2017 Château Troplong-Mondot

Even is a lighter-styled vintage like 2017, Troplong Mondot is not a wine to approach for easy early drinking. This was an important vintage in the development of the estate, with the arrival of new owners and of director Aymeric de Gironde, and a move towards earlier harvests and less intensive extraction during fermentation. It's a gorgeous vintage, still too young to really approach but showcasing stunning depths and nuance, with iris and peony floral character given lift to the muscular cassis and damson fruit. 65% new oak for ageing, Thomas Duclos consultant

Paint-type aromas on the nose, still very primary and youthful. Black cherry, bramble, juniper. Interesting and complex array of fruit with a touch of cedar complexity but there is clearly more in store. (RH)

Curls of woodsmoke and peony aromatics on the nose here, and slowly but surely you feel the limestone assert itself over the winemaking. This is still a big wine, concentrated and powerful, with cocoa bean, black cherry and sweet raspberry puree fruits, slightly at odds with a vintage that tends to be softer overall than the 2015 and 2016 - but it is excellent, sappy, stands out for all the right reasons. 60% new oak (so a significnaly lower amount than in previous vintages, although still with toasted and charred notes evident). This was the first year under new owners, with Aymeric de Gironde as director and Thomas Duclos consultant, and you can see the stylistic shift. 65% new oak for ageing. Very little affected by the frost that impacted St Emilion this year, with a yield of 45hl/ha, 95% of production used for the main wine.