Château Tronquoy-Lalande Saint-Estèphe 2018

Bettane & Desseauve

About the domain :

After many years at Château Mouton-Rothschild, Hervé Berland is now in charge of 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 here are splendid.

Decanter

About the wine:

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

Robert Parker - Wine Advocate

About the domain :

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

About the domain :

Martin and Olivier Bouygues acquired Tronquoy-Lalande in 2006, a few months after buying Château Montrose, located a stone's throw away. This very old Saint-Estèphe cru retains its autonomy and style. The management of the château, like that of Montrose, was taken over in 2012 by Hervé Berland. Note the recent production of a beautifully crafted, round and seductive white. They represent excellent bargains.

Wine Spectator

James Suckling

About the wine:

Wonderful aromas of blackcurrant, blackberry and flowers with some plums. Full-bodied, with firm, silky, long, polished tannins. A beautiful linear finish that lasts a long time. 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, budburst began on April 10, 2019. This was followed by flowering, which began on June 4. Tronquoy-Lalande is in non-certified organic conversion. Purplish purple. Elegant, complex bouquet, gently revealing itself. Pleasant notes of licorice and dark berries. On the palate, the wine is creamy, balanced, with compact tannins that reveal themselves on the finish. A silky, balanced wine with smooth tannins. A great success for Tronquoy. 2023-2038

Jean-Marc Quarin

About the wine:

Dark, intense and beautiful color. Intense, fine nose of ripe, creamy fruit. Silky pulp on the palate, with taste, body and fine tannins. The wine glides across the palate, finishing with a relief of fine spice.

Vert de Vin

About the wine:

The nose is elegant, fine, pedigreed and offers lovely fruit as well as racy minerality, freshness and a certain energy/intensity. There are notes of fleshy/pulpy blackberry, strawberry and more lightly violet, combined with hints of pulpy cherry and violet, racy minerality, a discreet hint of licorice and toasted hazelnut. The palate is fruity, well-balanced, currently finely tight, and offers straightforwardness, tension, fleshiness, a lovely grain as well as greediness, a little unctuosity, depth, silkiness, energy and a fine acidic frame. On the palate, this wine expresses notes of fleshy/pulpy blackberry, cherry and, more lightly, violet, combined with hints of raspberry, blueberry, pulpy strawberry and blueberry, as well as hints of chocolate, caramelization, discreet 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 the wine:

Beautifully colored, with notes of cigar box, dark chocolate, black cherry and smoky plum at the core, the wine is rich, ripe, round and fruity with a wonderful earthy character already shining through. This is a superb vintage of Tronquoy Lalande composed of 51% Merlot, 44% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc.