Château Troplong Mondot, 1er Grand Cru Classé, St Emilion, 2019

An intriguing bouquet of spiced plums, damsons, tayberry, black cherries, blossom and earthy minerals leads to a concentrated palate of mineral infused hedgerow fruit, liquorice and clove. This packs quite a punch, broad, with sweet black cherry and graphite, there’s a real savoury character to the fruit, coal dust, salts, molasses, dried fruits, cinnamon and smoky incense. There is some freshness and plenty of energy, but this leaves the taster with an overwhelmingly sense of scale and noir. There’s no doubt that Aymeric de Gironde’s third vintage at Troplong is a large-scale effort with plenty of drama. With aeration, more sweet blue fruit emerges on the mid-palate and notes of dark chocolate dominate the tannins.