2023 Château Trotanoy - 3er OHK

Always one of the more structured, masculine wines in a vintage, the 2023 Château Trotanoy is all Merlot coming from 7.2 hectares of vines on harder, clay soils. Darker plum/ruby-hued, with a gorgeous mix of red, blue, and black fruits, it has ample spicy, iron, and graphite nuances, medium to full body, a firm, focused, concentrated mouthfeel, and enough ripe tannins to warrant bottle age. It plays in the more linear, focused style of the vintage, yet this brings considerable structure and depth and is going to warrant 5-7 years of bottle age. It has the classic Trotanoy-like bloody, salty, iron character that I simply love. (05/2024)

The 2023 Trotanoy, 100% Merlot, is deep garnet-purple in color. It needs a lot of swirling and shaking to wake up notes of plum preserves, blackberry pie, and wild blueberries giving way to an undercurrent of wet slate, black truffle, and chargrill with a waft of wood smoke. The medium to full-bodied palate is dense with black fruit and earthy/mineral-inspired flavors, with a firm grainy texture and beautifully knit freshness, finishing long and savory. This is classic, great Trotanoy! (05/2024)