Chateau Grand Corbin St. Emilion Bordeaux, Complete Guide

Learn everything about Chateau Grand Corbin St. Emilion with wine tasting notes, a history of the property, information on the vineyards, and winemaking. If you want to read about other important, Bordeaux Chateaux: Links to all Bordeaux Wine Producer Profiles

Chateau Grand Corbin History, Overview

The formation of Chateau Grand Corbin took place in 1852. Skipping ahead to the next century, Chateau Grand Corbin was purchased in 1960 by the Giraud family. At one time, the Giraud family were the owners of the famed Chateau Trotanoy from Pomerol.

In late 2010, Chateau Grand Corbin was purchased by Groupe SMABTP, who own numerous Bordeaux estates including the neighboring St. Emilion estates, Chateau Haut Corbin and Le Jurat, as well as Chateau Cantemerle in the Haut Medoc appellation.

Following the results of the 2012 Saint Emilion Classification, Chateau Haut Corbin was merged into Chateau Grand Corbin, which gave the estate an additional 6.4 hectares of vines.

Chateau Grand Corbin Vineyards, Terroir, Grapes, Winemaking

The 28.5 hectare St. Emilion vineyard of Chateau Grand Corbin is planted to 70% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon.

The terroir, located not far from the Pomerol, St. Emilion border is mostly sand with clay and bits of iron in the soil. The vines are old. On average, the vines at Grand Corbin are close to 40 years of age.

Chateau Grand Corbin is a traditional Bordeaux wine estate that picks its fruit by hand. To produce the wine at Grand Corbin, after sorting the grapes, the berries are moved to temperature-controlled, stainless steel vats for 5-8 days of cold maceration.

The cool temperatures prevent the start of alcoholic fermentation and encourage maceration. Next, the vats are warmed to 22 degrees Celsius to assist alcoholic fermentation. The cap is punched down on a daily basis before the must is pumped over by gravity flow into another tank allowing the total immersion of the grape skins and pips into the must.

Following four weeks of maceration, the new wine is run off the vat where only skins, pips, and residual juice remain. Then the skins and pips are put through a vertical wine press.

The wine is aged in an average of 33% new, French oak barrels for 12 – 14 months until the final blend prior to the bottling of the St. Emilion, Bordeaux wine.

The best vintages of Chateau Grand Corbin are: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2010, 2009 and 2005.

The production of Chateau Grand Corbin is close to 12,500 cases per vintage.

When to Drink Chateau Grand Corbin, Anticipated Maturity, Decanting Time

Chateau Grand Corbin is better with at least 3-5 years of bottle age. Of course, that can vary slightly, depending on the vintage. The wine is best enjoyed in the first 4-14 years of life.

Young vintages can be decanted for about 1 hour. This allows the wine to soften and open its perfume. Older vintages might need very little decanting, just enough to remove the sediment.

Serving Chateau Grand Corbin with Wine and Food Pairings

Chateau Grand Corbin is best served at 15.5 degrees Celsius, 60 degrees Fahrenheit. The cool, almost cellar temperature gives the wine more freshness and lift.

Chateau Grand Corbin is best paired with all types of classic meat dishes, veal, pork, beef, lamb, duck, game, roast chicken, roasted, braised, and grilled dishes. Chateau Grand Corbin is also good when matched with Asian dishes, rich fish courses like tuna, mushrooms, and pasta.

www.grand-corbin.com