St. Émilion, Bordeaux, France
Atop “Mondot,” a hill in St. Émilion that dominates the Bordelais landscape, the estates that have since become Troplong-Mondot and Pavie were owned by the de Sèze family in 1745. The crest of this hill, where today’s vineyards stand, lies at 100 meters above sea level. For Bordeaux, this is a giant mountain. The de Sèze family faded into obscurity in the mid-19th century, though they held on to Pavie, their role in the region was greatly diminished. The Château and its adjoining estates were next acquired by the Troplong family. From 1852 onward, Raymond Troplong consolidated the vineyard to the current size of 33 hectares. This was the beginning of the current estate and it has changed very little since this time. Troplong-Mondot passed through the family, then was eventually sold to the Belgian Georges Thienpont, who had also acquired Vieux Château Certan in Pomerol. By 1936, however, after the Great War and the economic depression, Thienpont was forced to sell some assets; Troplong-Mondot, as it was a more familiar name was certain to fetch more money on the auction block. And so it went to the Valette family and is currently run by third generation daughter, Christine, since 1980. Through the 1990s, a program to improve quality was instituted and the estate famously fares best in Bordeaux’s “lesser vintages,” like 1994 and 2006. Christine Valette and her husband Xavier Pariente run the estate with extreme devotion. Their eldest daughter, Margaux will likely step into their shoes and take over when the parents retire.
The soils of Mondot are typically St. Émilion; they are of clay over limestone with patches of flint. The vines of Troplong are mostly Merlot, 90% with 5% of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. The vines average 35 years, though some are up to 85 years old. Each year, hand-harvested grapes are fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks. The young wine then rests in oak between 12 to 24 months; the oak is mostly new, roughly 75% of the barrels is brand new, the remaining is one year old.