A fortnight soaked in a pouring of many a South Australian Shiraz, and any palate might be forgiven a wanderlust. When I raised the idea of a Merlot however, questions about my sanity ( and orientation! ) were at the fore of reactions. To be sure, Australian Merlot is, with rhetorically exceptional exception, unsatisfying and, forgive me, girly. Pomerol, half a world away, is on the other hand the home of the world's most revered Merlot. Chateau Petrus stands alone, though some would say not as alone as the lone pine of Le Pin. A half mile west of Petrus lies Chateau Trotanoy, under common ownership since 1953. 'Poor man's Petrus' may not be an at all unfitting description, and could only be seen as one of praise. Indeed, in great years, it has been said that Trotanoy and Petrus stand together. The 1982 Chateau Trotanoy served this night, showed that it is without question a first Pomerol. 'Nuff wineking, to the note
An almost jeweled glow, warm garnet red, with a deep orange amber rim, showing full maturity. Tear drops cling to the glass.
A wonderful bouquet of caramel, chocolate, coffee, plums, light vanilla and mature fruit aromas.
Incredible mouthfeel, completely coating but never cloying...wonderful. Flavours, as anticipated, seamlessly carry through the notes of the bouquet, then a loooooong finish of leather, christmas cake and, unbelievably, some refreshing acid. This is a wonderful voluptuous wine with incredible class.
Had a further bottle appeared from nowhere, it would just as soon have disappeared, leaving a wistful mist in the eye of every guilty party. Magnificent...
TN - Chateau Trotanoy 1982
TN - Chateau Trotanoy 1982
Last edited by Jakob on Thu Jul 22, 2004 11:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Baby Chickpea wrote:Amazing Jakob - I also had this wine and posted the TN!
How good was this wine, eh?
PS - my label was prettier though!
Interesting coincidence To further it, today I came across Ultimo Wine Center's Bordeaux back vintage catalogue for 2004 - lo and behold, there is the 1982 Trotanoy listed at a tidy $799 ( and no cents ). You're right of course, the label of my bottle was far from pretty, but I took a punt a while back that it indicated high moisture in the cellar from which it came, and at $100 it certainly paid off There are a few things in your notes that I neglected to convey in mine, most important is probably the perfect balance which of course is so integral to the seamless quality of the wine. As to the wine's likelihood of being lost amongst Aussie Har...Merlots I can only ask the question - could the ethereal voice of Hope Sandoval drown out a Courtney Love screamathon? Surely, the answer is no, but I know which I'd prefer the pleasure of...