Chateau Trotanoy Pomerol Bordeaux Wine

Chateau Trotanoy Pomerol, Bordeaux wine producer profile, with wine tasting notes, wine ratings, a history of the property, information on wine making and terroir, along with wine tasting reviews. If you want to read about other important, Bordeaux Chateaux: Links to all Bordeaux Wine Producer Profiles

Chateau Trotanoy takes its name from the French term, trop ennui. Which when it’s loosely translated means, too much to bother with. One taste of a great vintage of Trotanoy and you’ll agree, that is far from the truth.

The vineyards of Trotanoy were first planted in 1761. The property was owned in its formative years by the Giraud family, who were very successful land owners in the Right Bank of Bordeaux. At the start of the 19th century, the wines were sold under the name of Pomerol Giraud Cru de Trotanoy. Even in those early days, the Bordeaux wine of Trotanoy was well respected. In fact, it was considered to be one of the top wines of the entire appellation. Only Vieux Chateau Certan was held in higher regard.

Just before the start of the 20th century, the estate was much larger than it is today. At that time, it was approximately 25 hectares. Chateau Trotanoy was divided into multiple plots at the time. Additional parcels of the right bank vineyards of Chateau Trotanoy were again pulled from their vineyards and sold during the early part of the 20th century. In the mid 1940′s, following the end of World War 2, the direct descendants of the Giraud family sold Chateau Trotanoy to the Pecresse family. They did not hold the vineyard for very long. In 1953, the vineyards were acquired Jean-Pierre Moueix, who bought the property from the Pecresse family.

Chateau Trotanoy can produce some of the finest wines in the Pomerol appellation. They age well and display complexities, opulent personalities and silky textures seldom found in almost any Bordeaux wine. The wines offer a unique, sensuous profile with a beautiful purity of fruit.  Most recently, 1998, 2000, 2005, 2008 and 2009 proved how magnificent this wine is.  The top vintages of Trotanoy can easily be described, as pure decadence in a glass. 2009 Trotanoy is on track as the best vintage of the modern era! It is a Pomerol wine so decadent, Caligula would have liked it. Trotanoy is expensive. But in the best vintages, the quality is there to support the price. It’s a unique expression of Pomerol that is well worth the expense and effort to seek out. Trotanoy is a wine that ages well. Top vintages can easily age and evolve for 40 to 50 years or longer! Trotanoy needs at least a decade before it truly begins to express it’s character and complexity.

The vineyards of Chateau Trotanoy are located on the west side of the Pomerol plateau. The Bordeaux wine vineyard of Trotanoy is situated not far from Petrus and Lafleur. Le Pin is just to the south east and north of that rests Latour a’Pomerol, Hosanna and Providence.

This 7.6 hectare Pomerol vineyard of Trotanoy is planted to 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc on rich, clay and gravel soils with important, deposits of iron. The best terroir of Chateau Trotanoy is situated on the Pomerol plateau. Other portions of their vineyards are located on the slopes. The age of the vines range from an average of 25 years, due to young plantings. But Chateau Trotanoy also has old vines, some are close to 60 years of age. The Pomerol vineyard is planted to a vine density of 6,200 vines per hectare.

For the production of Trotanoy, two laser sorting tables have been in use since 2009. Vinification takes place in traditional, temperature controlled, concrete vats. The wine is aged in 40% to 50% new, French oak barrels for between 18 and 20 months. The amount of oak and time in barrel varies, depending on the quality, character and style of the vintage.

The average annual production of Chateau Trotanoy is about 2,000 cases per year. 2009 saw the debut vintage of a second wine for Chateau Trotanoy. 500 cases of L’Esperance de Trotanoy were produced.

www.moueix.com