Château Corbin 2020

The 2020 vintage in Saint-Émilion

Vintage benchmark: 96/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: An early, dry year gave splendid wines, which many rank above 2018.

Overall reading of the year’s season across Saint-Émilion. An estate can depart from it sharply, in frost or hail years, where two neighbours did not make the same vintage. What this particular wine actually gave is on its technical sheet and in the scores above.

The vintage

Highlights of the 2020 vintage at Corbin: ageing in glass Wine Globes for aromatic purity and minerality in the wine.

New in 2020 at Corbin: a fresh outlook for Corbin 2020, the result of 4 years of reflection on climate change, vinification and ageing. A great wine made for the enjoyment of the wine lover from 2023 and in 20 years' time... In 5 words: aromatic brilliance, purity of fruit, melted tannins, airy and emotional. A vintage conceived 100% by Corbin, without a consultant.

It was an early year: budburst took place between 15 and 30 March. Fine, mild weather set in until 17 April. Then it rained until 13 May, 228 mm in one month.

The first flower appeared on 15 May, with mid-flowering on 20 May in exceptional conditions. Rain returned from 4 to 18 June with 78 mm over two weeks.

Fine, dry, hot weather set in from 19 June to 20 September, with a few light showers in mid-August. The first berry change of colour appeared on 13 July and mid-veraison was on 31 July.

At the beginning of August we thinned out the third bunches, the wings and all berries that were late in veraison, in order to even out ripeness in each plot.

At the beginning of September the skins were thick and the grapes plump, full of sun and ripe. Harvesting took place in ideal conditions from 8 September. We harvested over 10 days, mostly in the morning to take advantage of the cool night temperatures.

The clay in our soil played a key role in this vintage, ensuring a regular water supply to the vines and allowing fresh, crunchy fruit to ripen. Gentle extractions built the balance of the wine on the truth of the terroir.

Blend of the 2020 vintage

Figures from the 2020 sheet

• 14 % vol.Alcohol
• 44 hl/haYield
• 33 yrsVine age
• 55,000 bottlesProduction

Winemaking

Hand harvest in small crates: Merlot from 8th to 19th September, Cabernet Franc on 19th and 30th September. Yield: 44 hl/ha before selection. Extraction by pump-overs. Small-capacity (plot-by-plot) unlined concrete vats, temperature-controlled. Vatting period of 10 to 16 days depending on the vat. Estimated selection: first wine 77%, second wine 23%.

Ageing

Ageing in glass Wine Globes for aromatic purity and minerality in the wine.

Terroir

Clay and clay-sand over an iron-rich clay subsoil.