A Brief History Of Chateau Troplong Mondot

Chateau Troplong Mondot was first established in Bordeaux's Right Bank Saint Emilion in the 17th Century by an Abbe Raymond de Seze who had built the chateau as it still stands on the estate today. Yet the estate would only gain its present name when in 1850 a Raymond Troplong had come to acquire the estate, where he would follow prevailing customs of the time and combine his name with the name of the commune - therefore Chateau Troplong Mondot, with Mondot being the name of the area.

Saint Emilion village.

Over the next century and half, the estate would pass through the hands of several notable families - first the Thienpont family which also owns the highly esteemed Pomerol estate, Vieux Chateau Certan, and then eventually to the Valette family. It was under the Valette family that the estate rose to serious prominence - Christine Valette, a former journalist by trade who had inherited the estate, had proved to be incredibly adept as its manager, pretty much doing all the right things. Having taken over the estate in 1980, Christine had made big changes that included stopping machine harvesting and returning to hand harvesting, with the harvesting done later in the season, as well as reducing yields to enhance the concentration of the wine. In the cellars, more rigorous sorting was done, with the wines vinified on a parcel by parcel basis, with a higher percentage on new French oak used.

Unfortunately Christine would pass on in 2014, after which the estate was left to her husband Xavier Pariente. By 2017, the estate had become taken under new management. Since the 2017 change in management, the entire estate has undergone much refurbishment, yet materially the profile of the wines have also changed significantly, with its new managers looking to produce something fresher and more elegant. The estate began harvesting earlier, reducing the percentage of new oak used and vinified differently, now using a slower extraction and at colder temperatures for more freshness. It's said that that the new management of the estate wants to go beyond the era of producing incredibly ripe wines and instead express its wines differently, instead looking for freshness and elegance. They've also signalled moving away from a more clay influenced wine that tends to be deeper and rounder, and instead going for something more mineral driven and cleaner.

The Chateau Troplong Mondot.

Going Into The Chateau's Vineyards

Chateau Troplong Mondot occupies the top of the Saint Emilion plateau, with a 43 hectare vineyard, and more recently has acquired neighbouring vineyards from Clos Labarde and Belisse Mondotte, which goes into its second wine, the Mondot. The terroir of the main estate can be characterised as being rich in limestone deposits and clay. It's planted with 85% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Cabernet Franc. Under the new management, must have been done to promote the biodiversity and sustainability of the estate, whilst also actively promoting it as a tourism destination with a hotel and Michelin-starred restaurant.

Currently the estate is classified as a Premier Grand Cru Classe B, which was awarded to the estate in 2006, and was again upheld in 2012. The estate is of course very much setting its sights on being promoted to Premier Grand Cru Classe A status, which we'll find out only in 2031.

Today we'll be trying 6 wines from Chateau Troplong Mondot that range the 2010's decade - the Chateau Troplong Mondot Grand Vin 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2020, as well as the second wine Mondot 2016 and 2021.

Wine Review: Mondot 2016

We'll start with a head to head review of the two second Mondot wines, 2016 versus 2021. The biggest change between the two is most definitely the change in management, from the tail end of the Valette/Pariente era, and then moving into that of the new owners.

Tasting Notes

Colour: Dark Ruby, Inky

Aroma: It opens up with blooms of florals, giving perfumed rose bouquets. There's also heaps of darker berries of blackberries, cassis, blackberry pie, dark cherry jams, and also more confectionary yet sensual tones of chocolate sauce and vanilla sauce. Some herbaceous hits of eucalyptus and cloves too. It's muscular, bold, and with good depth and richness - really aromatic and ripe.

Taste: Medium-bodied here, it's again rich and very ripe, with more on blackberry and dark cherry jams. There's streaky acidity here, more zippy, with that tartness of dark cherries, along with some earthiness of leather and browned leaves. It leans darker here, more jammy and yet still carries a lightness and lifted quality. The tannins are prominent yet fine. More on roses, vanilla sauce and drops of chocolate sauce.

