2018 Château Trotanoy Espérance de Trotanoy Pomerol

Château Trotanoy, bought by Jean-Pierre Moueix in 1953, has been considered one of the premier crus of Pomerol from the eighteenth century. Trotanoy is considered one of the best chateaux of Pomerol. Owner is Christian Moueix, who also owns renowned chateaus such as Hosanna, Latour à Pomerol and Bélair Monange. In the small appellation of Pomerol, Château Pétrus is perhaps the most famous, but many connoisseurs know by now that Trotanoy is just as impressive. An opinion shared by the American Robert Parker, who values Trotanoy extremely highly in recent years.

Since 2009, a selection of gravel-based plots in the northeastern part of the estate has been dedicated to Espérance de Trotanoy, a wine that is fruity and approachable after only a few years of storage, but retains the depth, complexity and incredible concentration of flavor that are so characteristic for the unique terroir of Trotanoy.

The Trotanoy vineyard, located in one of the best exposed areas of the plateau, sloping gently to the west. The soil is a very dense mixture of clay and gravel that tends to solidify when it dries out to an almost concrete-like hardness after rain, hence the name "Trot-anoy", - "too tiring" to cultivate.

The soil at the highest point of exposure contains a high proportion of gravel and gradually becomes more dominated by clay as the elevation decreases. Beneath this clay is a subsoil of red gravel and an impenetrable layer of hard, iron-rich soil known as "crasse de fer". This fascinating soil diversity gives the wines strength, depth and complexity.

Espérance de Trotanoy, produced in limited quantities and only in certain years, is vinified in small concrete barrels and aged in French oak barrels. The wine is mainly Merlot with a part Cabernet Franc. This over-the-top Pomerol has beautifully ripe dark fruit, sultry tannins and subtle licorice and laurel. The taste is concentrated and spicy. The aftertaste is long, has a lot of class and the typical seductive roundness of a large pomerol!

This Espérance de Trotanoy was released in the top years 2016 and 2018.