Here is a little technical tasting done at Jean-Philippe’s home, who warmly welcomed us on his barge to celebrate the end of the lockdown. We compared several mature vintages of Château Haut-Marbuzet, one of the best Saint-Estèphe. Château Haut-Marbuzet, the most “Pomerol of Saint-Estèphe” with its generous proportions of Merlot (40%) and Cabernet Franc (10%) grapes, is regularly placed on the podium of the Saint-Estèphe appellation. Out of the vintages tested, it thus arrived 1st in 1997, 2nd in 1998, 2001 and 2004. Not tested in 2000 and 2006 as these vintages were not the subject of a horizontal tasting of the Grands Crus of Bordeaux. It should be noted that this château benefits from one of the best terroirs of the Appellation, since it is quite simply located between Château Montrose and Cos d´Estournel, on the edge of the Pauillac appellation.
An intruder was added to make the tasting more complex … but it was very easily unmasked! Well done, in any case, to Brane Cantenac 2003 which delights with its notes of blackcurrant and citrus fruits and its proverbial roundness.
Here are the results of the tasting:
The 2000 vintage won the votes without too many surprises, apart from perhaps its astonishing nose of green pepper. The 1997 vintage with notes of violet so characteristic of Cabernet Franc at maturity, comes in fourth place. He not only won the Appellation final, but also finished third in the 1997 A final, narrowly beaten by a certain Château Lafite, his close neighbor. An incredible success for this château, which nevertheless waited until 2003 to become an Exceptional Cru Bourgeois : It would certainly have deserved to go straight to the rank of 4th classified growths in Médoc!
