Tour Saint Christophe 2015
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James
Suckling -
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Robert
Parker
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
On the palate, the attack is fruity with an evolution on roundness and the chalky side, typical of Tour Saint Christophe's terroir. Endowed with a nice balance and an impressive aromatic delicacy, the freshness and tension are there. The mid-palate has the same notes of the cigar box. The saline finish characteristic for Tour Saint Christophe, explodes with fruit.
Blend: 80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Intense aromas of blackberries, blueberries and spices. Hints of limestone and a graphite edge also come out now. Full-bodied, structured and muscular. Layered and intense. Dark berries and hints of sea salt on the finish. Steely minerality and freshness. Wow. Drink in 2024 but so interesting to taste.
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Jeb Dunnuck
A total blockbuster from new owner Peter Kwok, who purchased the estate in 2012, the 2015 Château Tour Saint Christophe is 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc brought up in 40% new wood. It boasts a deep purple color and sensational notes of ripe currants and crème de cassis, as well as background graphite, cedar, and spice nuances. Full-bodied, deep, layered, and perfectly balanced, with sweet tannin and integrated acidity, it’s one of those wines where everything is in the right place, it has no hard edges, and a beautiful finish. It needs short-term cellaring to come together, but you shouldn’t miss this beauty. It’s worth mentioning the estate is managed by the talented Jérôme Aguirre and utilizes Michel Rolland as a consultant.
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Wine Enthusiast
This is a perfumed, minty wine, attractive and freshly fruity. It has great acidity and fine, firm tannins, ripe and potentially with a generous, full texture. Barrel Sample: 91-93
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, matured for 18 months in oak, 40% new, the 2015 Tour Saint Christophe is deep garnet-purple in color with notes of wild blueberries, plum preserves and fruitcake plus touches of dried flowers and underbrush. The concentrated, full-bodied palate is packed with ripe blue and black fruits, supported by a solid foundation of plush, velvety tannins and finishes with wonderful length.
Rating: 92+
Other Vintages
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James
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Dunnuck - Decanter
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Robert
Parker
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Jeb
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James
Suckling -
Robert
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James
Suckling -
Jeb
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James
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Jeb
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James
Suckling -
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Robert
Parker - Decanter
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Jeb
Dunnuck -
James
Suckling -
Robert
Parker
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James
Suckling -
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Spectator
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James
Suckling -
Robert
Parker
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James
Suckling -
Robert
Parker
The Chateau overlooks beautiful dry stone terraces several hundred years old on a chalky-clay terroir. The vineyard is planted on this plateau where it has optimal sunlight and perfect natural drainage. The average age of the vines are thirty years old, they flourish and reach perfection in a limestone clay soil enhanced with sedimentary fragments of flint and chalk. It's this secret alchemy which makes the quality of our 'terroir'.
Aware of the richness of the legacy of the past and to preserve it, they undertook to restore Chateau Tour Saint Christophe. The objective was to revive the vineyard terraces with the disassembling and the reconstruction of this dry stone equipment as it had been built in the 18th century. About 1.5 km of dry-stone terraces have been renovated by re-shaping each stone by hand. A titanic work to preserve the original appearance of these unique terraces in Saint-Emilion.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Marked by its historic fortified village—perhaps the prettiest in all of Bordeaux, the St-Émilion appellation, along with its neighboring village of Pomerol, are leaders in quality on the Right Bank of Bordeaux. These Merlot-dominant red wines (complemented by various amounts of Cabernet Franc and/or Cabernet Sauvignon) remain some of the most admired and collected wines of the world.
St-Émilion has the longest history in wine production in Bordeaux—longer than the Left Bank—dating back to an 8th century monk named Saint Émilion who became a hermit in one of the many limestone caves scattered throughout the area.
Today St-Émilion is made up of hundreds of independent farmers dedicated to the same thing: growing Merlot and Cabernet Franc (and tiny amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon). While always roughly the same blend, the wines of St-Émilion vary considerably depending on the soil upon which they are grown—and the soils do vary considerably throughout the region.
The chateaux with the highest classification (Premier Grand Cru Classés) are on gravel-rich soils or steep, clay-limestone hillsides. There are only four given the highest rank, called Premier Grand Cru Classés A (Chateau Cheval Blanc, Ausone, Angélus, Pavie) and 14 are Premier Grand Cru Classés B. Much of the rest of the vineyards in the appellation are on flatter land where the soils are a mix of gravel, sand and alluvial matter.
Great wines from St-Émilion will be deep in color, and might have characteristics of blackberry liqueur, black raspberry, licorice, chocolate, grilled meat, earth or truffles. They will be bold, layered and lush.