Chateau Troplong Mondot 2005

WINEADVOCATE: "The 2005 Troplong Mondot is a blend of 90% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc. It was emotional tasting this wine, thinking of the late Christine Valette, who made this compelling wine while battling with considerable courage against an insidious disease. It is a great effort and a superstar of the vintage. Dense purple, it offers notes of white chocolate, blackberry, cassis and licorice as well as a hint of truffle and some subtle background oak. Full-bodied, multi-layered, and spectacularly pure and rich, it is a tour de force, and a great tribute to an incredible woman. Remarkably youthful, this wine probably needs another 4-8 years of bottle age, and should keep for 20 or more years. Kudos to the late Christine Valette!"

WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "This could be the best wine made in the history of Troplong Mondot. It has all the depth, power, concentration, fruit and ripeness you could ask for, but there is ample acidity here, so you get the freshness and lift needed to make this pop. I like it today, but another 3 years or so will a lot to the wine."

ANTONIO GALLONI: "The 2005 Troplong Mondot is simply magnificent. Rich, opulent and beautifully layered in the glass, the 2005 is another wine that takes hold of all the senses with its engaging personality and sheer sensory overload. Black fruit, mocha, bittersweet chocolate, new leather and spices flesh out in a captivating, riveting wine that shows the modern style of Bordeaux at its very best. This is a pure pleasure bomb."

WINESPECTATOR: "Exhibits aromas of coffee, ripe fruit, wild mushroom and blackberry. Dark and very complex. Full-bodied and chewy, yet velvety and beautiful, with intense flavors of blackberry, chocolate and tobacco. Very, very long This is layered and gorgeous. Best after 2016. 6,250 cases made. — JS"