The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.
Wine Description
The Story
This magnificent estate of 10.6 hectares, ideally located on the edge of the village of Saint-Emilion, derives its name from a clergyman, Canon Balestard. The “Tonnelle” that stands in the heart of the vineyard was formerly an observation tower during the 15th century and has since become the symbol of this property. François Villon mentions the wine of Balestard in his famous poem, written too in the 15th century, and as a testimonial of this historical acclaim the verse still appears on our labels. Generous, exquisitely delicate, Balestard La Tonnelle is one of Saint-Emilion’s finest Great Classified Growths.
Vintage 2020
In Bordeaux, the heat resulted in early flowering. Also, this led to an early harvest after a very hot summer. As a starting point, there is great maturity in the grapes, and one can expect a more opulent vintage than in the last few years.
The summer this year has been the warmest since 1959, yet the rain has fallen at the right times during the growing season. The harvest took place two weeks before the norm and will yield grapes with high potential alcohol and the lowest acidity since the 2003 vintage. As they say in Bordeaux: "It has been a good and extreme growing season which hopefully also produces great wines".
