(JS 98-99 points) Fantastic texture and structure to this wine with firm, silky tannins that go on and on. Love the crushed blackberries, blueberries and salt. Floral and mineral character, too. Full and tight with great length. Chewy at the very end, indicating real structure. All about structure and length. 50% cabernet sauvignon, 49% merlot, and 1% cabernet sauvignon.

With a serious depth of color, the wine pops from the glass with its array of flowers, black, red and blue fruits, chocolate, licorice, Indian spices and oceanic fragrances. The wine is full-bodied, rich, concentrated and intense, with lusciously-textured layers of perfectly black and red fruits, crushed rocks, chocolate and espresso on the mid-palate that stick with you through to the finish. This is simply stunning from start to finish. With all of its ripe fruits, it will be fabulous in its youth, but it has serious aging potential. Drink from 2025-2050. Read more at:https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/wine-tasting-note/?vintage=2020&wine=Chateau%20Trotte%20Vieille

Intense and brooding, powerful, muscular but finely built, really works with the vintage. It's strong and potent, but so carefully sculpted, plush and ample. At 15% it's alcoholic, but it works, giving ripe fruit, firm but fine tannins and an undercurrent of liquorice supported by freshness. Linear right now, focused and driving from start to finish with the tannins giving the tight frame so it doesn't feel at all massy or too much. Liquorice laden, lots of oak, but super stylish, complex and confident. Extremely impressive.

Always one of the latest to harvest, as this is located directly on the limestone plateau, with 12ha of vines. Intense and focused, showing sculpted blueberry and black cherry fruit, grilled cocoa bean and tar, the tannins close in pretty tightly through the palate, and it needs plenty of time in the glass to reveal the gunsmoke and violet edges. Great ageing potential here, this is living up to En Primeur potential.

(94-96 points) Barrel Sample. With its hallmark reticence and dry tannins, this wine seems at first to be missing the fruit element. However, delve deeper and the fine black fruits are there full of energy and richness. They will become a major element, giving the wine intensity and power as it develops. ROGER VOSS

The 2020 Trotte Vieille is fabulous. Rich, inky and explosive, the 2020 offers up an exotic mélange of jammy dark fruit, espresso, bittersweet chocolate, cloves and incense. Sumptuous and flamboyant to the core, Trotte Vieille has a ton of personality. Big chocolaty tannins frame the sumptuous finish. This has come together very well. -- Antonio Galloni

(JD 92-94+ points) The 2020 Château Trotte Vieille is an exotic, incredibly perfumed Saint-Emilion that comes from a cooler terroir on the upper plateau. Vivid purple-hued, with a crazy nose of blue fruits, violets, flowers, and graphite, it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, a pretty, focused texture, ample tannins, and a great finish. I love its elegance and purity on the palate, and it’s a beautiful wine in the making.

(92-94 points) The 2020 Trotte Vieille is a blend of 95% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Cabernet Franc, aging for an anticipated 16 months in French oak barrels, 80% new. The alcohol is 15%. Opaque purple-black in color, it bursts from the glass with vivacious notes of wild blueberries, ripe, juicy black plums and black raspberries, plus hints of lilacs, star anise and tar with a touch of wild thyme. The rich, full-bodied palate coats the mouth with black fruits and exotic spice sparks, framed by grainy tannins and just enough freshness, finishing on a fragrant earth note.- LPB

(92-94 points) The 2020 TrotteVieille is quite broody and backward on the nose at first, demanding 15–20 minutes to open. It then reveals blackberry, sea spray/marine scents and hints of crushed chalk and pencil box. The palate is medium-bodied with quite a firm structure, indicating that this is a Saint-Émilion that should be cellared for several years. There is a lovely touch of white pepper and allspice toward the finish. I suspect this is a TrotteVieille that will reward the patient. -- Neal Martin