The Mondotte - Saint-Emilion Grand Cru 2016 11166fe81142afc18593181d6269c740

Vinous

93 / 100

byNeal Martinthe1/24/2019

The 2016 La Mondotte was aged in 70% new oak for 17 months and bottled in May 2018. The nose flirts with overripeness, hints of canned prune tincturing the black fruit, but just pulls back from the brink. There is something slightly ripasso about it. The palate is medium-bodied, rounded and sumptuous in style, delivering lush tannin and black cherries and cassis fruit infused with marmalade and sloes. This is a luscious, luxurious La Mondotte, although I prefer the Canon-la-Gaffelière this year.

Vinous

97 / 100

byAntonio Gallonithe1/21/2019

The 2016 La Mondotte is gorgeous in this vintage. Over the last few years, Stephan von Neipperg has gradually started to pick earlier. Nowhere is that more evident in his wines than at La Mondotte, which in 2016 impresses for its power, tension and energ Much less obvious than it has been in the past, La Mondotte is arrestingly beautiful at this stage. Bright floral and mineral notes run through a core of dark red and purplish fruit in this stunningly beautiful, expressive Saint-Émilion. In a word: tremendous. Tasted two times.

Wine Spectator

96 / 100

byJames Molesworththe1/16/2019

This shows a dark, toasty style at first, with notes of ganache and plum reduction, but it unwinds steadily and slowly, revealing pure cassis, cherry and raspberry fruit flavors gilded liberally with violet and anise accents. The long finish is laced with a superfine chalky minerality that imparts mouthwatering cut even as the fruit gains steam. Best from 2023 through 2038. From France.—J.M.

Bettane & Desseauve

97 / 100

by Bettane & Desseauvethe5/3/2017

Ce vin est charmeur et profond ; sensation pulpeuse en bouche tant l’alcool et le corps sont équilibrés par la fraîcheur du tannin. Ce cru est un classique.

Wine Advocate

93-95 / 100

byNeal Martinthe5/2/2017

The 2016 La Mondotte is a blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc this year, picked between 29 September and 15 October and matured in 70% new oak. The alcohol level is around 14.5%. It has a lucid purple hue in the glass. The bouquet is very perfumed, very pure with luscious red cherries, blueberry and a hint of sloes, the new oak discrete and allowing the terroir to shine through perhaps more than the 2015 last year. The palate is silky smooth on the entry, but underneath the bonnet, there is considerable tannic backbone that certainly can be felt more towards the finish that exerts a light grip. In a strange way, it reminds me a little of Château Canon! Give this 4-5 years once in bottle.

Vinous

94-97 / 100

byAntonio Gallonithe4/26/2017

The 2016 La Mondotte is exceptionally beautiful today. Chalk, limestone and a host of soil-driven notes make La Mondotte one of the most distinctive wines of the vintage. The 2016 is remarkably translucent for such a big wine. It offers plenty of the signature darkness, but it is also brisk and full of energy.

matthewjukes.com

18,5 / 20

byMatthew Jukesthe4/25/2017

(80 Merlot, 20 Cabernet Franc) | 70% new oak | 14.5% alc. | 42 hl/ha. The distance between La Mondotte and its stablemate Canon La Gaffelière grows every year with La Mondotte putting on even more raw power and density. It suits it in this vintage, too, because the fruit and flower notes on this wine vary from blood red to dark and swarthy and this sums up the flavours, too! A huge wine with a very long life ahead of it, I hold my hand up and say that I would be prepared to wait for this monolithic creation to soften because it will surely be incredible when it reaches its peak. 18.5++

Wine Spectator

97-100 / 100

byJames Molesworththe4/10/2017

This is a towering display of purity, with unadulterated cassis and raspberry fruit coursing along live-wire acidity while light chalk, anise and black tea notes fill in. Has serious grip, but it’s buried in that jaw-dropping core of fruit. And this has minerality to burn. A stunner.—J.M.

Jamessuckling.com

96-97 / 100

byJames Sucklingthe4/5/2017

Extremely polished and refined red showing blackberry, cedar and milk-chocolate character. Full-bodied and extra long on the finish with such elegance. Love the hint of acidity at the end.