Tour Saint Christophe 2018

Currant, red-tea, chili, chocolate and lemon-zest aromas. Chalk and crushed gravel, too. It’s medium-bodied with tight, fine-grained tannins and fresh acidity. Sleek and tight with crunchy berry, mineral and zesty notes on the finish. Complex. Pretty center palate to this. Extremely polished. Try from 2025.

The 2018 Tour Saint Christophe is a lovely Saint-Émilion. It has retained the floral aspect that I remarked on in barrel, iris and peony infusing the black fruit, but now displays a more conspicuous marine element. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, wonderful definition and perfectly judged acidity. Quite classic in style and reassuringly sophisticated, this is a wonderful Tour Saint Christophe that oozes class. 2024 - 2045

In 2012, Hong Kong-based Peter Kwok purchased this vineyard located in Saint-Christophe-des-Bardes. The average age of vines is 30 years old. The wine is aging in 40% new oak barrels, 40% one-year-old and 20% two-year-old barrels and is expected to run 18 months. The blend is 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, with fruit from the Cassevert lieu-dit, and the wine has 14.6% alcohol. Deep purple-black in color, the 2018 Tour Saint-Christophe bursts out of the glass with wonderfully pure blackberry, blueberry and boysenberry scents with an undercurrent of plum preserves, star anise and cinnamon stick with wafts of charcuterie and dried herbs. Full-bodied, the palate is packed with vibrant, juicy black fruits with a ripe, rounded tannin texture and fantastic freshness, finishing savory.

This tiny, picturesque vineyard on the east side of Saint-Émilion has turned out another brilliant wine with their 2018 Château Tour Saint Christophe. The vineyard covers 6.5 hectares of terraced slopes sitting just across from Château Barde-Haut and consists of old vine Merlot and Cabernet Franc. The 2018 is a tentative blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, harvested from September 25 through October 15, that hit 14.6% alcohol and is aging in 40% new French oak, with the balance in second- and third-fill barrels. Its deep purple color is followed by a medium to full-bodied, ripe, brilliantly concentrated Saint-Émilion that has terrific purity of fruit, classic minerality and graphite characteristics, good acidity, and building tannins. In short, it’s a classic wine from this cooler terroir that’s going to benefit from short-term cellaring and cruise for two decades. It well worth a multiple case purchase!