Lyn Farmer

9.4

This is excellent Pinot noir from Felton Road from a ripper than average year. Black cherry, raspberry, wild strawberry, forest floor, dried orange peel, and already a hint of mushroom. Terrific balance, a long finish and a lovely wine — 4 years ago

Tom Elliot

Founder Northwest Wines

8.9

Not among my favorite vintages of this wine but thoroughly agreeable when the food hit the table. — 4 years ago

Tom Walsh

9.3

Rich velvety mouth feel, with a wonderful lingering finish of blackberry — 5 years ago

Erin Joyce

9.2

Waited a few years to drink the 2017 and it’s even better than I remembered. In times like these it’s important to savor the floral bouquet and stone fruit deliciousness of this wine and essentials like Clorox bleach. — 6 years ago

with Sandra

Laura & John Griffin

9.0

John bought - smooth - cherry and hint of vanilla flavors come through. I taste no oaky flavor- John really likes this. — 7 years ago

Ryan Vento

9.4

Alas, a final hurrah in which to say, “Fare thee well, Del Frisco’s Grille!”
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As for the wine itself, really delicious and seductively powerful with loads of potential for the coming years. A bit more feminine than the To Kalon, the MH has some finesse and sensual elegance that makes it less of a Lamborghini and more of a Ferrari. Lots of licorice, plum, blackberry, and cassis. I had the waitress pop the cork and pour me a glass for my steak, but I stopped at one glass. I’ll be taking this selection home to see how it evolves over the next day (or two).
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EDIT: Day two and this wine is on fire 🔥So delicious. Much more balanced; it’s like it knows its own identity now. — 7 years ago

with Krystal

Michael Genn

9.7

Wine of the week! So balanced and complex. Awesome to taste at the end of the Chateau visit — 8 years ago

Denise Mathias

8.9

2016 from Winc — 9 years ago

Shay A

9.4

This 2017 is less opulent, more compact, and tightly coiled compared to the 2016. Because of that, I followed this wine over two days.

On day one, this was tart and tangy…almost steely and too powerful. Day two saw this blossom and expand on the palate. The tart/tangy vibe is still there but it’s accompanied by a deep richness. Everything about this Chardonnay is lemon driven…lemon oil, lemon scone, powdered lemon tart bar, especially on the nose. There is a nervy vein of acidity at the core carrying notes of pineapple and white peach, but never pushed too far to the ripe side. One of those wines that retains freshness with the richness. If popping now, decant 1-2hrs or hold another few years, and enjoy the 2016 before opening this 2017! — 4 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.4

Sette Ponti or "seven bridges," refers to 7 bridges crossing the Arno River on the road from Arezzo to Florence. Blend of 50% Merlot, 40% Cab Sauv & 10% Petit Verdot, aged 18 months in new French oak. Very dark Ruby with pronounced aromas of dark fruits, cigar box & earthy notes, touch of floral citrus. Flavors of black cherry & blackberry with tobacco & spice. Fine tight tannins, long finish ending with cacao, tobacco & mineral spice as the finish builds. Decant now! Will continue to age! — 5 years ago

Paul J

9.4

PnP’d. Very robust nose of flowers and some vanilla. I smelled this the minute the cork came out. Lovely texture and very complex. Chocolate, vanilla, and cherries; some Amarone characteristics. Medium plus finish. — 5 years ago

with Brooke

Colin

9.2

Most interesting Sauternes I’ve tried. Started smooth with honey and then got more complex with a long finish that changed as it lingered, especially as the bottle got some air. Felt like it was maybe a little too powerful towards the end of my last glass, but I was maybe getting some sediment at that point. All in all an exciting tasting and it left me excited to try some of their other wines. — 6 years ago

Corinne Walters

9.7

At Total Wine tasting 1/19 - sweet, but with a little acid just at the end. Very drinkable, pulls at my tongue, top wine of the tasting — 7 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

