96 points,

James Suckling, jamessuckling.com, February 2013

Gorgeous nose with a great concentration of aromas such as chocolate, blackberries and licorice. Opens up with wild strawberries and lots of orange blossom. Full and concentrated on palate with super silky tannins and beautiful dark fruit. Lots of new wood in the finish that needs to integrate. This shows the essence of Mondotte. Drink from 2017.

Jancis Robinson, April 2011

Dark crimson. tarry, dry and intense and angst ridden with less obvious fruit than its stablemate Canon La Gaffelière, but very ambitious, very tarry and introvert. 17 out of 20

96 -98 points,

Jeff Leve, TheWineCellarInsider.com, April 2011

La Mondotte comes from a 4.5-hectare vineyard that produced wine in this vintage from the ridiculously low yields of 20 hectoliters per hectare from vines that average 70 years of age. 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc formed the assemblage that will be aged in 100% new oak. The wine reached 14.% alcohol, but with one of the lowest pH numbers I found in this vintage, 3.2, there is a lot of freshness and pop to this wine. Inky black with purple accents, licorice, stone, black fruit, jam, spice and mocha aromas rocket from the glass. Concentrated with luscious, ripe, opulent berries, this tannic wine is expansive on the palate, finishing with waves of fresh, pure black cherry liqueur, licorice and minerality. I asked Neipperg if producing a wine like this was risky. He responded with a smile saying, "No risk, no fun."

Jeff Loo, JJ Buckley, April 2011

80% merlot and 20% cabernet franc. Coming from a 4.5 hectare vineyard on a clay and limestone plateau with vines that average 50 years old. Yields were a low 20 hls/ha. Aged in 100% new oak for about 18 months. The nose offers sweet fruit, licorice, plum and vanilla, followed by spice and truffle. Though full bodied, the palate is elegant and refined, as the tannins and acidity have integrated well to caress the palate seamlessly. Finish lingers with a kiss of roasted espresso bean. This wine, while tasty at En Primeur, will probably shut down after bottling and won't be accessible for at least 5 years but will last another 20. Stéphane Derenoncourt is the consultant and has been since the first vintage in 1996.

94 -96 points,

Neal Martin's Wine Journal, April 2011

A blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, cropped around 16th October and 22nd October respectively. This was punched down only three days, a slow fermentation, big problems with the malolactic (one plot unfinished and included in the blend.) The La Mondotte '10 has a very pure, very attractive bouquet with macerated black cherries, griottes and a touch of honey that verges on marmalade. Fantastic definition. The palate is full-bodied with seamless tannins, very pure and sensual but with real backbone. Good weight in the mouth, imbued with a beguiling symmetry that reminds me of the 2005. Mellifluous on the finish. Very fine. Drink 2015-2025.

99 points,

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, March 2013

The 2010, a blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc cropped at 20 hectoliters per hectare, is showing incredibly well, combining elegance, extraordinary creme de cassis and kirsch-like fruit, and notes of licorice, incense and vanillin in a fragrant, full-bodied, massively endowed style that is neither heavy nor overbearing. The freshness and overall precision of this wine reminds me stylistically of the brilliant 1998 as well as the 2000. This wine normally drinks well reasonably young, but I suspect the 2010 is going to require 5-7 years of cellaring and keep for 25-30+ years.

93 -96 points,

Stephen Tanzer's IWC, June 2011

Good, deep ruby-red. Vibrant aromas of raspberry, strawberry, menthol and sage. The palate delivers great sweetness and richness, but with a compelling, penetrating quality to its precise, pristine red fruit and floral flavors. The seamless finish features great length and a lovely floral topnote.

97 points,

Wine Spectator, March 2013

Very lush, with roasted fig, dark boysenberry preserves and Black Forest cake flavors woven seamlessly together, stitched with bold spice notes and backed by a very racy graphite finish. Plenty big, but matches that easily with lovely purity and refinement through the finish. Best from 2015 through 2035. -JM

About Winery

La Mondotte is a tiny 4.5 hectare vineyard located just east of the St-Emilion limestone plateau between Troplong-Mondot and Tertre-Rôteboeuf. It is owned by Count Stefan von Neipperg who also owns Canon-La-Gaffelière. In the early 1990s he tried to officially merge the vineyards of Mondotte and Canon-La-Gaffelière but was thwarted in his efforts by the governing authorities on the grounds that Canon-La-Gaffelière was a St. Emilion Grand Cru Classé and Château La Mondotte was not. Incensed, he set out to prove the authorities wrong by installing a fermentation facility at La Mondotte and showing what its terroir was capable of producing.

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