2005 Château Troplong Mondot, St Emilion, Bordeaux

Full ruby-red. The spectacularly ripe nose offers plum jam, minerals, liquorice, mocha and a whiff of game, all lifted by exotic flowers. Explosively ripe and sweet in the mouth, with uncanny fullness and depth to the flavours of raspberry, smoke and milk chocolate. It is a blockbuster of a wine with a three-dimensional texture and outstanding weight but with almost magically ripe acidity, giving great precision to the flavours and drawing out the finish. Incredible melting tannins saturate the palate and front teeth. Wonderfully suave wine, the best I've ever tasted from this chateau.The 2007 harvest on this cold plateau east of St. Emilion took place very late, from October 9 through 19, and cellarmaster Jean-Pierre Taleyson told me that 30% of the crop was eliminated in the vines. In fact, he noted, the harvesting team actually made five passes through the vines to pick with the greatest possible precision. A 15% saignee was done to concentrate the must, compared to 20% in 2006.Stephen Tanzer, Vinous.com.com (May 2008)

The 2005 Troplong Mondot is a heady, sumptuous beauty. Sweet black cherry, plum, chocolate, spice, new leather, liquorice, and menthol are all open in the glass. Hedonistic and opulent to the core, the 2005 is a decidedly exuberant Saint-Émilion. I would open it a few hours in advance, as aeration helps soften some of the initial flamboyance. The 2005 is a gorgeous, captivating wine. It is modern Saint-Émilion at its finest. Moreover, it does not appear to have lost much, if anything, since the last time I tasted it a few years ago!Drink 2021 - 2034antonio_galloni, Vinous.com.com (April 2021)

The 2005 Troplong Mondot is a blend of 90% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc. It was emotional tasting this wine, thinking of the late Christine Valette, who made this compelling wine while battling with considerable courage against an insidious disease. It is a great effort and a superstar of the vintage. Dense purple, it offers notes of white chocolate, blackberry, cassis and licorice as well as a hint of truffle and some subtle background oak. Full-bodied, multi-layered, and spectacularly pure and rich, it is a tour de force, and a great tribute to an incredible woman. Remarkably youthful, this wine probably needs another 4-8 years of bottle age, and should keep for 20 or more years. Kudos to the late Christine Valette!Robert M. Parker, Jr. - 29/06/2015