1998 - Troplong Mondot, Saint-Emilion

The 1998 Troplong Mondot is deep garnet-brick in color. It bursts with bold notions of stewed black plums, fruitcake, and dried cherries, opening out to reveal underlying notes of licorice, menthol, mocha, and unsmoked cigars. The medium to full-bodied palate is rich and decadently spicy, delivering opulent exotic spice and black fruit preserve layers, with a velvety texture and bright acidity, finishing with epic length.

A decade later from the last wine we have tasted in this vertical, and the regime had changed quite significanty at Troplong. Clear oak toasting on the nose, melted and charming at this point, but still in evidence. This remains young, with an emphasis on liqourice root, firm and confident tannins and plenty of fresh mint and eucalyptus notes. Silky texture, great stuff, a few angular lines to the tannins suggests that this will further improve from here, but no question that it is at a great moment to enjoy drinking. Tobacco, grilled almonds, savoury black fruits, again a slight edge of brett, but a second bottle is cleaner and enjoyable. 100% new oak, Michel Rolland consultant.

The 1998 Troplong Mondot has an opulent, quite lactic bouquet with dark chocolate and mocha-tinged bouquet, missing the definition of the 1988 by comparison. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly chewy tannin, fully mature with tobacco-tinged dark berry fruit. In common with the 1988 there is a Left Bank element to this wine, but it is just missing some definition and precision towards the finish. Not bad, but I think it reflects more the winemaking style in vogue at the time rather than the terroir. Tasted at the château.