Château Tronquoy 2016

Critic scores

• Wine Advocate94
• James Suckling93
• Vinous93
• Decanter93
• Jeb Dunnuck92
• Wine Enthusiast92
• Wine Spectator92

The 2016 vintage in Saint-Estèphe

Vintage benchmark: 97/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: A very wet winter followed by a sun-drenched summer produced a rare balance, combining the depth of great years with genuine freshness.

Overall reading of the year’s season across Saint-Estèphe. An estate can depart from it sharply, in frost or hail years, where two neighbours did not make the same vintage. What this particular wine actually gave is on its technical sheet and in the scores above.

Tasting

The colour is dense. The lightly oaked nose is very expressive and presents good aromatic intensity. The aromas of black fruit and Morello cherry combine with spices and more toasty, bready notes of vanilla and coffee. The attack is clean, powerful and fresh. The opulent and generous mid-palate reveals notes of ripe fruit and tannins of great finesse. The aromatic finish is well balanced. An exceptional year for Tronquoy-Lalande!

Blend of the 2016 vintage

Terroir

The terroir of Tronquoy-Lalande has a soil ideally suited to the flourishing of Merlot. This variety accounts for the majority of the plantings (52%) and points to a distinctive feature that sets Tronquoy-Lalande apart from its neighbours, where Cabernet Sauvignon dominates. Cabernet Sauvignon follows at 39%, then Petit Verdot (6%) and Cabernet Franc (3%). The vineyard enjoys an ideal exposure, very favourable to the ripening of the grapes. The soil is composed of a mixture of gravel and clay more than 8 metres thick. Gravel has the particular quality of being very free-draining, while clay holds water at depth and releases it according to need. The vineyard lies 23 metres above sea level. The gravel rises formed naturally over the centuries encourage the drainage of rainwater. In addition, the Gironde estuary, very close by, acts as a thermal regulator.