Château Corbin - Grand Cru Classé 2018
2*Coup de Coeur
Hachette
94/100
Jeb Dunnuck
91-93/100
Robert Parker
93/100
Decanter
17,5/20
Bettane & Desseauve
16,5/20
RVF
92/100
James Suckling
“Combining aging in cement tanks and new oak barrels for the first time—to give the fruit more room to shine—the 2018 from Château Corbin is a resounding success! Indeed, the fruit bursts forth on the nose, particularly blackcurrant and red currant. This fruit is echoed with equal intensity on the palate—full-bodied, warm, and vibrant—framed by beautiful, silky, and well-integrated tannins. A wine with character and a bright future.” (Le Guide Hachette des Vins 2022) • Delivered in a wooden case for any order of 6 bottles of this wine (excluding “Point Relais” delivery method)
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Nose
Aromas of black raspberries, blackberries, toasted spices, dried flowers, and loamy soil
Palate
Beautiful fruit intensity; full-bodied, warm, and juicy on the palate, framed by lovely, silky, well-integrated tannins
Serve
At 16-18°C
Open
1 hour before
Drink starting at
2025
Drink before
2035
Food and Wine Pairings
Pairs well with duck breast, beef tenderloin with foie gras, hare stew, Maroilles cheese...
Bettane & Desseauve
Wine rated 17.5/20 (Benchmark wine)
Rated estate (2022 guide): 3*Stars (High-quality production that serves as a benchmark in its sector)
About the wine:
A Corbin that builds in intensity, with a silky texture and energetic tannins, and a finish of great distinction, marked by floral notes very typical of Pomerol.
About the estate:
Anabelle Cruse-Bardinet, a member of one of Bordeaux’s leading wine-producing families, now has a firm grip on her Corbin estate, where she produces wines typical of the region on 13 hectares—wines whose texture is closer to that of Pomerol than to the Saint-Émilion de Côte. Added to this is a distinctive finesse resulting from improved control over the aging process, made possible starting with the 2016 vintage thanks to the new winery. Remarkable value for the price.
Decanter
Wine rated (2020 guide) 93/100
About the wine:
A distinct coffee roast that evokes well-handled oak; this wine is balanced and well-defined, with notes of slate and ripe blueberry, a crisp tannic structure, and a fresh, sap-like finish. Elegant yet concentrated, serious in character yet vibrant. Best enjoyed between 2024 and 2040.
Guide Hachette des vins
Wine noted (guide 2022) 2* Favorite (Remarkable wine)
Rated estate (2022 guide) Award-winning wines (This producer's wines regularly receive awards from the guide)
About the wine:
Combining aging in cement tanks and new oak barrels for the first time—to give the fruit more room to shine—the 2018 from Château Corbin is a resounding success! Indeed, the fruit bursts forth on the nose, particularly blackcurrant and red currant. This fruit is echoed with equal intensity on the palate—full-bodied, warm, and vibrant—framed by beautiful, silky, and well-integrated tannins. A wine with character and a bright future.
About the estate:
Both from long-established Bordeaux families, Anabelle Cruse-Bardinet—supported by her husband Sébastien—took over the family vineyard in 1999. The vineyard had been acquired by her great-grandparents in 1924 and passed down through the women of the family for four generations. This is a very old estate (the foundations of the main building date back to the 15th century), said to have been one of the fiefdoms of the Black Prince (“Corbin” for the raven-black color of his armor). The vineyard covers 13 hectares, planted partly on ancient sand and partly on clay.
Robert Parker - Wine Advocate
Wine rated (2019 guide) 91–93/100 (Excellent Wine)
RVF - La Revue du Vin de France / Guide des Meilleurs Vins de France
Wine rated (2022 guide) 16,5/20 (Very good wine)
Rated Estate (2022 Guide) Selected (Please note that this guide is a ranking, and as such, all the estates listed here—even those without a star—represent, in our view, the excellence of French winemaking.)
About the wine:
The beautiful structure of the 2018 grand cru, with tannins shaped by the terroir and by new, gentler extraction techniques—achieved through winemaking in a reductive environment—preserves the initial fruitiness alongside well-defined tannins. Half of the vintage is aged in new oak, which still imparts a hint of oak, a hallmark of its youth, while the other half is aged in tanks. Its subtle balance suggests it will age beautifully.
About the estate:
In the twenty years she has been at Corbin, Anabelle Cruse-Bardinet has been replanting the family’s 13-hectare vineyard—located in the heart of the former Corbin estate—using high-density planting on sandy gravel soils with a light structure and blue clay. This approach allows most of the younger plots to contribute to the grand vin. Living on the estate with her children, she carefully nurtures the ecosystem. Her winemaking facility, renovated four years ago, consists of eighteen small concrete tanks for twenty plots. Since then, both the estate wine and the second wine have gained in precision, culminating in the 2019 vintage—a magnificent display of finesse and balance. Supported by a new cellar master, Annabelle—an oenologist herself—has moved beyond Jean-Philippe Faure’s guidance to follow her own instincts, brilliantly proving that she knows exactly what she’s doing.
James Suckling
Wine rated (2021 guide) 92/100
Rated winery (2022 guide) Recommended
Jeb Dunnuck
Wine rated (2021 guide) 94/100
About the wine:
Hailing from the northwest of Saint-Emilion, not far from the border with Pomerol, the 2018 Château Corbin is composed of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc, which was aged in 50% new French oak barrels. This excellent Saint-Emilion has a fragrant nose of black raspberries, blackberries, toasted spices, dried flowers, and loamy earth. Much more refined and elegant now in the bottle than it was in the barrel, it is medium-bodied to full-bodied and exhibits the classic chalky minerality of Saint-Emilion, quality tannins, and a lovely finish. It’s worth seeking out, and although it’s already enjoyable, it will benefit from just 3–4 years of cellaring and has an aging potential of 10–15 years.