1990 Château Troplong-Mondot

The 1990 Troplong Mondot has been highly rated in the past, although I have been troubled by recent showings. This is one particular wine why Antonio and myself will have to agree to differ! I have encountered this particular vintage three times over the course of 12 months, twice served blind, and on all three I noticed too much volatility on the nose that obstructed the fruit and terroir expression. Thickly lacquered fig and boysenberry jam, hints of prune – it just feels excessively heavy. The palate is again, quite volatile, like a dinghy rolling from side-to-side, unable to settle and find its balance. It was a hedonistic thrill in its youth but I would be wary opening a bottle as it reaches 27 years old. Tasted twice, both blind, at a private dinner in Bordeaux.

Tasted alongside Pichon Longueville 1990, this was a great representative of mature right bank claret from a ripe vintage. Lots of luscious fruit with a strong streak of iron and blood in classic fashion. No excess of extraction, oak or sweetness,this seems to have been made before the winemaking exaggerations of the subsequent decade. Very well balanced and (just) fresh enough but it became just slighlty soupy in the glass. Drink up. (JR)