Trotanoy at La Fleur-Petrus...

Now the title may seem a little odd but there is an easy explanation. Last Tuesday (16th) as part of a whirlwind two day tour to Bordeaux we, a team of 11, dropped into to see Edouard and Christian Moueix as well as Laurent Navarre. Ets JP Moueix own both the properties as above.

It was an exciting time to visit as the weather was very good, September going a long way to making up for a cool August (especially the first half) and actually the Moueix had picked two very small plots on two of their other properties that day just to see how things were. We saw the optical sorting machine and the vats at La Fleur-Petrus as well as discussing the potentially promising 2014 crop - no vintage of the century scenarios here but certainly a good chance of a good to very good vintage.

Optical sorting machine

Having had a good look around it was time to focus on the wines of Trotanoy and taste the 2011 (bottled for one year), 2012 (just bottled) & 2013 (from barrel). With a deliciously simple dinner that followed we had the 2009 and 2010 alongside each other followed by the 1995 from magnum.

Plateau of Pomerol map with the Moueix properties highlighted.

I have written about Trotanoy many times. It is a Chateau that, although I am biased, produces amongst the best wine of Bordeaux and crazily still seems to be on the up. In total it is 7.2 hectares of mixed gravel and clay with an average vine age of 35 years and 90%Merlot with 10% Cabernet Franc. 

Pre-dinner tasting

2011 - From a season of drought and a very long, 3 weeks, harvest. There is a very precise clarity about this wine with almost crisp red fruit. It is tight and with very focussing acidity at this stage. Lovely to taste now a medium weigh Trotanoy.

2012 - Bottling can have a funny affect on a wine but not the case here. Serious and stoney with a mineral nose, ultimately brooding and masculine but with a good lift, complete tannins, I feel this wine will tighten up despite showing well here, I would be leaving 5-6 years before looking again, very good.

2013 - Good attack, a real fruit purity, then the palate is drier and there is still a lot to happen there but it is a wine that has not followed a recipe (that would be a mistake in 2013), I like its freshness. Will be fascinating once bottled.

Dinner wines

Dinner was a very relaxed affair, all sorts of different conversations though unavoidably there was a 2009 "vs" 2010 debate/vote…in a stroke of unplanned diplomacy it concluded 7 all. As you would expect the 2009 will have a broad and long drinking window with little evidence of tightening up, the 2010 in contrast is a classic beauty that demands time. I am ever so slightly in the 2010 camp but it's splitting hairs. The 1995 from magnum was delicious - two different mags both from the same case - showed a little differently, the first was open and ready the later a tighter more taught, more a true Trotanoy expression. Either way both disappeared as the old stories came out…happy days!

Flag flys high at LFP!