This is a very young and still quite primary example of the 1985 vintage, and I have little doubt that, given sufficient bottle age, this will eventually be one of the wines of the vintage, as it shows outstanding...
This is a very young and still quite primary example of the 1985 vintage, and I have little doubt that, given sufficient bottle age, this will eventually be one of the wines of the vintage, as it shows outstanding intensity of flavor, an utterly seamless personality and extraordinary balance and precision. The youthful bouquet offers up a lovely blend of red and black plums, a touch of nutskin, mocha, cigar smoke, a beautifully complex base of gravelly soil, coffee, fresh herbs and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, young and very pure, with a fine core, excellent intensity and nascent complexity, moderate, perfectly-integrated tannins and outstanding length and grip on the suave, understated and dancing finish. The worst-case scenario for the 1985 Trotanoy is that it evolves into a beautifully perfumed and complex middleweight, but my gut instincts is that (like so many other ‘85s a few years ago) there is more depth and structure here than currently meets the eye and that this wine is likely to put on weight over the course of the next decade and blossom into a reference point vintage of Trotanoy. Time will tell. If it does so, my score will seem conservative! 94+