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 estates acquired by Martin and Olivier Bouygues. Less well-known than Montrose, Château Tronquoy Lalande—a low-key 18-hectare estate in Saint-Estèphe—is one of the appellation’s oldest vineyards. The wines produced there are splendid.

Decanter

About the wine:

It is both highly concentrated and juicy, delicious with its notes of licorice and black fruits. There are hints of warmth due to the higher-than-usual alcohol levels in the Cabernet Sauvignon (Montrose’s wine director, Vincent Decup, called it “the ultra-concentration of Cabernets”), but again, this 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 the wine:

The 2018 vintage, rich and full-bodied yet never excessive, unfolds gently. It displays great depth, with a smooth palate and well-defined tannins. A wine of great precision that will age 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 just a stone’s throw away. This very old Saint-Estèphe estate retains its independence and style. Management of the château, like that of Montrose, was taken over by Hervé Berland in 2012. Of note is the recent production of a beautifully crafted white wine that is round and appealing. These wines represent excellent value.

Wine Spectator

James Suckling

About the wine:

Wonderful aromas of blackcurrant, blackberries, and flowers, with a hint of plum. It is full-bodied with firm, silky, long, and polished tannins. A beautifully linear finish that lingers. Give it 3 or 4 years to open up. Try it after 2024.

Yves Beck

About the wine:

After a wet start to the season, budbreak began on April 10, 2019. This was followed by flowering, which began on June 4. Tronquoy-Lalande is in the process of transitioning to organic farming (not yet certified). Purplish-violet color. An elegant, complex bouquet that unfolds gently. Pleasant notes of licorice and black berries. On the palate, the wine is creamy, balanced, and features firm tannins that emerge on the finish. A silky, balanced wine with smooth tannins. What a wonderful success at Tronquoy. 2023–2038

Jean-Marc Quarin

About the wine:

A deep, intense, and beautiful color. The nose is intense and refined, with ripe, creamy fruit. On the palate, it is full of silky fruit, with flavor, body, and refined tannins. The wine glides across the palate and finishes with depth and subtle spice.

Vert de Vin

About the wine:

The nose is elegant, refined, and sophisticated, offering lovely fruit along with a distinguished minerality, freshness, and a certain energy and intensity. It features notes of fleshy, juicy blackberry and strawberry, with a hint of violet, combined with touches of juicy cherry, hints of violet and refined minerality, and a subtle hint of licorice and toasted hazelnut. On the palate, it is fruity and balanced, currently with a subtle tightness, offering structure, tension, a full-bodied texture, a lovely grain, as well as a delicious richness, a hint of creaminess, depth, silkiness, energy, and a delicate, tangy acidity. On the palate, this wine expresses notes of fleshy, pulpy blackberry and cherry, with a lighter hint of violet, combined with touches of raspberry, hints of blueberry, juicy strawberry, and wild blueberry, as well as hints of chocolate, caramelization, subtle notes of toast and caramel, and a subtle hint of star anise (in the background). Good length. A slight chewiness on the finish/aftertaste.

The Wine Cellar Insider - Jeff Leve

About the wine:

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