Ch. Trotanoy
Ch. Trotanoy
Pomerol
1998

The producer

Situated almost dead centre of the Pomerol appellation, Trotanoy is a small estate with a huge heart. The modern era of the estate starts in 1953, when it is acquired by JP Moueix Estates. 8 hectares of vineyards are located 1km south-west of Petrus on deep gravel clay soils and are planted with 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc.

This is one of the more serious and muscular Pomerols with an array of dark fruits – black plums, cassis and liquorice – but with a core of sweetness that balances the powerful tannins. Despite the strength and structure, and associated ability to age for decades, Trotanoy is accessible within a decade even in great vintages. This is also one of few chateaux which seems to perform consistently well regardless of the quality of the vintage.

Chateau Trotanoy is a thing of beauty! 

The wine

Trotanoy is made from on average 35-40 years old vines growing on the Pomerol plateau at between 30-40 meters of altitude. Always made from 100% Merlot, Trotanoy ferments in cement and stainless-steel vats, of varying sizes, and is following aged in 50% new oak barrels for 16-18 months. This is one of the more serious and muscular Pomerols with an array of dark fruits – black plums, cassis, and liquorice – but with a core of sweetness that balances the powerful tannins. Despite the strength and structure, and associated ability to age for decades, Trotanoy is accessible within a decade even in great vintages. This is also one of few chateaux which seems to perform consistently well regardless of the quality of the vintage.

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.