Saint-Estèphe · outside the 1855 classification
Château Haut-Marbuzet: vintages available, prices and pairings
Haut-Marbuzet and Chambert-Marbuzet, from the same family, vintage by vintage, with the format, the guide price and what to expect of them today: ready to drink, or to keep. Tick what interests you and the quote request goes off with your selection.
The vintages on the price list
Filter by budget or by “ready to drink”. Nothing is sent until you click on the quote.
The château
Hervé Duboscq bought a few hectares on the Marbuzet plateau in 1952; his son Henri, then his grandsons, enlarged the estate. The family also owns neighbouring Chambert-Marbuzet.
More Merlot than most Saint-Estèphes, with Cabernet Sauvignon and a little Cabernet Franc, and ageing in new barrels: a round, generous wine, appealing when young, which nevertheless lasts fifteen to twenty years. It was not classified in 1855, but sells at the price of some classified growths. The appellation's other châteaux are on the Saint-Estèphe wines page.
The growth was born in 1848 from the break-up of the Mac-Carthy family's estates. The soil is Günz gravel over a clay-limestone subsoil. By buying neighbouring vines and plots from that same break-up, the Duboscqs brought the vineyard to 66 hectares in 2005. In 1988 Henri Duboscq bought Château Mac-Carthy, enclosed within his vines; since then, that name has been used for the wines from the youngest vines.
What to serve it with
- A vintage of ten years or more: lamb (what wine with lamb), rib of beef (what wine with beef).
- A younger vintage: duck breast (what wine with duck), grilled meats.
- With cheese: pressed cheeses (what wine with cheese).
Which vintage for which occasion
A wine everyone likes: for client gifts (year-end client gifts) or the tables at a wedding (which Bordeaux for a wedding). The magnum, when there is one, for a table of ten. For a birthday, the birth year, if the table has it (birth year vintage).
Is Haut-Marbuzet a classified growth?
No. It is not in the 1855 classification, which has been almost entirely frozen since. Its reputation and its price nevertheless put it on a level with several classified growths.
Haut-Marbuzet or Chambert-Marbuzet?
Two châteaux from the same family on the Marbuzet plateau. Haut-Marbuzet is the flagship wine; Chambert-Marbuzet, smaller, costs less.
When should you drink a Haut-Marbuzet?
Allow six years before opening it and twenty years of good form, a little more in a great year, a little less in a weak year or in half bottles. The table applies this rule to each line; it is not a tasting note, and a badly stored bottle ages faster.
Are the prices shown the ones on the quote?
They are the guide prices from the price list, incl. VAT, per bottle of the format, excluding delivery. The quote confirms the price, the availability of each vintage and the postage; the delivery grid gives the lead times. For a vintage not in the table, the quote request is still open.