2019 Grand Corbin Despagne

Mostly Merlot blended with a decent amount of Cabernet Franc, the 2019 Château Grand Corbin-Despagne offers a solid, slightly spicy bouquet of red and black fruits, spring flowers, gravelly earth, and graphite. These all carry to a medium to full-bodied wine with a great mid-palate, polished yet certainly present tannins, and a great finish. It's certainly the finest wine I've tasted from this château, and while it's drinking beautifully today, it warrants a handful of years in the cellar and will evolve for 15+ years.

From holdings just across the border from Pomerol characterized by predominantly sandy-clay soils, the 2019 Grand Corbin-Despagne offers up aromas of plums, sweet berries and cherries mingled with raw cocoa, cigar wrapper, licorice, violets and spices. Medium to full-bodied, ample and succulent, with fine concentration, lively acids and ripe, powdery tannins, it's a beautifully balanced classic that will age with grace.

The 2019 Grand Corbin Despagne has a well-defined, mocha-tinged bouquet that unfolds in the glass, the oak nicely integrated. The palate is medium-bodied, ripe and generous, with lithe tannins, fine acidity and a poised, persistent finish. Good potential.