In the north of the appellation at Château Corbin it was the common Napoleonic problem of multiple family ownership that impeded improvement. That is until Château Certan-Giraud in Pomerol, owned by the same family, was sold in 1999, allowing the dividends to be shared ang giving Anabelle Bardinet and her sisters the chance to own Château Corbin outright. Despite the fact that de property had not been lived in for 30 years the vineyard at least was in good condition, but there had been a strict minimum of investment.« I’m conscious that Corbin has not been at the true level of a grand cru classé but now will do everything to raise the standard and keep it there ». Says oenologist Bardinet. The 1999 marks the turning point with the 2000 showing added maturity and dimension.
Vinarbogen 2002
Anabelle Cruse Bardinet, a fully educated oenologist who worked previously at Château Certand Giraud (however not as winemaker), bought last year (1999) together with her two sisters Château Corbin, Grand Cru Classé in Saint-Emilion, from her uncle. She immediately effectuated an overall modernisation and rebuilding at Corbin. Because of really advantageous soil conditions, there is a big potential in the property. I passed by Corbin during one sunny day in September, while harvesting was going on. The grapes looked extremely healthy and tasted like a dream.
Olive eating in - eating out - going places / novembre 2004 (magazine britannique)
Don’t think that you can just rock up to any of the local châteaux and expect a warm reception. Visits should be organised in advance with Bordeaux Tourism. Château Corbin (00 33 5 57 25 20 30) in St-Emilion, near Pomerol, is also a private home and the owner Anabelle Cruse-Bardinet will explain how they produce their complex red from merlot and cabernet franc grapes (sold from around € 20 per bottle).
The Wine Advocate n° 158 - 29/04/2005
Les Dames de St-Emilion :
… « Other properties that are rising in quality thanks to the efforts of women include Château
Corbin, now run by the charming, attractive Anabelle Bardinet, … »
BWS (Beer Wine & Spirit) - 01/03/2005
Grand Cru Classé Saint-Émilion - A Focus On Château Corbin
Saint-Emilion, France - Château Corbin is one of the oldest estates in the commune of Saint-
Emilion, bordering next to the Pomerol appellation. The foundations of the château date back to the 15 th century, and according to legend, Corbin was the focal point of a stronghold that belonged to the Black Prince. At the time, the fiefdom included not only Château Corbin, but also le Grand Corbin Despagne, le Grand Corbin, le Corbin Michotte and le Haut Corbin.
Today, an ancient tower dating from the time of the Black Prince is all that remains of this glorious past. The current château was built at the beginning of the 20 th century.Château Corbin was acquired in 1924 by the great-grandparents of the current owners, at which point the vineyards consisted only of 8 hectares. Corbin vineyards stretched to over 13 hectares (31,3 acres) by 1940.
Since 1999, Château Corbin has been owned by the Blanchard-Cruse family, and managed by Anabelle Cruse-Bardinet, who represents the 4 th generation of the family.About Anabelle Cruse-Bardinet. She was born in 1967, and from the age of 15 knew she wanted to be a vinemaker. Perhaps it was in her genes. On her father’s side, she is a member of the Cruse family who have been major figures in the Bordeaux wine trade for seven generations, both as château owners, negociants and exporters.
From her mother’s family, the Blanchards, she acquired roots in St. Emilion where her greatgrandparents
had purchased Château Corbin in 1924.
Upon completion of her studies at the Oenological institute at the Universite de Bordeaux,
Anabelle completed a one-year course in vineyard management. An internship at Château
Branaire-Ducru led to a full-time job at the esteemed St. Julien estate where she worked for two
years. This was followed by a stint, includind harvest, at Sterling Vineyards in Napa to broaden her horizons. On her return to France, she worked for four years with her father at Château Laujac, a cru bourgeois.
General Notes
In 1999, some family members who held shares of Château Corbin decided to divest themselves of the property, and Anabelle and her two sisters bought them out, becoming co-owners with their grandmother. As the oenologist in the family, Anabelle was put in charge of the estate and made her first vintage in 1999. Today, Château Corbin is the only estate in St. Emilion owned solely by women, and with a female winemaker. In addition to her interest in all things vinous, Anabelle has had a lifelong admiration for the work of Mother Theresa. Before embarking on her winemaking career, she fulfilled a lifelong dream by working with Mother Theresa in India for six months.Anabelle Cruse-Bardinet lives at Château Corbin with her husband Sebastien Bardinet, and her tow children.
About the Terroir
Château Corbin estate’s land is made up of two soil types :
• Ancient sandy soils on a ferruginous clay sub-soil, witch gives the wine its subtlety
• Clay soils which give the wine its power. The duality of the terroir enables Château Corbin to produce wines of great complexity. The grape varieties consist of 80 % Merlot and 20 % Cabernet Franc.
Only the grapes from the best plots and the oldest vines are used for making Château Corbin. The
average age of the vines is 30 years old.
The vineyard is managed in accordance with traditional methods.
The Process
Yields are deliberately restricted so as to favor the concentration, which is indispensable for great
wines.
The grapes are picked by hand an fermented in temperature-controlled vats, with four weeks of
maceration.
The whole of the harvest is aged for 16 to 18 months in carefully selected French oak casks, of
which 40 % are new wood. Racking takes place every 3 to 5 months.
Between 50,000 and 60,000 bottles are produced annually, with all of the bottling taking place at the château. Each year, the estate maintains a reserve destined for aficionados of older vintages.
Château Corbin wines are sold throughout the world.
