Anson: Tasting Château Corbin

There is a lovely structure to this wine, with a pervading freshness that holds the seams of the bilberry and damson fruits together — suggesting that it will continue to age well, although the aromatics are not fully as ripe and generous as you might hope at 12 years old. Matured in 42% new oak. This was the last vintage that was made before Annabelle Cruse-Bardinet became the sole owner, and at this point she was still working with her wider family. There was a good summer in that year but the harvest was interrupted by two long periods of rain, the second of which caused the grapes to swell. The harvest came a little earlier than was ideal and today Cruse-Bardinet questions whether, had she been making the decisions entirely on her own, she would have risked waiting a little longer.

This was the first vintage made under the sole ownership of the Cruse-Bardinets — having bought out the rest of the family to enable them to take their own risks and rewards. 2007 was also the first vintage made with consultant Jean-Philippe Faure. It was a relatively abundant year, at 47hl/ha, but the rain made things difficult. At Château Corbin they waited and did a late harvest from October 1-12, for which they were rewarded. Although it might be hard to believe, it gives more pleasure than the 2006 vintage.This is very elegant, with soft blackberry fruits and a gentle cinnamon twist. Generous and easy to drink, the only thing that betrays the vintage is a little dip in the mid-palate, or perhaps it is more accurate to say that it doesn't gather in strength over the palate, as better vintages might. This is lovely, but definitely don't wait much longer to drink it. Aged in 40% new oak.

2008 was another vintage of small yields that presented its own particular challenges. This has some very attractive spice, black chocolate and cassis notes. It perhaps lacks a little generosity at present and ideally should be left another few years before opening, but there are certainly enough layered black fruits to suggest that it will come around.

With its damson and blackberry fruits, this shows the generosity and spice of a warm year, along with the tannins and fresh core to make you confident that it has plenty of time ahead of it still. Matured in 50% new oak.

Smouldering toasty nose of blackberries and plums. Lots of depth and vigour, tannins ripe and firm, lots of richness of flavour and some freshness from Cabernet Franc. A powerful wine that needs bottle age.

Approaching eight years old, this still has some life in it but the first fruits have fallen away. There’s soft cherry rather than bristling raspberry and the acidity is just a little higher than it would have been initially. It has a perky and fresh texture, but there’s a little spike of acidity towards the end, which probably would not have been evident in its earlier years as the fruit would have been fuller.

This is a vintage that showcases how different Château Corbin is to so much of St-Émilion. They have a clay subsoil here — as opposed to the bedrock of limestone found in so many other parts of the appellation — which is able to keep reserves of water in the soil. As it became clear that this was going to be a particularly dry vintage, Annabelle Cruse-Bardinet pulled up quite a bit of grass in between the rows — so as to reduce competition for water. 'And I still regret not doing it everywhere,’ she said. This has a lovely phenolic structure, it makes you smile right from the first attack. I strongly recommend getting hold of this wine. This was austere when young but it has gorgeous fruit now, with rich layers of damson.

Fragrant and finely etched. Ripe nose but tannins a touch robust.

A little smokier than the 2010, the overall feeling is just a little more spicy and gourmet; the fruit quality is more in evidence here than in some earlier vintages. This is a great time to be drinking this wine, it has expressive fruit, not difficult or withholding anything.

Soft red fruits and the entire structure is open, with well integrated tannins. There is no doubt this will be best enjoyed while the fruit is in the foreground. 2013 was one of those difficult years when severe selection was essential. However even with low yields (28hl/h), plus only 68% given to grand vin production and no second wine (the rest was sold en vrac), this lacks the rich precision of the château’s other vintages.

This is a gorgeous wine, it has wonderfully flexible tannins that are full of life. It has a lovely gourmet edge, with a touch of dark chocolate and lovely damson fruit, as well as great texture and complexity. A real wine to discover and savour, from a vintage that generally did better on the left bank. 43hl/ha was harvested, though not until 11 October, and 27% was used in second wine production. Matured in 40% new oak.

This has a touch of sweet caramel with really beautifully soft red fruits, not quite brambly more red cherry, and good intensity sweetened up by a brioche edge. It’s a very pleasure-filled and unpretentious second wine, which makes you warm to the winemaker. 27% of the production is for the second wine in this vintage. Maximum 20% new oak, the rest goes at some point in barrel but not for the whole ageing process, partly in vat also.

Super ripe berry and cherry fruits with pronounced caramel and toffee oak characters; supple and plush.

This has a lovely smoky edge and good, ripe brambly fruits. It could easily wait a few years before opening, but this is going to be one to enjoy. This vintage tastes very different from the others because it's 100% Merlot — the Cabernet Franc was just so good that they put it all into the first wine. This is hugely mouthfilling. It’s also aged a little longer than usual so there’s a touch more structure than the other vintages of Divin.

One of the oldest estates in St-Emilion, Corbin is linked by family ties to the Cruse owned estate of Chateau d'Issan in Margaux. Just over 12 hectares, Chateau Corbin is located close to Cheval Blanc and the Pomerol border. This is a classic Bordeaux wine, with dark colour, intensity of black fruit on nose and palate, married with fresh acidity, spices and fine-grained tannins.

One of the best vintages made by this producer, this has real definition and flesh. It’s been aged for a little longer than usual and it was the first vintage in the new cellar, where 10 cement vats were exchanged for 18 smaller ones, which provided much more precision. It’s also worth noting that this is made from Merlot grown on gravelly soils — perhaps explaining the touch of Pomerol seduction to the tannins.