TN: 05 Balestard la Tonnelle [St Emilion]

[AKR]

05 Balestard la Tonnelle [St Emilion] This is an estate I'm not familiar with, although according to paper records, I tasted this upon release. I think they are affiliated with another St Em - Cap de Mourlin - in some way as the label alludes to that. It's a pretty label, although I can not understand what it says, as the type is too small and my French is limited to 'dos cerveza, por favor'. Over 3 days the wine drinks nicely, peaking on day 2 with plenty of fruit, cream, and a slug of minty goodness. Its a quarter cab franc, so in a nice ripe year, it transcends the oregano and gets to minty. I was not inclined to like this, but after a day of air, it was pretty solid, about what a BWE would expect for a good not great estate/peak vintage combination. The color seems darker in person that the picture suggests. It still has some years of life left, although I think it would be better sooner rather than later. Tannins are mostly resolved, and its well balanced between fruit/acid. A lot of these smaller/lesser seen right banks don't get much distribution over here, but they're usually ok in the big years. I think I'll slot this into the B grade in my ledger.

Parker describes the estate as such: Château Balestard la Tonnelle is a 25-acre, Grand Cru Classe estate in St. Emilion. The estate dates to the 15th century and takes its name from Canon Balestard, a clergyman who was part of the family who owned the property, and the “tonnelle” or tower that was used to watch over the area. Today the estate is owned by the Capdemourlin family who also own Châteaux Cap de Mourlin and Petit Faurie Soutard. About 60,000 bottles are made annually. RMP considers it 'traditional' St Em but it seemed balanced and not overly old school to me.

Pic of label and color below. (for whatever reasons I always get blocked from uploading pix directly, it says file is too large with a 256 kib limit, which is tiny)

https://photos.app.goo.gl/3vRkWGCAdrGGwEXUA

[greatbxfreak]

AKR,

Balestard La Tonnelle sits on the top of the hill after you pass the town of Saint Emiliongo straight up the road with Soutard on the left side.

The view over St. Emilion from there is magnifique and can rival the view from Troplong Mondot. The chateau itself and garden are very pretty and inspired by Italian architecture.

I know the son of the owner and I think when he takes over someday, the wine will improve. It's old school, just adequate fruity and balanced. Lacks a bit of intensity and spark. Sister chateau, Cap de Mourlin is for me very irregular. In some vintages, I found it better than Balestard.

[AKR]

Thank you for those insights. Maybe 2005 had enough 'degree days' that it didn't seem all that 'old school' to me, the way that Soutard's of yore used to be.