Finish: Much more clay is coming through here, it's this thick, muscular yet very firm quality. Still very rounded, great freshness too. Roses, dark cherry jams, lots of fruit skins. The tannins tighten up much more giving quite a bit of pucker. 

My Thoughts

Definitely the riper of the two, this demonstrates a bold and rich style that's sensuous and juicy, muscular, yet at the same time with a lifted quality that disallows it from being heavy. There's also a really clear sense of the terroir here, the clay qualities are incredibly prominent on the finish - very impressive! At the moment though still rather grippy on the tannins, which might need some more years to loosen up. 

Wine Review: Mondot 2021

With the 2021 vintage, the new management is chasing down something less ripe and big, more fresh and elegant, with a more chiselled mineral structure to it - let's see how that goes.

Tasting Notes

Colour: Ruby

Aroma: More floral, roses, freshly tilled soil, held up by deeper and darker cherry preserves and pate de fruit. It's incredibly aromatic, the roses keep on coming in intense vibrance, all these perfumed bouquets of red florals. There's a confectionary aspect as well with vanilla sauce and blackberry jams. 

Taste: Medium-bodied, there's cherries, blackcurrant cordials, blackberry jams, it's silky and fresh, leaning lighter with not as ripe a body. The tannins grains are still prominent here although fine grained.

Finish: Hits of pepper, eucalyptus, those fresh florals of roses continue to radiate. Light cherry notes, with the tannins staying on fine yet grainy. A more dry and puckering finish.

My Thoughts

Deeply perfumed and aromatic, this leans lighter and brighter, with intense and radiant florals that power all the way through the tasting experience. It's got a great freshness and a silky satin-like body, although the tannins remain alittle too persistent still. It's light and crisp, and comes through rosy and elegant, if not still young (as it is!) and fairly thin. With some years, this should develop more richness, albeit certainly not going to be as ripe as the 2016.

Wine Review: Chateau Troplong Mondot 2014

Now we get to tasting the set of Grand Vins. We'll be tasting them from oldest to youngest which is not usual but here it works to walk us through the evolution of the Chateau since its change in management and therefore style of wine. 

Tasting Notes

Colour: Dark Ruby

Aroma: It opens with green tones of cooked vine leaves and green peppers, some earthiness joins in with tobacco leaves. Lots of minerality coming through of mineral water, along with darker and leaner fruits of raspberry paste, blackberry fruit leather, dark berry fruit preserves and pate, dark cherries. Some florals of roses too, as well as clove spices. It's well-defined and chiselled, with a good cohesiveness and complexity.

Taste: This is fully opened, really fruit driven with dark cherries, blackberries and blackcurrants. It's medium-bodied, the tannins still alittle grippy. More on fresh roses, tobacco leaves, cloves, with streaks of tart and sour cherries providing flashes of acidity. Back to some green aspects of cooked vine leaves.

Finish: More minerals here, touches of roses and raspberries, dark cherries too.  Grippy fruit skins that leads into a clean finish. Some eucalyptus lingers.

My Thoughts

Definitely more complex here, very elegant, cohesive, it's also got great freshness and balance. Here it feels more detailed and structured on the nose, with much more definition and cleanness, yet at the same time holding on to a concentrated core. On the palate, this was fully opened, all these darker fruits charging through very energetically, with streaks of acidity interwoven to the body as well. I did find the tannins still alittle grippy, which persists into the finish. Nevertheless my favourite aspect here was just aromatic and vibrant it felt, with such great presence.

Wine Review: Chateau Troplong Mondot 2016

Tasting Notes

Colour: Dark Ruby

Aroma: It opens up floral with some roses, alongside touches of raspberry jams, dark cherry jams, still alittle bit of that green bell pepper note that comes through, here leading into a more herbaceous eucalyptus. More on tobacco as well that wraps around the outline. It's still alittle quiet here, not fully opened up yet.

Taste: Medium-bodied, it's much more generous here, very plush with a good depth, it's velvety and blossomed. The body here is filled in with dark cherry, blackberry, blackcurrant, in the form of jams and cordials. Great richness, if rather straightforward, yet still very tasty.

