Esperance de Trotanoy 2015 (750ML)

93 DE

This is lovely - a definite buy for anyone who wants to understand what Trotanoy is about but can't quite stretch to the main wine. It’s younger than the 2010 vintage by five years, but it’s almost more approachable as here the edges are softened, silky and touched by smoked caramel. The depth and juice to the fruit is striking and you can start to touch the Trotanoy structure. The 2015 vintage saw a mild and rainy winter, followed by a dry but not overly hot summer, finishing up with almost ideal conditions for harvest. Drinking Window 2019 - 2034 - Jane Anson, Decanter

90% Merlot / 10% Cabernet Franc

Purchased by Jean-Pierre Moueix in 1953, Château Trotanoy was considered one of the premier crus of Pomerol as of the eighteenth century. Since 2009, a selection of gravel-based parcels on the north-eastern part of the estate have been dedicated to Espérance de Trotanoy, a wine that is fruit-forward and approachable after just a few years of cellaring, but that maintains the depth, complexity, and incredible concentration of flavor that are so characteristic of Trotanoy’s unique terroir. The Trotanoy vineyard, located in one of the best-exposed areas of the plateau and spared, in part, by the dramatic frosts of 1956, slopes gently to the west. The soil is a very dense mixture of clay and gravel which tends to solidify as it dries out after rain to an almost concrete-like hardness, hence the name “Trot-anoy,” — “too wearisome” to cultivate. The soil at the highest point of exposure contains a good proportion of gravel, becoming progressively more dominated by clay as the elevation declines. Under this clay is a subsoil of red gravel and an impermeable layer of hard, iron-rich soil known as “crasse de fer.” This fascinating soil diversity brings power, depth and complexity to the wines. Espérance de Trotanoy, which is produced in limited quantities and only in certain years, is vinified in small concrete vats and aged in French oak barrels.