Inky depths to the colour, this is powerful, full of character. Grilled sandalwood oak notes are dominant on the attack, with the bitter almond and cracked black pepper on the finish not just welcome but essential to balance things out. Showcases the character of Troplong - concentrated, powerful, slow-ageing. Served both double decanted and a straight from bottle, and again the double decanted gives you a better impression of the complexity that is hidden within the waves of concentrated flavour. Needs another decade at least to really reveal itself. 100% new oak.

Coming from one of the coolest terroirs in Saint-Emilion, the 2016 Château Troplong Mondot is a blend of 89% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2% Cabernet Franc brought up in 77% new French oak. This deep purple-hued effort offers a smorgasbord of powerful blue and black fruits, smoked earth, truffle, chocolate, and licorice. Full-bodied, deep, and opulent on the palate, it’s a truly great wine as well as one of the superstars in 2016. It should drink well for upwards of three decades.

The inky, dark color shows dark purple accents in its sheen. On the palate, the wine is rich, hedonistic, unctuous, and mouth-coating. The fruit is ripe, dense and intense with layers of black cherry, jammy, sweet plums, hints of fig, licorice, smoke and dark chocolate that offers its charms for over 40 seconds. This is not a shy wine, and thus, it needs at least a decade to settle down and start strutting its stuff. It is also the vintage made in the style preferred by the previous owner, Christine Valette. Read more at:https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/wine-tasting-note/?vintage=2016&wine=Chateau%20Troplong%20Mondot

This is stunning. Troplong never has trouble conjuring up wonderfully rich fruit, but here it is plump and dense without being pumped up. The tannins are chewy rather than chalky, but the elegance of the vintage is unmistakable, and the rich chocolate flavours are dusted with mint. There is a very pretty salinity on the finish that lasts for minutes. I had a fascinating visit here at the start of the week, and retasted several times as this is a wine that I sometimes have trouble understanding. My main takeout is that the majority of the richness here is found naturally in the terroir - limestone on the plateau but with cool clay over the top, which explains why they are such late harvesters. But there are always winemaking and viticultural choices coming into play in any wine, and here there are adjustments being made to bring out a more finely wrought version of what is always a high impact and successful wine. Yields are higher this year, up at 48hl/ha, which helps, as does the style of the vintage and quieter extraction in the cellar, but Troplong remains true to itself. 90% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Cabernet Franc. Read more at https://www.decanter.com/wine-reviews/france/bordeaux/chateau-troplong-mondot-st-emilion-1er-grand-cru-classe-b-11144#0OSmGat87LytRRuM.99

95+ Aged in 77% new and 23% of one year-old French oak barrels and composed of 89% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Cabernet Franc, the 2016 Troplong Mondot has a deep garnet-purple color and comes bursting out of the glass with bold preserved plums, Black Forest cake and Indian spices scents plus suggestions of espresso, black olives, cigar box and tilled soil. Full-bodied, rich, plushly textured and oh-so-decadent, it packs in the spiced black fruit layers and finishes with fantastic persistence. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown

Ripe and focused, with a pure, unadulterated beam of raspberry and cherry preserve flavors that is both wide and deep, gilded prettily with a lilting violet note and infused with subtle chalky minerality through the finish. Beautiful. Best from 2023 through 2038. — JM

This wine has power and a rich character that almost overwhelms. Intense tannins along with dark-chocolate flavors and huge concentration give a massive wine that shows some of the alcohol in its edge of pepper. The wine will calm and soften although it will always remain huge. Drink from 2026.