100 Point Bordeaux: "An Absolute Beauty" —Decanter

2020 Troplong Mondot "Mondot", St-Emilion ($39.99)

93 points Jane Anson: "Love this wine, from a separate plot of vines to the main Troplong Mondot estate wine. It conveys real personality, majoring on blueberry, raspberry and redcurrant fruits, with a great whack of salinity on the finish. This really comes in strong on slate and salted tang, a delicious second wine with the punch and the power of Troplong but showcasing the finesse of limestone soils. Harvest September 5 to October 3. Not released En Primeur, just when in bottle. Aged in 60% neutral barrel, 40% in stainless steel. Beautiful spice here, real depth with extra creaminess as it has opened up since En Primeur." (02/2023)

93 points Jeb Dunnuck: "All Merlot from limestone soils, brought up in a mix of once-used barrels and tank, the 2020 Château Troplong Mondot Mondot sports a dense ruby hue as well as a gorgeous bouquet of pure black cherries, smoked tobacco, chalky earth and hints of tobacco. This beauty is medium to full-bodied, has an elegant, seamless mouthfeel, and a great finish." (03/2023)

93 points Wine Advocate: "Unwinding in the glass with aromas of sweet blackberries and raspberries mingled with hints of rose petal and spices, the 2020 Mondot is medium to full-bodied, ample and fleshy, with a pure, seamless core of vibrant fruit and a long, succulent finish. Derived from Merlot growing on recently acquired vineyards on Saint-Émilion's limestone plateau, some 40% of the blend is matured in tank, with the rest in once-used barriques. (WK)" (04/2023)

2020 Troplong Mondot, St-Émilion ($119.99)

Ryan Moses | K&L Bordeaux Buyer

This is a wine I wish everyone could try—not only one of the greats of the entire Right Bank, but also remarkably unique compared to its peers and to what this property produced just a decade ago. It shows how superb the 2020s can be from this part of St-Émilion, with high-toned red and black fruits on both the nose and palate. The intensity of flavor, elegant texture, and brightness work in perfect harmony.

The tannins are exceptionally refined, the wine remains consistently fresh, and there is a focus and purity that clearly demonstrate how far Troplong Mondot has come in expressing its terroir. Limestone salinity carries the finish, providing a strong sense of place. The epitome of fresh, bright, and ethereal Merlot, it is remarkable that Troplong embodies all of these qualities while still remaining relatively affordable within the world of top-tier Bordeaux.

100 points Decanter: "A sensational Troplong. Vibrant and vivid, this makes you smile from the first smell: milk chocolate, floral notes of roses and lavender, wet stones, liquorice, cinnamon and ripe bramble fruits. Round and thrilling on the palate, tannins are abundant with a chalky blueberry coolness while a salty tang settles around the mouth. Lovely precision and purity of fruit; you feel the sharp definition - still linear which makes it less immediately charming than the 2019 but giving undeniable complexity. Deep but not heady, this remains pure and detailed, with a leanness from the terroir really setting this apart. After a few minutes, the glamour starts to appear giving a salivating, succulent and moreish aspect to the finish. An absolute beauty. (GH)" (03/2023)

98 points Wine Advocate: "The 2020 Troplong Mondot may prove to be even better than the brilliant 2019, and it is one of the Right Bank's finest wines in this vintage. Unwinding in the glass with deep aromas of mulberries, blackberries and red cherries mingled with hints of rose petal, licorice and exotic spices, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and layered, with a satiny attack that segues into a vibrant, polished mid-palate, concluding with a long, resonant finish. Having seen only 65% new oak and with malolactic fermentation completed in tank rather than in barrel, it's remarkably pure and seamless. With the 2020 vintage, this estate's stylistic redemption appears to be complete. (WK) 98+" (04/2023)

98 points The Wine Independent: "The 2020 Troplong Mondot is deep garnet in color. It is quite closed, offering glimpses at stewed plums and fresh boysenberries, before opening out to expressive scents of dark chocolate, rose oil, and tilled soil, plus a touch of mint tea. The palate is full, super-concentrated, fine, and tightly wound, with grainy tannins and great freshness, finishing long and minerally. (LPB) 98+" (02/2024)

98 points Vinous: "The 2020 Troplong Mondot is fabulous. Rich, dark and expansive, the 2020 is wonderfully exuberant right out of the gate. Black cherry, plum, gravel, incense and licorice are all dialed up. There's tremendous breadth and power, but without the excess weight of the past. Even so, the 2020 is a big, big wine that needs the better part of a decade to soften. All the classic Troplong structure is there, but buffered by vibrant acids and tons of supporting minerality. (AG)" (02/2023)

98 points Wine Enthusiast: "This firmly structured wine with its high percentage of Merlot is powerful and dense. The bold black fruits and perfumed density are impressive. (RV)" (04/2023)