- 2003 Château Troplong Mondot - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru (3/28/2025)
From my late father’s cellar, it’s a mystery why he bought it, as he never drank any of it. Opened with some trepidation due to producer and vintage reputations, it was not nearly as extreme as I was expecting. Yes it was more like a Napa Valley Merlot, but not in a bad way. It was balanced, rich, flavorful, and not remotely over alcoholic. The finish was slightly creamy, accentuating the California impression. Quite enjoyable if one can put typicity aside.
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No apologies necessary - bet it was better than that 04 LLC.
At least more flavorful
I had a 04 Troplong Mondot last week. Much better than that wretched 04 LLC - at least there was some fruit showing through. Not withstanding the sentiment on this board that 03 was too hot with messy jammy wines that can’t age well (I think this is mostly misguided), I have not struggled to tell these wines apart from California wines in general - they still retain some Bordeaux typicity at least for my palate. What is the ABV on the 03 TM? Guessing it is 14% which is a bit higher than perhaps traditional right bank wines which were more like 13%. Most of them are 14 to 14.5% for modern vintages. Conseillante and Figeac are 14% for 2020 vintage. TM is up to 14.5% for 2020.
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14% on both the label and the import strip.
2003 has certainly turned out better than expected for the most part, though I suspect a lot of that is because all vintages are so much warmer now. We have been trained to riper wines, even with the classic producers, or the modern styled ones that have thankfully backed off a bit in recent years.