2010 Trottevieille
Buying options
Tasting notes
Delivering glass-staining colour and depth, love the smoked undergrowth, peony and rain-steamed earth on the nose, this is great quality, very different in character to the 2009, more focused and closed, less magic right now but with everything in place to take off over the next decade. Campfire smoke curls out of the glass after 15 minutes of opening. 100% new oak for ageing, Casteja family owners.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider
James Suckling
More reviews and scores
The 2010 Trotte Vieille is very ripe and almost Mediterranean in style on the nose: black olives and liquorice infusing the rich red fruit, just a hint of hung game in the background. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, fleshy and generous, almost Châteauneuf in style with a pinch of spicebox and sage towards the finish. Drinking perfectly now, but where is it going to go? Tasted blind at Farr Vintners 10-Year On Bordeaux horizontal.
Composed of 58% Cabernet Franc and 42% Merlot, the 2010 Trotte Vieille is deep garnet in color and starts off with some sweaty leather notions on the nose, giving way to a core of baked black plums, dried mulberries and fruitcake plus wafts of fallen leaves and tobacco. Full-bodied, the palate has a taut line of chewy tannins and oodles of freshness supporting the baked berry layers, finishing long and earthy.
Tasted blind. Deep garnet with brick rim. Bloody and meaty. Perhaps just a touch of something herbal? But the bottle seems a touch oxidised – maybe not the best example. Drying out a bit on the palate, the acidity quite marked as the fruit recedes. (JH)
About the producer
Owned by the Castéja family (of Ch. Batailley), this estate is home to some of the region’s oldest Cabernet Franc vines – with some pre-phylloxera plantings that are over 150 years old.