Chateau Trotanoy 2020

JAMES SUCKLING: "Love the perfume and finesse here with fresh flowers, blackberries, crushed stones and cement. Cedar. Full and very long with tight and muscular tannins that go on for minutes. Tight and thoughtful. Soulful. Try after 2030."

WEINWISSER: "Unglaublich tiefgründiges komplexes Bouquet, schwarzbeerige Konturen, Lakritze, Schokopralinen und Schattenmorellensaft. Im zweiten Ansatz getrocknete Küchenkräuter, dunkle Mineralik und zartes Veilchenparfüm. Am royalen Gaumen seidige Textur, erhabene fleischige Extraktfülle, kakaoartiges engmaschiges Tanningerüst und ein energiegeladener Körper. Im nicht enden wollenden Finale kleine schwarze Beeren, Brasiltabak und tiefschürfende Terroirwürze. Ein Pomerol für die Ewigkeit, der seinen Terroir- Vorteil hier ganz klar ausspielen kann und daher zu den besten Weinen des Jahrgangs zählt. Bravo!"

DECANTER: "A sure fire hit in 2020 and one of my absolute favourites of the vintage. Perfumed black cherries, roses and dark chocolate on the nose: ripe and fresh aromas. The crystalline fruit purity and finesse is wonderful while still filling the mouth with a density to the crushed velvet-textured tannins that give the structure and cushioning. Seriously appealing and charming, it’s big and clearly powerful with layers of black fruit, but it has a sense of restraint where nothing feels overworked. Perfectly weighted with balance, poise and persistence – you know you're drinking something special here."

JEB DUNNUCK: "Reminding me slightly of the 1998, the dense ruby/purple-hued 2020 Château Trotanoy offers a classic, concentrated, structured, regal style that this terroir seems to deliver with ease. Giving up a layered, primordial bouquet of smoked tobacco, black cherries, iron, graphite, and gravelly earth, it hits the palate with a massive array of fruit and tannins that somehow stays flawlessly balanced, offering ripe, silky, yet building tannins, flawless balance, and a gorgeous finish. It's going to need a decade of bottle age to hit the early stages of maturity, but this is pure Pomerol brilliance. Is there a better performing Château on the Right Bank today? Not in my opinion."

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "As good as this was from barrel, it is even better in the bottle! The array of black and dark red fruits, with nuances of flowers, chocolate, licorice, wet earth and spice in the perfume lets you know you are in for something special. This wine is what hedonism is all about. Sensuous, silky, polished, fresh and opulent, texturally, this is off the charts. The wine tastes and feels like the fruits were drenched in velvet, infused with dark chocolate and then polished, making this effortless to drink. The seamless finish hits the 60 second mark. Clearly, this is a legend in the making. If you are a fan of Trotanoy and you have the extra income, run, do not walk and grab some, as not much was made and it is only going to become more expensive from here. Drink from 2025-2060."

FALSTAFF: "Dunkles Rubingranat, opaker Kern, violette Reflexe, zarte Ockerrandaufhellung. Frische reife Pflaumen, dunkle Kirschen, feine Kräuterwürze, etwas Vanille und Edelholz, ein Hauch von Nougat im Hintergrund. Saftig, wieder reife schwarze Fruchtnuancen, von Brombeere bis Kirschen, reife, feine Tannine, mineralisch-salzig unterlegt, zeigt sehr gute Länge, feine Süße im Abgang, großes Entwicklungspotenzial, ein hocheleganter Wein, etwas Nougat und Röstaromen im Rückgeschmack, nach 2018 und 2019 die dritte Schönheit in Serie."

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "The 2020 Trotanoy is the most powerful wine in the Mouiex portfolio this year, delivering a rich bouquet of cherries, dark berries, fruitcakes, licorice, anise and brown sugar. Full-bodied, rich and muscular, with a ripe, heady core of sun-kissed fruit and considerable structuring extract, it concludes with a broad, expansive finish that largely conceals the wine's 15% alcohol. Given its structure and substance, it will certainly require some patience."

JANCIS ROBINSON: "Another monumental offering that is deep and profound. Complex, dark-fruit notes. Powerful tannic frame as always but freshness and balance as well. Sufficient juice. Dry, firm, muscular finish. For the long haul."