Lots of scores on Durfort here:
Likewise, Ferrière and HBL:
Whether the scores are justified or not, I wouldn’t say that any of the three are essential EP purchases in view of the prices.
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When is LCHB being released?
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I would not buy Troplong… in my experience, the wines do not age well.
Things are much changed at Troplong over the last ~6 years. They aren’t making monsters anymore.
I hope you’re right about their turnaround. Troplong is one of the Right Bank chateaux where >50% of the post-2000 vintages I’ve tasted in recent years were either dead or rapidly fading. The only estate that tops it in my experience is Beauséjour, where I’ve found an 80% failure rate.
I don’t think we can lump together all the wines of Troplong-Mondot after 2000 as being of one style. There has been, as pointed out by prior posters, a dramatic turnaround here.
Up to 2016 under the old regime the wines were huge and rich in alcohol. The 2009 vintage was the poster child for this era, with 15.5% alcohol declared on the label, but IIRC on analysis was higher, somthing like 15.8%. It hung together pretty well when tasted at the primeurs in 2010 but over the next few years it rapidly fell apart, and by four years of age it just felt disjointed and alcoholic. I last tasted it in a vertical with the current manager of the property in 2022 and it was hot and burnt. The 2010 was in a similar style. Other vintages were not much better.
In 2017 the property changed hands, sold by the Valette family to an insurance firm SCOR SE. They tempted Aymeric de Gironde, who had previously overseen a shift at Cos d’Estournel from a similarlly hot and extracted style to something much more appealing. He took charge literally the day before the 2017 harvest, so he now has 9 harvests under his belt. The style from 2017 onwards is completely different, lean, mineral and taut - a bit too lean and too mineral to my mind in the earliest vintages, and the alcohols were still on the high side (often 14.5% - 15% which Aymeric attributed to the terroir, as he was certainly picking earlier). But a few years on and both Aymeric and the wines have found more balance, and the wines are better. I really adore the 2025 vintage, and it is one of my favourite wines of the St Emilion appellation in this vintage. The alcohol is, btw, 13.9% on analysis in 2025.
There is also a nice second wine, Mondot, also a bit lean in the early years, but now of interest. Very juicy, aged half in used oak, half in vat, so very much a fruit-driven style.
Of course Beauséjour has also changed hands, with Josephine in charge since April 2021, so the style has changed here too, moving away from the Thienpont profile to something quite different, again taut, the focus being high-quality Cabernet Franc (there has been replanting and young vines are already feeding into the grand vin in 2025) from the best limestone parcels. I would be surprised if they don’t age well (although I didn’t have any axe to grind on the pre-2021 wines here - I generally rated them pretty well).
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Thanks for your input! That makes me hopeful for the future of Troplong.
The question here is, did you taste them at the Chateau? In the real world they were not holding up well. Even a 2016 recently, from this fresher vintage, where you don’t find that much excess, was alcoholic, overripe and excessively extracted and will very likely dry out quite quickly. The 2010 (an RP 100pts wine) has strait up premox problems.
I was told Troplong had returned from the dark side, but both 2018 and 2019 may have been less monstrous, but seemed four square, and joyless.
I remember the 2010 weighed in at 16.2%. Surprisingly, a little less nasty than the Pavie, which was 1% less, but it was still pretty unpleasant.
I love those monsters. If you have any spares please send them my way!
PSA for those here who buy en primeur to get halves - K&L just posted a bunch of Bdx halves from multiple vintages on pre-arrival, mostly in 12x375 OWCs.
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At the château, and too young to see the degeneration you’re finding in the wines.
Yes I thought the early vintages under Aymeric were stripped back and lost something more than just alcohol along the way. I think they have been improving though, and I thought the 2025 was absolutely delicious.
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Good know! I remember thinking the 1990 was exceptional, and the 1994 was one of the better wines. No surprise that there is potential, and hopefully will have the opportunity to try the 2025 in bottle.
I found the 21 surprisingly elegant. Maybe just reflects the more subdued nature of that vintage, but I’ve had several bottles of it and it’s drinking beautifully now. By comparison a 2015 I tried was one of the least enjoyable experiences. I think the alcohol level was 15%
Next week will be fun!
Mon 1st: Giscours
Tues 2nd: Pavie Pichon Lalande & La Mission
Wed 3rd: Brane Cantenac, Mouton Rothschild, Haut Bailly
Thurs 4th: Les Carmes Haut Brion, Cantenac Brown
And I’m sure a few more wines as well could be added.
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Yes, also: Siran on Monday 1st, Lagrange on the 2nd, Trotte Vieille, Beychevelle and Issan on the 4th.
Friday is obviously a rest day! 
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The one I’m interested in is Beau Sejour Becot. Does anyone know when it will be released?
So far I am fairly unimpressed by the pricing of most wines. I may buy an Imperial of Larcis Ducasse and if pricing is right another one of Beau-Sejour Becot. We’ll see.
Watching the tennis at Roland Garros, it looks like a hot, very hot start to the 2026 vintage. Sinner couldn’t take the heat.
They have also been talking about the heat during the Giro d’Italia. And they are in the Alps!
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Been scorching in Paris and Vouvray the last few days, but I think it’s supposed to chill way down in a few more days with some precipitation on the horizon for some regions. So, not all of my vacation will be with a see-through shirt 
.