Château Haut Marbuzet 1996

Lot presentation

Château Haut Marbuzet 1996

The wine

Widely regarded as the most Burgundian of Bordeaux wines, Château Haut Marbuzet was awarded the title of Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel when the Crus Bourgeois classification was updated in June 2003. Some connoisseurs actually rank it among the region’s elite. Professional critics have nothing but praise for this Saint-Estephe, which is a blend of regional grape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, all grown on vines averaging thirty years of age. The vines draw the nutrients they require to flourish from a terroir consisting of Gunzian gravel sitting on a subsoil of clay and limestone. The estate makes a point of vinifying slightly over-ripe grapes by hand. In the winery, the clusters are entirely destalked and left to macerate for a long period. During this period, daily pumping over is performed to extract the finest aromas and flavours. The wine is then matured in new oak barrels.
Designed to age for 15 to 20 years, this wine seduces with intense aromas marked by notes of red fruit and delicate woody tones reflecting masterful ageing. The wine is structured by fine tannins.

About the Producer Château Haut Marbuzet

Château Haut-Marbuzet is one of the oldest estates in Saint-Estèphe. The vineyards are perfectly located on hillsides of gravel mixed with limestone and clay. The high percentage of Merlot in the blend (40%) makes the wine extremely smooth which led Robert Parker to call it “the most sensual Bordeaux” wine. The talent, gentleness and warm welcome of the Duboscq family has help build up a strong following that choose these supple, rounded wines with melted tannins and intense aromas again and again. The estate also leaves nothing to chance. The grapes are harvest by hand when they are highly ripe. What follows is a precise vinification in temperature-controlled cement and wooden vats that closely follows local traditions. The wine is then aged in new oak barrels for a year and a half. All this allows the château to produce 360,000 bottles per year.

Detailed characteristics