The 2023 vintage in Saint-Émilion
Vintage benchmark: 92/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)
Vintage character: Mildew cost a good share of the harvest; what was brought in is early, fresh and promising.
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
Grand Corbin has a quite unique soil of silica on blue clay, with very different terroir identities. Since 2022, the team has been refining its understanding of this terroir to capture its identity and make wines that are ever more faithful to their origin. Axel Marchal, who has been consulting for the estate for two years, explains, “a fine wine should be a faithful reflection of a place. Our work at Grand Corbin consists in increasing precision to respect the soil types and best express the identities of this great terroir, anchored in its appellation.”
This new approach has produced a flavourful 2023 vintage, bursting with fruit. The harvest took place over an extended period – from 14 September to 6 October – in excellent conditions. Each grape variety could be picked at optimum ripeness and in perfect health. The delicate textures, smoothness and mellowness of this vintage are the result of a precise approach to winemaking.
Vine cycle: budding on 1 April, mid-flowering on 29 May, fruit set on 6 June, mid-veraison on 27 July.
Blend of the 2023 vintage
- 84 % Merlot
- 13 % Cabernet franc
- 3 % Cabernet-sauvignon
Shares for this vintage, as recorded on the 2023 technical sheet. The vineyard itself is planted with 80 % merlot, 18 % cabernet franc, 2 % cabernet sauvignon — a vintage blend departs from the area under vine as the year dictates.
Figures from the 2023 sheet
- 40 yrsVine age
Label
Winemaking
Hand harvest, from 14 September to 6 October, with berry sorting after destemming.
Ageing
12 months in French oak barrels: 35% new, 40% one-fill and 25% two-fill.
Terroir
Soil of silica on blue clay, with very different terroir identities.
An offer on Château Grand Corbin 2023
Availability, allocations and terms: the Compagnie Médocaine will reply promptly. The estate and vintage are already filled in in the message.
Texts and documents 2023
The texts below copy in one click for your product sheets, catalogues and social channels. The printable sheet condenses the whole page onto a single A4 page.
Visuals
This wine’s visuals are grouped in the media library. High-definition packshots, labels, back labels and lifestyle photos are reserved for clients and partners, on the Compagnie Médocaine’s VinCod media library.