Château Troplong Mondot 2009

Renowned for making big, extracted wines prior to a changing of the guard in 2017, I expected this to be overdone. Not so – on the nose, it is impressive: dense, tight-wound, and mysterious. In the mouth, yes, a bit of a monster, but an eminently well-made one, with a minerality glimpsing through the rich, lava-hot layers of chewy fruit.