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Wine Description
The Story
Tucked between châteaux Cos d'Estournel and Montrose, the vineyard covers 61 hectares (150 acres) and is planted with 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, and 10% Cabernet Franc. Overlooking the Gironde estuary, it is mainly located on the gravel ridge of Marbuzet and the plateau of Long Treytin. The high proportion of merlot, rather unusual in traditional blendings, as well as a long maturing in new oak barrels, greatly contribute to the mellowness of the wine. Often described as exotic or opulent, Haut-Marbuzet wines develop a suppleness and an individual expressive character that are unusual in the normally austere style of Saint-Estèphe.
A second wine is produced from the vines under 12 years old, under the label Château MacCarthy which bears the name of the Irish Jacobite family who created the vineyard.
Vintage 2020
In Bordeaux, the heat resulted in early flowering. Also, this led to an early harvest after a very hot summer. As a starting point, there is great maturity in the grapes, and one can expect a more opulent vintage than in the last few years.
The summer this year has been the warmest since 1959, yet the rain has fallen at the right times during the growing season. The harvest took place two weeks before the norm and will yield grapes with high potential alcohol and the lowest acidity since the 2003 vintage. As they say in Bordeaux: "It has been a good and extreme growing season which hopefully also produces great wines".
