Ric visits Château Troplong Mondot

A few members of the Jürade de Saint-Émilion du Singapour paid a visit to Château Troplong Mondot on 07 June 2023 where we were hosted by its Sales Director Ferréol du Founot, who still recalled my first meeting with him at the week-long Troplong Mondot residency in Singapore in February this year. Quality at the estate grew from strength-to-strength under the stewardship of Christine Valette who made the wines from 1980 till her untimely passing in 2014. Although the Valette family sold in 2017 to the French insurance giant SCOR, quality has continued to soar under the guidance of its CEO Aymeric de Gironde who came over from Château Cos D’Estournel in 2012. The estate has 37 hectares under vines – 27 for its grand vin with another 10 at a separate location for its second label Mondot. Planted nowadays with 73% merlot, 16% cabernet franc and 11% cabernet sauvignon (average age close to 30 years), the key to Troplong Mondot’s success lies in its terroir, sited on a gentle mound 110 metres above sea-level where there is a substantial deposit of clay covering the usual limestone. This elevation facilitates even drainage during wet months while the clay helps to retain moisture during the hot months, preventing heat stress. The harder clay also forces the roots of the vines to dig deeper, resulting in greater power and complexity to the wine. The entire estate has been completely renovated under the new owners, boasting state-of-the-art facilities, a futuristic cellar (you walk high above it on a glass bridge), beautifully manicured grounds, guest accommodation as well as a one-Michelin star restaurant Les Belles Perdrix, a real gem helmed by Chef David Charrier. It even has a mini vegetable farm, growing its own greens for the restaurant. A staple of Saint-Émilion Premier Grand Cru Classé for many years, Trolong Mondot is now knocking on the doors of Angélus and Figeac. We didn’t get to taste the 2022 in barrel but it must be outstanding, given how well estates big and small have performed for this vintage. Don’t miss this fabulous address when you visit Saint-Émilion.

2018 Mondot. Saint-Émilion Grand Cru. Made truly as a separate wine in its own right since 2017 from a 10-ha plot of limestone soils, comprising 100% merlot aged in 60% used oak and 40% steel vats. Deep purple. Highly aromatic in red cherries and raspberries with an effusive rosy velvetiness. Medium presence. Beautifully extracted at just right level, producing juicy succulent mouthfeel with great purity and freshness, tinged with a hint of cigar box. Elegant balance. 40,000 bottles annually as a late release.

2019 Château Troplong Mondot. Decanted on-site. Good colour with a bit of crimson at the rim. Good gentle complexity of fig, capsicum, dark fruits and currants, exuding great freshness. Softly contoured, imbued with superb acidity and elegant velvety tannins that impart delicate agility. Impeccably proportioned and balanced, finishing with just a hint of earthiness without betraying its 15% abv. Compared with my first encounter in Singapore in February 2023 where it was brimming with nervous tension, this wine has settled into its groove. Will prove to be outstanding.

2011 Château Troplong Mondot, over lunch at the château’s Les Belles Perdrix, 07 June 2023. Very deep crimson, proffering impressive swathes of ripe raspberries, cherries and currants though, surprisingly, the palate is only medium weight, tightly structured with ample fruit and fresh acidity that took ninety minutes to open up with further detail and supple intensity. Not quite ready.