Colin Hay om:
Chateau Trotte Vieille 1er Grand Cru Classe B
(Saint-Émilion; 51% Cabernet Franc, 46% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Sauvignon; 13.5% ABV; tasted at Trottevieille with Frédéric Castéra). You'd never guess that this is 100% new oak. Sombre and incredibly poised, this is radiantly beautiful aromatically and certainly one of the most floral wines of the vintage. Subtle, delicate, with violet and iris, the rose petals of La Dame de Trottevieille, but not in the same quantities (though, as for La Dame, they grow and grow with aeration). A little damson, black cherry and blueberry, cassis with aeration in the mouth. Blood orange. Ample on the attack and cool to the core, this is incredibly fresh and the freshness is supremely well-distributed across the entire length of the palate, vertically and horizontally too. Multi-dimensional, incredibly layered, with silken sheets interspersed by beady, almost powdery, chalky tannins. This is already extremely accessible and divine in the mouth, but it's also a vin de garde that is capable of lasting 100 years. The best ever from here, quite possibly. 97-99