Winemaker Notes
Blend: 53% Cabernet Franc 44% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Sauvignon
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Deep, perfumed and complex, with a touch of cocoa powder, sweet black plums, blackberries, chalk and refined spices. Well-structured, showing juicy, compressed fruit and fine, dusty tannins. Ripe but precise, with a racy finish of great balance and persistence. A blend of 53% cabernet franc, 44% merlot and 3% cabernet sauvignon.
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Decanter
Dark nose, such a TrotteVieille signature scent. Fragrant, spiced blackcurrant, deeply scented and heady notes on the nose. Structured and supple, this has energy and movement but with a layered structure and filling texture, so precise but it’s the texture that captivates - nothing harsh, not too tart or too acidic, round and plump but not overly plush with a soft chew to the tannins, this is fabulous! Gorgeous purity and precision and an elegant length. Well balanced with a gorgeous lick of minerality and saltiness. Supremely stylish, feels complete but just toned down a notch, and all the better for it. . 100% new oak. Quite accomplished. 3.4-3.5pH.
Barrel Sample: 97 -
Jeb Dunnuck
Coming from a seriously good terroir on the upper plateau of Saint-Emilion, the 2023 Château Trotte Vieille is always a more Cabernet Franc-dominated blend and one that needs air to show at its best. Its deep purple hue is followed by a ripe, powerful nose of crème de cassis and assorted darker, almost blue fruits intermixed with roasted herbs, tobacco, dark chocolate, and a kiss of violets. Concentrated and medium to full-bodied on the palate, it has ripe, sweet, yet building tannins and a great finish.
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.