CHÂTEAU TOUR SAINT CHRISTOPHE
2020 Grand Cru Saint Emilion
So much black fruit, black walnuts, blueberries, wet earth, black truffles and some graphite. Medium to full body with lots of tension and focus. It runs very long with a salty undertone and some bitter, burnt lemon. Yet ever so subtle and refined. Drink after 2027. Rating: 96 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (May 2023)
* This is a pre-shipment/primeur offer. All orders are accepted under the TERMS of this offer which differ from the terms of the rest of the site.
The 2020 Tour Saint Christophe has grown into an elegant, sophisticated Saint-Émilion. Red/purplish berry fruit, hard candy, mint, blood orange, pomegranate and spice all run through the 2020. Medium in body and polished, the 2020 has maybe a bit less explosive intensity than recent previous years, but plenty of class. Today, I find Tour Saint Christophe a bit subdued. Drinking range: 2025 - 2035 Rating: 93 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Feb 2023)
Powerful blue and black fruits, exuberant with layers of cocoa bean, espresso, smoked almond and mocha. Touch of bitterness on finish, turns into oyser shell freshness as it relaxes. Clay limestone vineyard located in St Christophe de Bardes, 20% vinified in barrel, the rest on cement tanks, 40% new oak, harvest September 14 to 28. Drinking range: 2025 - 2040 Rating: 93 Jane Anson, Decanter (Feb 2023)
The 2020 Tour Saint Christophe is powerful on the nose with intense black cherries, boysenberry and mint aromas - a nose that takes no prisoners! The palate is sweet and dense, but there are structure and sapidity here, a sense of underlying elegance that will surface with bottle age. This is definitely a Saint-Émilion for cellaring. Drinking range: 2027 - 2045 Rating: 92 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Feb 2023)
So much black fruit, black walnuts, blueberries, wet earth, black truffles and some graphite. Medium to full body with lots of tension and focus. It runs very long with a salty undertone and some bitter, burnt lemon. Yet ever so subtle and refined. Drink after 2027. Drinking range: 2027 - Rating: 96 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Jan 2023)
From the same portfolio as Haut-Brisson, TSC always shows a deeper tone of fruit and more overt limestone freshness on the finish and so this makes it a more challenging and some might say a more fascinating wine. In 2020, I feel it has a slight edge over Haut-Brisson in both respects. There is ripe black fruit here with a lovely glossy appeal and it is long and dry with a wonderful lick of tannin on the finish. It will be a wine worth waiting for but you must be patient because the soils here imbue energy and traction on the palate and this must be allowed to melt away before you uncork a bottle. Rating: 17.5+ Matthew Jukes www.matthewjukes.com (Jun 2021)
Tour Saint Christophe just keeps getting better with each passing vintage. The 2020 is marked by vibrant red/purplish fruit, beams of minerality, sweet floral notes and a touch of savory intensity on the close. What impresses me most about the 2020 is the purity of flavors. The creamy, resonant finish is a thing of beauty. Drinking range: 2025 - 2050 Rating: 93-95+ Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Jun 2021)
The 2020 Tour Saint Christophe was picked September 14–28, fermented without SO2 and matured in 40% new oak. My sample bottle was more reduced compared to its peers and required more aeration. Leaving it aside for 30–40 minutes, it unfolded to reveal a mélange of red and black fruit and hints of wild mint and boysenberry, all nicely focused, with floral top notes. The medium-bodied palate features sappy black fruit intermingling with orange peel and subtle marmalade notes. There is a core of sweet plummy fruit toward the finish, and a hint of brown sugar lingers on the aftertaste. This is a fine Saint-Émilion, but one where I hope to see a little more terroir expression on once in bottle. Drinking range: 2027 - 2045 Rating: 91-93 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2021)
A wine I continue to buy in every vintage, the 2020 Château Tour Saint-Christophe looks to be another no-brainer for the Saint-Emilion lovers out there. Coming from a gorgeous, terraced vineyard on the eastern side of the appellation and based on 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, it has a perfumed, elegant, pure style in its darker cherry and cassis fruits as well as classic cedarwood, earth, and forest floor aromatics. Medium to full-bodied, balanced, and just beautiful on the palate, with terrifically integrated acidity and tannins, it’s going to round into form nicely with just short-term bottle age and have two decades of prime drinking. This wine is still resting in 40% new French oak and has an alcohol of 14.7% with a pH of 3.6. Rating: 93-96 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (May 2021)
Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2020 Tour Saint Christophe stampedes out of the glass with powerful scents of baked blackberries, stewed black plums and boysenberries, followed by suggestions of cedar chest, mocha, tar and fertile loam, with lifted wafts of licorice and cardamom. The full-bodied palate is rich and densely packed with juicy black fruits, supported by velvety tannins and fantastic freshness, finishing long and opulent.
