Trotanoy 2009

An absolutely prodigious wine, the dense purple 2009 Trotanoy exudes extraordinary notes of minerals, forest floor, sweet black currants and black cherry jam along with floral notes and graphite. Very full-bodied, with silky tannins, fabulous opulence and palate presence, this terrific wine should be at its best in 7-10 years and last for 20 or more. Think of it as a more concentrated, "bigger" version of the extraordinary 1998.

For the first time at Trotanoy, 500 cases of a second wine were produced from 100% Merlot from a parcel that is often excluded from the final blend.

The 2009 Trotanoy has a broody and what feels like Cabernet-driven bouquet, well defined with touches of cigar box and forest floor. The palate is medium-bodied with fine grain tannin, taut red berry fruit laced with sage, white pepper, hints of fennel and a refreshingly saline finish. This is very promising although, it does not quite possess the persistence of its peers. Sultry, almost saturnine...I guess this is Trotanoy? Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting. 2025 - 2055

A deep nose of blueberries, with chocolate mousse that turns to licorice and hints of rose petal. Full-bodied, with velvety tannins that fill your mouth. But they are always soft and caressing. They last for minutes. I love the texture to this wine; it is like plush velvet. Best in 2018, but so inviting now.

The 2009 Trotanoy is deep garnet in color. It gallops out with powerful scents of plum preserves, blueberry compote, and candied violets, leading to nuances of mocha, licorice, and tapenade, plus a waft of smoked meats. Full-bodied, rich, and impressively dense, the generous black fruit and savory layers are supported by firm, yet velvety, tannins and seamless freshness, finishing with epically long, lingering, earthy notes. Wow! Drink 2024-2050.

A vintage that Edouard Moueix summed up succinctly by comparing it to a friend that is always ready to please, to the point that you can't help but try to find fault. What that means in the glass is that you get plenty of aromatic complexity, and an attack that is generous, ample and ready to go. There is a caramel edge that suggests the fruit was fully ripe and is starting to soften. Autumnal red berry fruit, truffle and wet earth are on display, but it retains plenty of structure, and you can feel the tannins elongating across the palate, adding freshness and shape and helping to give width and density. It’s ten years old and starting to fully deliver. Drink 2019-2038.

Very dark. Juicy, savoury, complete on the nose. Very ripe with some liquorice and treacle toffee. Extremely opulent and reverberant. Lots of black notes on the palate. Exotic and with savoury dry finish. Really interesting wine. Dense and almost tarry but without the drying tannins on the finish sometimes associated with that character. Well done! Very long and satisfying. But dramatic. No prisoners' style of wine. Date tasted 30th March 2010. Drink 2018-2032.

We do not have first hand allocations of this Chateau but hope to have small quantities later in the campaign. 97% Merlot. A deep colour for a Moueix wine. Wonderful richness of damson and blackberry fruit. Round and fat but impeccable balance. Chocolate and crushed blackcurrants. Powerful, yet subtle. Younger vines here are now mature and Trotanoy is back on top form, best since the 1990.

This sports a dark, chewy side for now, with overt charcoal and roasted apple wood notes, along with plenty of smoldering tobacco flavors. The core is still a bit chunky as well, with roasted fig, blackberry paste and steeped black currant fruit. But the underlying structure is refined, despite its density, and the finish is very long and purely rendered. Best from 2018 through 2035. From France.-J.M.

The nose is enriched by ripe black plums, all sweet and lush. On the start of the palate there is the same richness of fruit but it is nicely balanced by fresher black cherry and bramble all adding to the complexity. It is seamless, lovely and long, layers of flavour adding excitement. Drink 2020-2045.

The J-P Moueix tasting was of a very high standard this year, but this was the exceptional wine for me. It's very deeply coloured, showing rich, sumptuous aromas of coffee bean, plum and blackberry. The palate is beautifully structured, even at this young age, with lovely balance between tannins, oak, acidity and fruit. An exceptional Pomerol . 20+ years

Deep colour. Intense. Firm but refined tannins. Caressing attack, exceptional fruit then great persistence on the finish. Trademark minerally freshness provides balance. Drink 2020-2045.

The 2009 Trotanoy is flat out magnificent and clearly one of the top handful of wines made in Bordeaux in this vintage. Of all the Pomerols that I tasted on this trip, only Pétrus is superior to Trotanoy, as this wine is simply a great classic in the making. The utterly profound and regal nose offers up a glorious mélange of plums, black cherries, raw cocoa, herb tones, woodsmoke, a stunningly complex base of soil, coffee bean, a hint of the blood orange to come and a very discreet framing of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and flawlessly balanced, with a huge core of pure fruit, stunning focus and balance, plenty of ripe tannins and an endless, utterly seamless finish. The 2009 Trotanoy is a very powerful vintage for this wine, but is so breathtakingly poised and light on its feet as to almost belie its amazing depth and intensity. One of the greatest young vintages of Trotanoy I have ever tasted, this is a masterpiece of traditional Pomerol in the making. Amazingly, this is the ripest wine in the entire Moueix stable this year, as it weighs in at a full 14.3 percent alcohol, and yet is utterly cool in the mouth. A profoundly great wine. (Drink between 2022-2075)