Drinks Volume 3, number 4 - Winter 2005
Bargain Bordeaux (by Roger Morris) :
…/… Young Pierre Bardinet – his flaxen hair neatly combed and his shortsleeve shirt still crisp in the early heat of a june morning in the Bordeaux region of St.-Emilion – pedals his yellow bike
alongside his mother Anabelle as she walks through the graveled courtyard of Château Corbin to
inspect her vineyards. She stops first to check the progress of three workers pulling excess leaves
from Merlot vines, exposing the fledgling grape clusters to the sun to channel the vigor of the plant into the fruit. They chat for a few minutes, then mother and son move on as she plucks a yellow wildflower from the row’s end to stick into his shirt pocket.
« We are going to have to do a green harvest ,» she says. « But to some of the people who work in the vineyard, cutting off grapes is like cutting off their fingers. »
In another plot farther up the gentle slope rising from La Barbanne, the small stream that marks St.-Emilion’s northwest limits, Pierre jumps off his bike to join Jean-Claude Felard, who is stripping off unwanted shoots or suckers as he trains the vines along the cordons. Felard, who has worked here at Corbin for 18 years, shows the seven-year-old how to easily snap off the shoots where they join the vine.
« He has to learn sometime, » his mother says approvingly. Movie star-attractive with her blonde
hair pulled back in a pony tail, she grew up a farm girl on a small château on the Left Bank, or
Médoc side, of the Gironde River that cuts through Bordeaux. Part of a large and sprawling clan of winegrowers and wine merchants – the Cruses – Bardinet decided to become a winemaker « when I was about 15, » she says. She earned an enology degree at the University of Bordeaux, and with Sébastien, her insurance broker husband, and other family members, purchased Château Corbin – a true fixer-upper property – in 1999.
Corbin is historically rated a grand cru, and Bardinet’s first wines from her 32 acres of Merlot dominated vines have earned very good marks on both sides of the Atlantic. The neighborhood isn’t shabby, either. Walk five minutes west, and you are at Château Cheval Blanc, one of the brightest stars of St.-Emilion. Five minutes northwest and over the invisible line into Pomerol is the renowned Château le Bon Pasteur, and five minutes further is the crème de la crème of Pomerol, Château Petrus.
General Notes
…/…
In spite of this all this, Corbin still typically sells for between $25 an $30 a bottle, depending on the vintage, an is an example of one place you can find Bordeaux bargains : among the lesser-known châteaux within the upper echelons of the historic, official classifications of Bordeaux’s premium red wine districts.
The handful of top-rated premier grand cru of St.-Emilion, led by Cheval Blanc and Château
Ausone, fetch hundreds of dollar per bottle, but the four to five dozen châteaux that make up the
second level, grand cru, are like clusters of Bardinet’s Merlot – fighting for the sunlight of
recognition. These bargain grand cru properties have remained competitive by controlling costs and limiting marketing and outside labor, while maintaining quality with modern vineyard and
winemaking practices. …/…
THE VINES AT CHÂTEAU CORBIN are mostly Merlot, though a small percentage of them are
Cabernet Franc. The estate lies near the border of St.-Emilion and Pomerol, not far from Bordeaux superstars such as Cheval Blanc and Petrus.
10 BARGAIN BORDEAUX TO TRY
This selection of Bordeaux wines that typically sell for less than $30 bottle represents a crosssection of classifications, appellations, and categories. As vintage does matter in Bordeaux, look for wines to be plumper and riper in better vintages (2000, 2001, 2003) and leaner with less fruit in average vintages (2002, 2004).
Dominant Merlot flavors of blackberry and blueberry with a finish of dried apricots and leather
mark wines from this old estate on the border with Pomerol. In fact, an early owner had the choice ob being in eigher appellation and picked St.Emmy. …/…
Technical sheet
Name Château Corbin
Grand Cru Classé
Appellation Saint-Émilion Grand Cru
Legal form Société Civile Château Corbin
Address 33330 Saint-Émilion
THE MEN
Owners Sébastien et Anabelle Bardinet
Managing director Anabelle Cruse Bardinet
Consultant oenologist Ludwig Vanneron from Laboratoire Rolland
VINEYARD
Location In the commune of Saint-Emilion next to Pomerol appellation
Soil Sandy, sandy clayey and clayey. Ferric clays
Surface aera 13 hectares (31,30 acres)
Grape varieties 80 % Merlot
20 % Cabernet franc
Average age of vines 30 years old
Rootstock 3309 and 101-14
Density of plantation 6 000 plants per hectare
Vine training method Traditional with Guyot simple and Guyot double
Average yield 40 to 45 hectoliters per hectare
Vineyard management Plot by plot
Harvesting By hand, with sorting at the vineyard and on reception in the cellar
Technical sheet
WINE-MAKING
Receipt of the harvest First sorting by vibration
Stemming
Second sorting grain by grain
Crushing
Macerations At cold temperature before the fermentation
Pumping over 4 pumpings of 15 minutes per day during the alcoolic fermentation
Vats Concrete vats coated with epoxy resin, ranging from 60 to 115
hectoliters
Fermentation temperature 28-32° (Celcius)
Temperature control Automatic regulation
Vatting period 3 to 4 weeks
Fermentation malo-lactiques In new barrels
Press Pneumatic
AGEING
Ageing 100 % in french oak barrels. 40 to 50 % are new every year
Barrels 2 main coopers : Demptos and Taransaud
Length of ageing 16 to 18 months
Racking Every 3 or 5 months
Bottling Château bottling
Production Château Corbin (first wine) 50 to 60 000 bottles per year
XX de Corbin (second wine) 10 to 15 000 bottles per year
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