Château Tronquoy-Lalande Saint-Estèphe 2018

Bettane & Desseauve

About the estate:

After many years at Château Mouton-Rothschild, Hervé Berland is now in charge of managing the two properties acquired by Martin and Olivier Bouygues. Less well known than Montrose, Château Tronquoy Lalande, a discreet 18-hectare estate in Saint-Estèphe, is one of the oldest vineyards in the appellation. The wines produced there are splendid.

Decanter

About wine:

It is very concentrated and juicy at the same time, delicious with its notes of licorice and black fruits. There are hints of heat due to higher than usual alcohol levels in the Cabernet Sauvignon (Montrose's wine director, Vincent Decup, called it "the ultra-concentration of Cabernets"), but again, it is balanced by gently seductive tannins. 2024-2036

Robert Parker - Wine Advocate

About the estate:

RVF - La Revue du Vin de France / Guide des Meilleurs Vins de France

About wine:

The 2018 vintage is rich and full-bodied, but without excess, and is slowly opening up. It is very deep, with a smooth palate and beautifully defined tannins. A wine of great precision that will evolve beautifully over the next decade.

About the estate:

Martin and Olivier Bouygues acquired Tronquoy-Lalande in 2006, a few months after purchasing Château Montrose, located a stone's throw away. This very old Saint-Estèphe vintage retains its autonomy and style. The management of the château, like that of Montrose, was taken over in 2012 by Hervé Berland. Of note is the recent production of a beautifully crafted white wine, which is round and seductive. These wines represent very good value for money.

Wine Spectator

James Suckling

About wine:

Wonderful aromas of blackcurrant, blackberry, and flowers with hints of plum. Full-bodied with firm, silky, long, and polished tannins. A beautifully linear finish that lasts a long time. Give it 3 or 4 years to open up. Try it after 2024.

Yves Beck

About wine:

After a wet start to the season, bud break began on April 10, 2019. This was followed by flowering, which began on June 4. Tronquoy-Lalande is in the process of converting to organic farming, but is not yet certified. Purple-violet color. Elegant, complex bouquet, revealing itself gently. Pleasant notes of licorice and black berries. On the palate, the wine is creamy and balanced, with compact tannins that reveal themselves on the finish. A silky, balanced wine with smooth tannins. What a great success at Tronquoy. 2023-2038

Jean-Marc Quarin

About wine:

Dark, intense, and beautiful color. Intense, refined nose with ripe, creamy fruitiness. Silky pulp on the palate, with flavor, body, and refined tannins. The wine glides across the palate and finishes with a lively, delicately spicy note.

Vert de Vin

About wine:

The nose is elegant, refined, and offers lovely fruitiness as well as a racy minerality, freshness, and a certain energy/intensity. There are notes of fleshy/pulpy blackberry, strawberry and, more subtly, violet, combined with hints of pulpy cherry and touches of violet, racy minerality, and a discreet hint of licorice and toasted hazelnut. The palate is fruity, balanced, currently finely tight and offers straightforwardness, tension, fleshiness, a lovely texture as well as deliciousness, a little creaminess, depth, silkiness, energy and a fine acidic structure. On the palate, this wine expresses notes of fleshy/pulpy blackberry, cherry and, more subtly, violet, combined with hints of raspberry and touches of blueberry, pulpy strawberry, cornflower, chocolate, caramelization, subtle hints of toast/caramelization and a subtle hint of star anise (in the background). Good length. A little chewiness on the finish/persistence.

The Wine Cellar Insider - Jeff Leve

About wine:

With a beautiful color and notes of cigar box, dark chocolate, black cherry, and smoked plums at its core, this wine is rich, ripe, round, and fruity with a magnificent earthy character that already shines through. It is a superb vintage from Tronquoy Lalande, composed of 51% Merlot, 44% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Petit Verdot, and 2% Cabernet Franc.