Château Tour du Pas Saint-Georges

SAINT-ÉMILION, BORDEAUX, FRANCE

Château Tour du Pas Saint-Georges is located in the small satellite region of Saint Georges Saint Émilion, a prestigious and rare appellation that is reputed to be the best of the Saint-Émilion satellites.

In a nutshell: Originating in 1975 when Madame Dubois-Challon, owner of Château Ausone (Saint-Émilion 1er Grand Cru Classé A) and of Château Bélair (1er Grand Cru Classé B), acquired the estate. The estate gained its reputation over the following decades and in the 1980s in particular, when Pascal Delbeck, the legendary winemaker of Château Ausone, joined the estate.

Pascal later took over the estate completely in 2008 and invested in the expansion of the vineyards by adding a little Carménère, Petit Verdot and Malbec to the well-established Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon vines. As an agromist he treated his vineyards like a garden, protected by its enclosure wall and hedges, an intimate place that had provided an ideal home for the cultivation of grapes for several centuries.

Pascal Delbeck is a long-standing friend of Hubert de Boüard, and Matthieu de Boüard married into the family to become his son-in-law. Therefore, it was only natural that, when the opportunity arose, Hubert de Boüard and Emmanuel Teillet (of Château La Fleur de Boüard) should take over the estate in 2020.

The quality continues to be upheld and indeed improved upon. The wine is made up of mostly Merlot and Cabernet Franc with small amounts of Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and Carménère. The grapes are picked at physiological ripeness and then fermented in small stainless steel tanks of only 40 hl, followed by 16 months’ ageing with 50% in new French oak barrels and 50% in stainless-steel tanks.

The terroir: The 14 hectares of vines at the estate are situated in one block on the hillside, facing south/south-east. They are planted on a magnificent clay-limestone terroir, with molasse on a bed of clay and Périgord sand.

The Château Tour du Pas Saint-Georges ‘personality’: A complex and well-structured wine with great precision, restraint and personality thanks to the guidance and technical expertise of one of Saint-Émilion’s best known winemakers Hubert de Boüard de Laforest.