Finish: Firm tannins, not grippy at all here. More on dark cherry preserves, roses, alittle peppery and spiced with cloves and a light fleck of eucalyptus. Clean finish.

My Thoughts

This started off alittle quiet on the nose, although there's still that sense of there being some concentration with those florals and jams, it did feel fairly light and gentle. Yet on the palate it could not be more different - the body was absolutely plush and fruit driven, rich yet lifted, with this incredible velvety and silky texture. It's straightforward yet incredibly tasty, with a robust and energetic body. The tannins here are much more fine, none of that grippiness, with the finish carrying through all those dark cherries and roses, with alittle bit of spice.

Wine Review: Chateau Troplong Mondot 2017

Now we move on to the first vintage of the new management, who only came in just before the harvest, which is where they made their first departure from the old style, where they decided to harvest earlier to achieve more freshness and less ripeness. They also extracted more slowly and under a colder temperature. The goal here was more freshness, less tannin, less ripeness. 

Tasting Notes

Colour: Dark Ruby

Aroma: Super vibrant, there's raw, rustic wafts of freshly toiled soil, organic chocolate, roses. It's got this fresh and raw, rustic purity. More on cherry yogurt, a touch of this lactic quality of unpasteurised milk. Also alittle bit of barnyard and animal hide. Really earthy, pure and evocative!

Taste: Wow! Absolutely superb! Such freshness and purity, it's clean yet evocative, with roses, raspberries and tobacco. It's so plush and satin-like. Blackberry cordials, raspberry cordials, some blackcurrants at the back too. It's precise and clean, and all throughout super aromatic.

Finish: Clean, precise, carrying still those earthy tones of tobacco leaves, soil, as well as some dark cherries that give a gentle tartness. The tannins here are firm if not alittle grippy. Lingering aromatics of raspberry cordials.

My Thoughts

This is on a completely whole other level! It's fresh and pure, with such precision, detail and clarity. It's superbly aromatic, with a lush and satin textured body. Incredibly elegant and fresh. The aromatic and flavour intensity here was simply stunning and I found myself completely wowed at every turn.

On the nose, it was characterised by this raw, rustic purity, completely evocative of the countryside, taking us into the fields. The palate carried over all of that freshness and purity, here offering up fruits, florals, some earthiness too, all in a lifted yet rich manner. Incredibly plush and silky. Finally following through on the finish with that same precision and detail, here giving a slight bit of acidity, with tannins that are firm if not just ever so slightly grippy.

This was by far my favourite of the night.

Wine Review: Chateau Troplong Mondot 2020

Tasting Notes

Colour: Dark Ruby

Aroma: Fruit driven with streaks of acidity. Dark cherries, raspberries, some soil as well. There's a more prominent mineral profile here. The spectrum of aromas here are more expansive, stretching both brighter and darker to give a wider range.

Taste: Medium-bodied here, richer too. There's more on raspberry and cherry jams, joined by some greener tones of green bell peppers. Roses, freshly tilled soil, tart cherries giving some sourness as well. It's clean and elegant, well structured with good detail, although yet to develop that plush richness.

Finish: Clean finish. Roses, raspberry, dark cherries, mineral. There's a streak of tartness and acidity into the finish that's almost racy. Hits of black pepper.

My Thoughts

This has a really clean and structured profile, definitely more chiselled and precise, and less so ripe and jammy as we saw with the earlier vintages. The mineral profile comes through more prominently as well, as does the acidity that gets racy into the finish. Here the fruits also lean to more of a moderately brighter tone, we're on to less of those dark fruits here, with just some dark cherries rather than full on dark berries. I find that this also showcases more breadth in terms of its aroma and flavour profile, which to that end carries with it less richness and plushness, which has the effect of stretching the wine out that also gives it more nuance. If you're into something more elegant, clean, and also less ripe - you'll definitely like where Chateau Troplong Mondot is headed in!