#13 TOP 100 CELLAR SELECTIONS 2022. The magnificent Merlot in the blend has pushed up the alcohol, while also giving a velvet touch and power to the wine. This estate is now in top form, producing this generously ripe, black plum-flavored wine. It is lifted by acidity while powering the wine's intensity. Drink from 2026. (Cellar Selection).

Such a seductive soft perfume to the nose, with delicate yet generous aromatics of cherry and rose. The palate is juicy and fresh, charming yet energetic with crystalline purity and balance. Tannins are smooth but softly textured giving nuance to the flavors where refreshing high-toned ripe red and black cherry fruit play alongside mint, dark chocolate, and graphite. Powerfully but carefully controlled from start to finish giving such a satisfying overall mouthful and lasting impression. Incredible. Drinking Window 2028 - 2050.

#20 TOP 100 WINES OF FRANCE 2022. The purity of fruit is pretty phenomenal here with blackcurrants, cherries, and crushed-stone undertones. Floral notes of roses and violets, too. Full-bodied, yet this is a linear style with super fine tannins and great length and beauty. You want to drink it. It grows on the palate and shows real power, with breadth and depth. Remains fresh throughout. Something. Try after 2026.

The 2019 Troplong Mondot is without question one of the wines of the vintage. Vertical and explosive in feel, the 2019 dazzles with its magnificent balance. Inky red/purplish fruit, cinnamon, chocolate, dried flowers, and lavender open with a bit of time, but Troplong is not a wine for the here and now, but rather a wine for readers who can be patient. The 2019 is all class and refinement. Those qualities become increasingly apparent over time, once some of the initial power and density subsides with air. This is the first time the Grand Vin was blended before the malolactic fermentation.

The Grand Vin 2019 Château Troplong Mondot checks in as 85% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Cabernet Franc, brought up in a mix of new and used barrels. Its deep ruby/purple hue is followed by a pretty perfume of redcurrants, black cherries, spring flowers, damp earth, and candied violets. While harvested incredibly early, it pulls it off and is ripe, textured, and balanced, although it doesn't have the density or mid-palate of the top wines in the vintage. This elegant, complex, medium to full-bodied Saint-Emilion is going to hit maturity in 7-8 years and have 20+ years of prime drinking.

A flicker of savory leads off, before being quickly absorbed into the core of juicy plum, blackberry and fig compote flavors. Long laces of alder, black tea and espresso crema wrap around the finish, where a hint of smoldering flint checks in before the fruit shows a final finishing kick. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2025 through 2038.