Château Corbin Michotte

The estate

Corbin Michotte shows better than most what the Saint-Émilion classification can do to an estate. It was a Grand Cru Classé in every list from the first, in 1955, to that of 2006; the revision of 2012 threw it out, and the list approved in September 2022 let it back in after 10 years outside. Jean-Noël Boidron owns it.

The name has been on the books since the 19th century. Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, printed Château Corbin-Michotte in 1893 among the 2es crus of the graves, under Laboup; by 1908 Féret had moved it up among the 1ers crus of the graves, at 25 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels), and in 1922, under J. P. Borderie, it made 50, from a richly planted vineyard on a sandy and gravelly plateau around the château. Its wine, the guide wrote, was fine, soft, full and perfumed, and kept a dark and brilliant color with age.

The vineyard stands on siliceous soils rich in iron oxide, with no clay in them, in the Corbin sector on the northwest side of the appellation, planted 65% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. The grapes are picked by hand, and the wine is raised 60% in new barrels and 40% in concrete tanks. About 37,000 bottles are made.

At a glance

Appellation

Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

Commune

Saint-Émilion, in the Corbin sector on the northwest side of the appellation

Classification

Grand Cru Classé, 1955 to 2006 and 2022; out in 2012

Owner

Jean-Noël Boidron

Ground

Siliceous soils rich in iron oxide, with no clay

Grapes

Merlot 65%, Cabernet Franc 30%, Cabernet Sauvignon 5%

Cellar

Picked by hand; 60% in new barrels, 40% in concrete tanks

Production

About 37,000 bottles

Wines

Château Corbin Michotte

In history

Among the 1ers crus of the graves at 25 tonneaux in 1908; 50 in 1922

Sources: Château Corbin Michotte, the château · Conseil des Vins de Saint-Émilion, Château Corbin Michotte · Institut National de l’Origine et de la Qualité, the Saint-Émilion classification of 2022