Chateau La Mondotte, Saint Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classe 2003

"Very concentrated with a backbone to age. Lots of depth, complexity, concentration, tannin and with everything in balance. Earthy, smoky, plummy, stone filled aromatics, plush, soft, round textures and a sweet, ripe, mineral driven finish are delivered with this wine. This has developed quickly for La Mondotte, which normally takes quite a while to show its charms.

93 Pts - The Wine Cellar Insider.

La Mondotte was purchased in 1971 by Joseph-Hubert von Neipperg, the father of Stephan von Neipperg. This vineyard was obtained at the same time as the other estates that form the nucleus of the Saint Emilion vineyard holdings of the von Neipperg family.

Those vineyards include Chateau Canon La Gaffeliere, Clos de l'Oratoire, and Chateau Peyreau. In Cotes de Castillon, they own Chateau dAiguilhe. Today the property is owned and managed by Stephan von Neipperg.

The 4.5 hectare Bordeaux vineyard of La Mondotte is planted to 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Franc. La Mondotte is located just east of the Saint Emilion limestone plateau. The terroir is predominately clay and silt with heavy deposits of limestone in the soil.

To really gain an understanding of La Mondotte, the underground caves show the tremendous depths of the limestone, which is an integral part of the wine’s unique, mineral, driven character.

There is an impressive array of old vines that are on average more than 50 years of age. They have old vines that are almost 70 years of age. Their oldest vines were planted back in 1939.

To produce the wine of La Mondotte, the fruit is sorted before and after de-stemming. The grapes are never crushed. Whole berry fermentation takes place in temperature-controlled, open-top, French oak vats for an average of 29 days. Extraction is done by punching down the cap of the skin.

The wine of La Mondotte is always produced from very low yields. In fact, the wine is often produced with some of the lowest yields in Saint Emilion. Many vintages have effective yields of under 20 hectoliters per hectare. These yields are lower than the estate’s famous, closest neighbors, Chateau Troplong Mondot and Chateau Larcis Ducasse.

The wine of La Mondotte is aged in 100% new, French oak barrels for an average of 18 months before bottling. There is no fining or filtering. The production of La Mondotte is small. On average 1,000 cases of wine are produced here each year.

La Mondotte is much better with at least 12-15 years of aging in good vintages. Young vintages can be decanted for 2-3 hours or more. This allows the wine to soften and open its perfume.

Older vintages might need very little decanting, just enough to remove the sediment. La Mondotte offers its best drinking and should reach peak maturity between 15-40 years of age after the vintage."