Chateau Saint-Andre Corbin, St-Georges-St-Emilion, Bordeaux 2020

90 points James Suckling

Chateau Saint Andre Cornin is located in Bordeaux’s smallest appellation just north of the village of Saint Emilion. Both the estate and vineyards date to the Gallo-Roman epoch. Letters from the Roman Consul and poet Ausonius to Rome indicate that wine from this estate was served at Julius Cesar’s table in the 4th century. Archaeological evidence suggests that the current chateau is built over the original Ausonius Villa. (The famous Chateau Ausone did not exist prior to the 18th century.) Extensive archaeological excavations at Chateau Saint Andre Corbin have resulted in spectacular discoveries, including an intact Venus, which is in the Museum of Aquitaine in Bordeaux, and an intact Diana, which now resides in the Louvre Museum in Paris. 

St. Andre Corbin is owned by the dynamic Saby family, who has been making wine on the right bank for 9 generations. Today, brothers Jean-Phillipe and Jean-Christophe Saby, both of whom are experienced oenologists and agricultural engineers, own and manage the estate as well as numerous other family-owned chateaux in the St. Emilion region of Bordeaux. 

As for the Viniculture, this wine is 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc. The Cabernet Franc vines are original Bordeaux clones that have an average age of 70 years. (Cab Franc clones dating from the 1970s come from the Loire and do not express themselves fully in the terroir of Bordeaux. Most estates are in the process of planting original Bordeaux clones like those on the St. Andre Corbin estate.) Exceptionally homogenous terroir of clay and limestone over a special limestone subsoil provides excellent drainage during wet periods of good water retention during droughts. Green harvest is done of all immature and open grapes to give the most space possible to the best bunches. Only 6-8 clusters are left on each vine. Manual harvesting is done. 
The Saby brothers combine traditional and modern vinification techniques to extract maximum fruit and concentration from their harvest. There is manual selection at a sorting table, exceptional grape maturity with Cabernet Franc attaining 14.9 degrees in alcohol while retaining good acidity levels. Vinification is done in traditional cement vats. Pre-fermentation cold maceration for 3-4 days to extract fruit aromas and long slow maceration for 4 ½ weeks. The wines are aged for 12 months in French oak barrels from 5 different coopers and 1/3 of the barrels are renewed annually. There is no filtering or fining.