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Château Troplong-Mondot 1970

During the course of the past two decades I have visited Château Troplong-Mondot many times, too many for me to have been able to keep count. This is true, I suppose, of the vast majority of famous châteaux in Bordeaux.

During this time I have seen the property, like many in the region, undergo a significant modernisation. The facade has been entirely refreshed, the interior upgraded and gentrified. Today it boasts a smart suite of offices, a swish tasting room overlooking the cellars, and state of the art vinification facilities, including a cold room. In the latter crates of freshly picked bunches of grapes can be piled high, refrigerating them overnight to lock in freshness, before they head to the vats.

The château today even houses a restaurant, Les Belles Perdrix, run by David Charrier, who has an unimpeachable curriculum vitae which includes two stints with Patrick Jeffroy at his two-star restaurant in Carantec. Today, Charrier has a star of his own, and the team drips with talent. In October 2026 David was among 13 winners in the cuisine category of the Meilleur Ouvrier awards, no mean feat, while the kitchen’s pastry chef Adrien Salavert recent triumphed in the 2026 Championnat de France du Dessert.

This is all a long way from the Château Troplong-Mondot I met when I first visited Bordeaux, more than two decades ago. Then the property had a simpler appearance, one much more like that presented on the label below. An admittedly spacious residential property, it wore an air of half-faded and half spruced-up grandeur. The render was drab and tired in places, yet freshly lime-washed in others. Some of the shutters were painted a coral pink hue, and yet and some remained a dreary grey. It all gave the property a rather half-hearted air.

Even so, the property still had charm, sitting proud above its sweeping expanse of vines.

Château Troplong-Mondot 1970

The architecture is not the only thing to have evolved at Château Troplong-Mondot over the years; so too have the wines. Today they are increasingly successful, manager Aymeric de Gironde – appointed here in 2017 – now really getting into his stride. The 2025 vintage, admittedly so far tasted only as a barrel sample, is set to be the most fantastic wine to ever wear the Troplong-Mondot label. Now with ten vintages under his belt, the fruits of Aymeric’s labours are increasingly clear to see.

This week’s Weekend Wine choice comes from another era though, so we need to look back to the Troplong-Mondot of old. Before Aymeric arrived to take the estate in hand – or should that be by the scruff of the neck – the wines were noteworthy in other ways. Among the most powerful wines of Bordeaux, they were inky-dark, brimming with structure and also with alcohol. To be honest, they were too dark, too richly structured, and carried too much alcohol. Some vintages, such as 2009 and 2010, made under the aegis of Xavier Pariente, declared close to 16%. In youth they could knock your socks off, but the 2009 fell apart in the bottle, and the 2010 never got going in the first place.

Look back in time to Xavier’s father-in-law, Claude Valette, and the wines were different again. Claude inherited the property from his grandfather Alexandre Valette, and the Valette era is not known for wines of high quality – one reason why Xavier Pariente decided to shake things up I guess. For this reason, dipping back into the 1960s and 1970s with Troplong-Mondot carries a degree of risk, one I decided to shoulder when I added the 1970 vintage to my cellar. This last weekend I finally got around to pulling the cork, to release the wine within. Well, you have to eventually, don’t you?

In the glass the 1970 Château Troplong-Mondot shows an obviously evolved hue, a rather faded appearance characterised by a light tinge of oxblood, and with a little haze of fine sediment. The nose is certainly well into its tertiary stage, showing fungal notes which are intertwined with threads of leather, dried redcurrant, green peppercorn and mint. The start of the palate carries a gentle and modest sweetness which holds up well in the middle, with a drier and more peppery character here. Being kind, it holds together fairly well, showing a touch of energy towards the finish, where the wine feels competent and correct, but really this lacks the character I would have liked to find here. The flavour profile feels muted, the palate lacking the depth and complexity one looks for with age. It is, considering its 56 years, a creditable showing, I guess, but this isn’t going anywhere from here but down. Drink up if you have any. Of note, the alcohol is not declared on the label, the vintage predating this being a legal requirement. 88/100 (2/11/26)

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