Winemaker Notes
Sensual bouquet of black cherries and cassis scents. Medium-bodied with sweet and supple tannins, the new oak is neatly integrated. Good intensity, wonderful length and depth with a mouthwatering salinity. The great terroir is purely translated into the wine.
Blend: 80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc
This wine does not include the blanket 10% tariff imposed in April 2025. When the wines are shippable in fall of 2027, customers will have the option to pay any tariff in place at the time or to keep their wines stored in a temperature-controlled facility free of charge in France.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Good depth of fruit, showing dark cherries and violets. Pure and flavorful with medium to full body and a juicy, bright finish of good length. Some good potential here from this challenging year.
Barrel Sample: 94-95 -
Jeb Dunnuck
Black raspberries, cassis, graphite, and crushed stone intermixed with a gorgeous floral character all emerge from this deep purple-hued effort. Based on 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, it's medium-bodied and concentrated, with ripe, polished tannins, a pure, seamless texture, and a serious, mineral-laced finish.
Barrel Sample: 92-94 -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Notes of violet, dark berries, spices, smoke and mulberries preface the 2024 Tour Saint Christophe, a medium-bodied, enrobing and round wine with good depth at the core, a lively mid-palate and velvety tannins, concluding with a long, ethereal finish. This is a blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc.
Barrel Sample: 90-92
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.