Some wines help define their respective appellations. These two are prime examples.
I giggled when I saw Gilman’s recommended drinking window of 2030-2100 for the 1998 Chateau Trotanoy. While I’ll concede that a traditional, classic Pomerol like Trotanoy, in an excellent vintage like 1998, can go this distance, this is merlot (typ. 90%), after all. This wine was knock-out gorgeous from the initial splash decant. A powerful bouquet of ripe and tangy plums, dank wet earth, menthol, Cuban tobacco leaf, black truffles and spice box. A remarkably complex nose followed by profound depth and concentration on the palate. This is a huge wine, a huge wine that remains deft on the tongue. Incredible concentration of fruit that coats the entire palate, but - and gosh Bingo Johnny will slay me for using this term - with beams of intensity lifting vertically from the tongue. Incredible lift and vivacity to this wine. Like dancing Satyrs in a woodland Bacchanalian revelry. The fruit spectrum is broad, both red and dark plums, ripe cherry and some briary black raspberries. Some hedonistic Indian spice in play with this wine as well. Lots of data but woven together so seamlessly, so harmoniously. This is a jaw-droppingly great wine. And I have no doubt it will get even better, hence the plus-sign (97+ pts.)
Now talking about a wine that one should wait until 2030, this is it. Or even longer. My friend brought the 2005 Chateau Montrose to our couples dinner. Of course I will partake, but I did recommend this wine going second after a long decant. We circled back to the Montrose after about 1.5 hours, just in time to be served with our heavier entrees. I had a braised oxtail dish, so perfect with a Bordeaux. While I would not recommend opening this Montrose, I did enjoy it immensely, and getting a look into what is clearly a monumental montrose. A powerful Cab-centric showing, dark cassis, big round pure fruit, black cherries, a hint of pencil, leather, mayhaps a wee whiff of dry tobacco. Full-bodied, mouth-coating, chewy, suggesting a very long-lived wine, but with some hours open, showing some great depth and complexity. A must in any left-bank collection. A wine with more upside potential. (95+ pts.)
Thank you for the note.
Not surprised by the Trotanoy, and glad to hear it is finally emerging. Always promising, but needing an incredibly long decant. It does show again how great the Right Bank 1998s are turning out to be, and I am thinking I really want to put together a tasting later this year. My gut feeling is that it may be the best Right Bank vintage in the last thirty plus years (1982).
I would definitely love to backfill more but pricing is pretty painful for the big guns. I have a nice array from some fine gentleman who put part of his collection up for auction recently! I also have a 1998 Petrus that a happy client gave me - happy even after he got my invoice - but I’m definitely going to 25 years on that one.
Johnny, it takes a Galloni vocabulary - or a buzz word cheat sheet - to run the bingo board in one note. I will say, has he ever used the Satyr reference in a note?
It’s definitely been a big boy six weeks of drinking. I was working frenetically throughout December to close four large deals this month - last one closed on Wednesday - so sorta feel like I owed it to myself. I’m mean really, we else do we do this?
So back to cost issues. That Trotanoy is stupid expensive. Or, is it really? I went to an Opus One dinner at my club on Thursday. The retail on the 2016 and 2005 we drank is $365 and 450 respectively. You can backfill on the 1998 Trotanoy for somewhere in that range. Having enjoyed these wines in a 48 hour period, I can say unequivocally, it ain’t even close . I was not even compelled to write any detailed notes on the Opus. Needless to say, I didn’t buy any Opus that night.
Now that said, I’m not running out and buying cases of this elixir. Perhaps onesies and twosies here and there for special occasions.
- but I’m definitely going to 25 years on that one.