In 2012, Hong Kong-based Peter Kwok purchased this vineyard located in Saint-Christophe-des-Bardes. The blend this year is 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, aging in French oak barriques, 40% new. It has an alcohol of 14.7% and a pH of 3.6. Drinking range: 2024 - 2044 Rating: 93-95 Lisa Perrotti-Brown, RobertParker.com (May 2021)
Clean and precisely-spliced black fruits, austerity in the tannins and a mocha, grilled coffee bean edging through the finish. Good quality and well balanced, intense to the point of slightly bitter on the final moments. Drinking range: 2025 - 2040 Rating: 93 Jane Anson, Decanter (May 2021)
Château Tour Saint Christophe
Please make sure that you have read the terms of this offer which are different from those on the main website. If you are unclear as to what is involved in primeur purchases please do contact our private client team via email or on 020 7018 0187.
Ordering
Prices are all in bond by the case size stated.
Pre-Orders are a firm commitment to buy wines on release, as long as the release price is within the upper and lower price bands set by you on the pre-order form. Pre-orders will be fulfilled subject to availability but providing this firm commitment to buy effectively gives you priority and is a good idea for the most desirable wines.
Wines listed on the website can be ordered in the usual way via the website wishlist order form. You can also send orders directly to our private client team via email. Please note that, for the most sought-after wines, priority will be given to those who ordered the same wines last year and to those that have pre-ordered.
Confirmation
All orders will be confirmed by email and are binding unless written cancellation is received within seven days of email confirmation. Pre-orders are not binding if the release price is above your upper price band.
Invoices are all raised at the in bond price (excluding any duty and VAT) which will become payable at the prevailing rates when the wines arrive in the UK, should you wish to take duty paid delivery.
Payment is required on sight of invoice, by cash, cheque, debit card or bank transfer. We regret we cannot accept credit cards for en primeur orders. We reserve the right to apply a dunning charge of 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.
Delivery
- Shipment to our bond (at LCB Creek Road) and insurance are included in the in bond price.
- Delivery is free to Lea and Sandeman / Elephant storage accounts, both duty paid and in bond.
- Other deliveries (In Bond and Duty Paid) are also free subject to a minimum order from the offer of £500. Orders below this total will be charged an administration and handling fee of £16.50+ VAT when invoices are issued. We will group deliveries and this is a charge for your entire purchases, not a per-case charge.
- Delivery of 2023 Bordeaux bought en primeur is expected during 2026. Delivery dates may vary as wines are shipped from Bordeaux at different times.
Practical notes - how it works
We start a sale in each customer's name and add all their primeur orders to one sale which is invoiced at the end of the campaign (or when the customer wishes). Immediate payment of invoices is then required by cash, cheque, debit card or bank transfer. We and our customers find that having a single invoice for the vintage is the simpler option but please note that confirmed orders are still binding even if the final invoice has not yet been issued.
Please specify on your wishlist order form where you would like the wines shipped on arrival in the UK. If this is to a third-party bonded warehouse, please specify the relevant account details. If the wines are required duty-paid we will issue a second invoice for duty and VAT at the prevailing rate when the wines are available for delivery.
Half-bottles, Magnums and larger bottles.
One of the additional advantages of buying en primeur is being able to order the wine in the format you want. While most of our listings are for 75cl bottles, we can source wines in any format that is offered by the Château. Please note that format requests cannot be changed once wines have been invoiced. Additional charges for special formats do apply and are as follows:-
- +£18.00 per case of 12 half-bottles
- +£30.00 per case of 24 half-bottles
- +£7.50 per case of 3 Magnums (2 bottles equivalent, 1.5 litres each)
- +£11.00 per case of 6 Magnums
- +£45.00 per individually boxed Double Magnum (4 bottles equivalent, 3 litres)
- +£60.00 per individually boxed Imperial (8 bottles equivalent, 6 litres) for Salmanazars, Balthazars, Nebuchadnezzars and Melchiors please enquire for availability and price.
Storage Options:
Wines bought en primeur won't arrive in the UK until 2026. If you do not wish to take home delivery at that point, you may wish to consider where you would like the wines shipped. Lea & Sandeman offers duty paid and in bond storage through a dedicated storage company called Elephant Storage. For more details on the terms and fees associated with storage please go to our Storage Homepage or contact our private client team for more information.