1996 Chateau Trotanoy, Pomerol

I would not be surprised to see the 1996 Trotanoy merit an outstanding score. When I saw it in January, it had begun to tighten up and close down. The wine possesses a dense, medium plum color, tight but promising aromatics, a sweet, pure core of mineral-tinged blackberry and cherry fruit, plenty of power and richness, a chewy texture, and muscle and firm tannin in the finish. Anticipated maturity: 2006-2017

Very good deep red. Red cherry, raspberry, oak spice, toffee, sweet butter and a hint of raisin on the nose. Silky and fruity, with lovely sweetness and firm supporting acidity, but rather closed at present. Finishes with fine but firm tannins and bright, lingering cherry flavor. Perhaps less expressive today than the '97 but more penetrating. This is developing nicely.

The 1996 Trotanoy is a vintage that I have not encountered for some time. It has a slightly disjointed nose, indicating that this was a benevolent vintage toward Pomerol. On the nose, touches of leather, Christmas cake and some figgy scents do not really cohere in the glass. The palate is more harmonious than the aromatics, with touches of brown spice. The 1996 is quite smooth on the finish, though it is missing some bandwidth. Drink this in the near future. Tasted at the Pomerol dinner at Cornus in London.

Dark ruby with surprising pink at the rim, the 1996 Trotanoy seems very tightly knit, with dusty tannins, hints of sweet and sour cherry fruit, finishing to a somewhat liquid minerality and spicy note. The wine has plenty of muscle, very high levels of tannin, but a somewhat unimpressive mid-palate. Whether it fleshes out remains to be seen, but I am somewhat doubtful. This wine seems to be increasingly less impressive. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2016. Last tasted, 2/02.