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https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/trotte+vieilles+st+emilion+grand+cru+bordeaux+france
David Allen MW is visiting Bordeaux for Wine-Searcher to report on the en-primeur campaign for the 2025 vintage. Here he is at Chateau Trott Vieille, a Saint Emilion Grand Cru Classe (class B) estate owned by Borie-Manoux. When tracking down your wines for the best price, Wine-Searcher is an invaluable tool.
The wine is excellent in 2025 and is a wine that is often overlooked. David comments on the importance of the terroir here in what was a very hot year.
Château Trotte Vieille (sometimes styled as TrotteVieille or Trottevieille) is a wine estate in Saint-Émilion, just one kilometer (0.6 miles) east of the town itself, on the famed Saint-Emilion plateau. It neighbors such chateaux as La Couspaude, Troplong-Mondot and Balestard La Tonelle.
The estate dates back to 1453 and has belonged to the Borie-Manoux négociant business since 1949. In 1955 it was rated as Premier Grand Cru Classé B in the official classification of Saint-Émilion wines, a status it has retained through every subsequent reiteration of the famed classification.
The origins of the château’s name lie in the 14th Century. Legend has it that a little old lady would walk, or trot, down to the crossing where passing stagecoaches from Bordeaux would make a stop. She would hassle travellers for any news from the city, and the people of Saint-Émilion nicknamed her “la trotte vieille”, or “the old trot”.
Viticulture at Château Trotte Vieille was first officially recorded in a document dating from 1453, making Trotte Vieille one of the oldest in the appellation. Indeed, some of the vines in the 10-hectare (25-acre) walled vineyard are more than 140 years old.
The pre-eminent grape variety in terms of vineyard area is Merlot (around 49 percent), closely followed by an unusually substantial amount of Cabernet Franc (46) and a small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon. These vines are planted in a thin (30cm) layer of red clay soils overlying limestone.
Depending on the year the two principal grapes vie for pre-eminence in the blend of the Grand Vin, with Cabernet Franc more frequently coming out on top by a few percent in the last decade or two. The 2025 is 51 percent Cabernet Franc, 46% Merlot and 3 percent Cabernet Sauvignon.
Harvest is carried out by hand, and the grapes are fermented in temperature-controlled concrete vats. This fermentation lasts approximately 15-20 days in the case of the grand vin, after which the wine is then aged almost entirely in new French oak barrels for up to 18 months. Around 4,000 cases of the grand vin are produced per year.
Borie-Manoux also owns two other properties in Bordeaux: Château Batailley in Pauillac and Château Beau-Site in Saint-Estèphe.
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2 Comments
Love David Allen!
So good to have you back in Bordeaux helping us out with our buying decisions!