Château Trotanoy Pomerol 2017

A lush, velvety Pomerol, dripping with raspberry, plum and cassis fruit aromas and flavors, infused with rooibos tea, sandalwood, mineral and bergamot notes. The finish is very long and finely beaded. Best from 2022 through 2040. 1,290 cases made.

Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, the 2017 Trotanoy is 100% Merlot and begins quite stubborn and broody on the nose at this youthful stage, needing a lot of coaxing to reveal a core of plum preserves, blackberry pie and licorice with suggestions of cast-iron pan, underbrush, tilled soil and charcoal. Medium-bodied, the palate is not at all weighty, but it is built like a brick house, with bags of restrained, muscular fruit and a solid line of firm, grainy tannins, finishing with epic length and fantastic tension. A very impressive wine that should by incredibly long-lived!

The 2017 Chateau Trotanoy checks in as 100% Merlot and comes from 7.2 hectares of gravelly, clay, and iron-laced soils on the plateau of Pomerol. Revealing a medium ruby/purple hue as well as powerful notes of creme de cassis, scorched earth, chocolate, graphite, and unsmoked tobacco, this beauty is full-bodied, has a stacked mid-palate, building tannins, and a great finish. Very much in the classic, elegant, focused style of the vintage, it has more fruit and texture than most, is flawlessly balanced, and will benefit from 4-6 years of bottle age and drink brilliantly for two decades or more. This showed much better from bottle than barrel and is well worth seeking out and cellaring.

The 2017 Trotanoy is a dark, brooding wine, as it so often is. The tannins are forbidding at this stage, but then again, that is Trotanoy. Smoke, incense, game and a whole range of mineral inflections run through the 2017. Energetic and impeccable in its balance, Trotanoy is compelling in 2017, but readers need to cellar it for a few years at least, after which it will drink well for a number of decades.

Showing the depth and power of ripe Merlot, this wine has concentration and great richness. Its tannins and bold black fruit flavors point to considerable aging potential. Drink the wine from 2023.