2020 Chateau Troplong Mondot - St. Emilion 1er Grand Cru Classe

Decanter.com – 100 pts – GH: *A sensational Troplong. Vibrant and vivid, this makes you smile from the first smell: milk chocolate, floral notes of roses and lavender, wet stones, liquorice, cinnamon and ripe bramble fruits. Round and thrilling on the palate, tannins are abundant with a chalky blueberry coolness while a salty tang settles around the mouth. Lovely precision and purity of fruit; you feel the sharp definition - still linear which makes it less immediately charming than the 2019 but giving undeniable complexity. Deep but not heady, this remains pure and detailed, with a leanness from the terroir really setting this apart. After a few minutes, the glamour starts to appear giving a salivating, succulent and moreish aspect to the finish. An absolute beauty.* - 01/2023

Falstaff Magazin – (96-98) pts – PM: *Tiefdunkles Rubingranat, opaker Kern, violette Reflexe, zarte Randaufhellung. Süße, dunkle Beerenfrucht, Nuancen von Cassis und Brombeeren, ein Hauch von Feigen ist unterlegt, zarte Kräuterwürze, mineralischer Touch. Stoffig, kraftvoll, süße schwarze Kirschen, reife, tragende und zugleich seidige Tannine, dunkler Nougat im Abgang, verfügt über große aromatische Tiefe, mineralisch-frisch im Finale, sehr gute Länge, sicheres Reifepotenzial.* - 05/2021

Vinum Magazin – 17,5/20pts: *Viel versprechende, zurückhaltende Aromatik; von besonders fruchtiger, saftiger Art im Auftakt, doch auch mit Substanz und Tiefe, den Alkohol geschickt durch die erstklassigen Tannine ausbalanciert; hervorragend gemacht, mit Schliff: Option für 18 Punkte.* - 09/2021

WeinWisser – 19/20 pts – GL, TW: *Dicht verwobenes Bouquet, frische Wildkirsche, betörender Jasmin- Duft, ein Hauch Minze, Milchschokolade und Tannenhonig. Am komplexen Gaumen seidige Textur, balancierte feinpfeffrige Rasse, gute Spannung aufbauend, engmaschiges Tanningerüst und athletischer Körper. Im konzentrierten Finale schwarzbeerige Konturen, erkalteter Earl-Grey, Kakaopulver und getrocknete Küchenkräuter – hier ist alles am richtigen Platz und es gilt Geduld zu bewahren. Seit Direktor Aymeric de Gironde hier 2018 das Ruder übernommen hat, geht es mit diesem St.- Émilion steil bergauf. Gehört daher zu Recht auf jede Einkaufsliste in der Kategorie First.* – 03/2023

JancisRobinson.com – 17,5+/20pts – RH: *Closed, locked, compressed. Flashes of green herbal character to the black fruit. Firm but velvety tannins. A lighter style of Troplong, but that flesh may well grow as the wine evolves. The impressive length hints at the complexity to come.* - 02/2023

JamesSuckling.com - 98-99pts - JS: *Extrêmement bien réalisé.* - 06/21

Vinous.com – 98 pts – AG: *The 2020 Troplong Mondot is fabulous. Rich, dark and expansive, the 2020 is wonderfully exuberant right out of the gate. Black cherry, plum, gravel, incense and licorice are all dialed up. There's tremendous breadth and power, but without the excess weight of the past. Even so, the 2020 is a big, big wine that needs the better part of a decade to soften. All the classic Troplong structure is there, but buffered by vibrant acids and tons of supporting minerality. Harvest started on September 5 and finished on October 8, a very wide window for the Right Bank, and a reminder of how different the parcels are. The 2020 was done in 60% new oak, 12% /foudres/ 28% once-used barrels.* - 12/2022

Vinous.com – 95 pts – NM: *The 2020 Troplong Mondot has a limpid dark hue. The bouquet is intense with black cherries, red plum, Earl Grey and very subtle floral scents, a mixture of peony and violet. The palate is medium-bodied with very pliant tannins, fine acidity, taut and fresh. With moderate depth, this Troplong possesses impressive salinity, a little powdery texture towards the finish, with a gentle but insistent grip. Black fruit dominates here, chalky and terroir-driven, so you can feel the terroir tingling on the aftertaste. Quite a "serious" Saint-Émilion, it will require half a dozen or so years to show what it is capable of. NB A decanted bottle had more "pixelation" on the finish.* - 12/2022

Thewinecellarinsider.com – 97 pts – JL: * Flowers, cherries, plums, licorice and an array of spices greet your nose. The wine is rich, full-bodied, concentrated, seductive and packed from start to finish with layers of crushed rocks, licorice, blackberries, currants and cocoa, ending with light touches of chalk, along with sweet red and black pit fruits that build as they linger. Similar to what I found with the barrel sample, even with all its richness, the wine remains light on its feet with its strong sense of minerality and lift. Drink from 2027-2055.* - 03/2023