—dating back to an 8th century monk named Saint Émilion who became a hermit in one of the many limestone caves scattered throughout the area.
Today St-Émilion is made up of hundreds of independent farmers dedicated to the same thing: growing Merlot and Cabernet Franc (and tiny amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon). While always roughly the same blend, the wines of St-Émilion vary considerably depending on the soil upon which they are grown—and the soils do vary considerably throughout the region.
The chateaux with the highest classification (Premier Grand Cru Classés) are on gravel-rich soils or steep, clay-limestone hillsides. There are only four given the highest rank, called Premier Grand Cru Classés A (Chateau Cheval Blanc, Ausone, Angélus, Pavie) and 14 are Premier Grand Cru Classés B. Much of the rest of the vineyards in the appellation are on flatter land where the soils are a mix of gravel, sand and alluvial matter.
Great wines from St-Émilion will be deep in color, and might have characteristics of blackberry liqueur, black raspberry, licorice, chocolate, grilled meat, earth or truffles. They will be bold, layered and lush.