Chateau Tour St Bonnet 2008
We follow Chateau Tour St BOnnet since the 1997 vintage points to our trust in its quality. It's not a blockbuster; its market appeal lies in its palate smoothness and intense bouquet.
Deep crimson colour. The fruit profile flows along blueberry, plum, smoke and earth; on the palate, it is ripe with some red berries, black cherries, plus hints of liquorice, and dark chocolate. It's round and elegant on the palate. Medium finish reflecting elements of classic 'seaweed' and minerality. As rightly put by Robert Parker who opined that Tour St.-Bonnet’s wines are always well-made, under-valued, Chateau Tour Bonnet 2008 tastes like a mini-version of the well-known Pauillac, Grand-Puy-Lacoste(DD90).
BBR wrote thatChâteau Tour St. Bonnet is a renowned cru bourgeois estate situated in the commune of St-Christoly at the far north of the Médoc. Its 40-hectare vineyard situates n a gravel ridge adjacent to the Gironde. Tour St. Bonnet's wine makes from a blend of 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot, 5% Malbec and 5% Petit Verdot. Jacques Merlet, who runs the estate, is not of fan of new wood and the accompanying vanilla characters it imparts to wine - consequently, the wine matures for 18 months in large oak foudres rather than the more commonly found small barriques, hence the light mutton wood tones. Tour St. Bonnet can be surprisingly hard and austere in youth but with 4-5 years of cellaring, can open up to reveal intense cassis flavours accompanied by smooth, balanced tannins. The right time to crack a bottle.