I have a six-pack of this 05. I thought after 10 years in bottle, it would be interesting to check in on its evolution. While tasty, I’ll wait another 8-10 to open another. Even after 2-3 hours in the decanter, it’s still a very young adolescent. On the nose, slightly sour blackberries & dark cherries, dark currants, baked black plum, haunting blue fruits, anise, whiff of spice, steeped tea, dry stones, dry crushed rocks with dry top soil, caramel, vanilla with fresh & dry red florals. The body is thick & full. Tannins are starting to round out. It’s velvety on the palate. The fruits are; bright, fresh & ripe and really show the greatness of the 05 vintage. Dark currants, blackberries, dark cherries, baked black plum, haunting blue fruits, baked strawberries, cherries, raspberries on the long set, dark spice, clay & loamy dry top soil with crushed rocks, dry stones, cigar with ash, graphite, dry stems, slight herbaceous character, mint, used leather, clove, caramel, vanilla, fresh & dry red florals with violets. The round acidity is about perfect. The structure and length are still strong. The balance is in harmony. As for the long finish, it’s lush, ruby, rich and well polished. Photos of; Chateau Brane Cantenac, large wood vats, Henri Lurton and Estate vines. Producer notes and history...Chateau Brane Cantenac began in the early 17th century. At the time, the estate was known as Domaine Guilhem Hosten. Even that far back, wine was produced from the property. In fact, the wine was so highly regarded it was one of the more expensive wines in Bordeaux. It sold for almost as much money as Brane Mouton. This is interesting because of who went on to buy the vineyard in the 1800’s. The Baron of Brane, also known as “Napoleon of the Vineyards”, purchased the Chateau in 1833. At the time of the sale, the estate was called Chateau Gorce-Guy. To get the funds needed to purchase the Margaux vineyard, the Baron sold what is now called Mouton Rothschild, which was at the time of the sale, known as Chateau Brane-Mouton. Not such a good move with hundreds of years in hindsight! In 1838, the Baron renamed property taking his name and the name of the sector where the vineyards were located and called it Chateau Brane Cantenac. The Chateau later passed to the Roy family, who were well-known in the Margaux appellation in those days, as they owned Chateau d’issan. Moving ahead to 1920, the Societe des Grands Crus de France, a group of merchants and growers that owned several chateaux located in the Medoc including; Chateau Margaux, Chateau Giscours, and Chateau Lagrange in St. Julien, purchased Chateau Brane Cantenac. Five years later, M. Recapet and his son-in-law, François Lurton, took over Brane Cantenac along with Chateau Margaux. Lucien Lurton (the son of François Lurton) inherited Brane Cantenac in 1956. Today, the estate is still in the hands of the Lurton family. Brane Cantenac is owned and run by Henri Lurton. After being given the responsibility of managing Brane Cantenac, it was under the direction of Henri Lurton that large portions of the vineyard were replanted. Vine densities were increased, the drainage systems were improved and the plantings were also, slowly changed. The vineyard of Brane Cantenac is planted to 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 4.5% Cabernet Franc and .5% Carmenere. Carmenere was used for the first time in the 2011 vintage. The only other Chateau I know that still uses Carmenere is Clerc Milon. The 75 hectare Left Bank vineyard of Brane Cantenac is essentially unchanged since it earned Second Growth status in the 1855 Classification. At least that is the case with the 45 hectares used to produce the Grand Vin of Brane Cantenac. Those 45 hectares are planted surrounding the Chateau. Those vines are located just in front of the Cantenac plateau and are the best terroir that Brane Cantenac owns. They have other parcels, which are further inland and much of those grapes are placed into their second wine, Le Baron de Brane. Those additional hectares can be divided into 3 main sections. Behind the Chateau, they have 15 hectares of vines on gravel and sand, 10 hectares across the road with sand, gravel and iron and a 13 hectare parcel with gravel called Notton, which is used for their second wine. The vineyard is planted to a vine density that ranges from 6,666 vines per hectare on the plateau and up to 8,000 vines per hectare for the vines located behind chateau, in their sandier soils. The higher levels of vine density are always found in the newer plantings. The terroir of Brane Cantenac consists of deep gravel, sand and clay soil. Experiments in the vineyards are currently looking at becoming more organic in their vineyard management. Today, more than 25% of Brane Cantenac is farmed using organic farming techniques. It is expected that over time, the amount of hectares farmed with organic methods will be increased. Brane Cantenac has gone through 2 relatively recent modernization’s in 1999, when they added began adding the first of their smaller vats to allow for parcel by parcel vinification and then again in 2015 when they completed a much more complete renovation of their cellars and vat rooms. While Brane Cantenac is a traditional producer, they are no stranger to technology as they were one of the first estates to embrace optical grape sorting machines. In very wet vintages, they can also use reverse osmosis. To produce the wine of Chateau Brane Cantenac, the wine is vinified in a combination of temperature controlled, traditional, 22 oak vats, 18 concrete tanks and 20 stainless steel vats that vary in size from 40 hectoliters all the way up to 200 hectoliters, which allows for parcel by parcel vinification. 40% of the fermentation takes place in the oak vats. The oldest vines are vinified in vats that are selected to allow for separate parcel by parcel vinification. The younger vines are vinified more often together in the same vats. However, the Carmenere is entirely micro-vinified, meaning that those grapes were completely vinified in barrel, using micro-vinification techniques. This can also happen because the amount of grapes produced is so small. Some vats can be co-inoculated, meaning they go through alcoholic fermentation and malolactic fermentation simultaneously. At Chateau Brane Cantenac, malolactic fermentation takes place in a combination of French oak tanks and barrels. The wine of Brane Cantenac is aged in an average of 60% new, French oak barrels for 18 months before bottling. The initial 2 months of aging is done with the wine on its lees, which adds more depth to the wine. There second wine is Le Baron de Brane. Le Baron de Brane is not new. In fact, previously, the second wine went under the name of Chateau Notton, which took its name from one of the main parcels where the grapes were planted. During the late 1950’s and into the 1960’s, having a second wine was important as the estate declassified 3 vintages, due to extremely poor, weather conditions in 1956, 1960 and 1963. Production of Chateau Brane Cantenac is about 11,000 cases per year. — 8 years ago

Chris

9.2

Really approachable out of the gate, bright red fruit with good length on the palette. — 4 years ago

Adriana Fabbro

9.2

Mourvèdre Madness Monday. Common threads: tart blackberry, characteristic rustic meatiness/ferrous quality and reduction.

Mataro from Zin master Joel Peterson. Richest, most forward and fullest bodied of the bunch by far. Extracted but balanced. Tannins are plush and wooly. Fresh violets, smoke and licorice. — 4 years ago

with Maura

Nico Canova

9.1

Toward the end of its life, light on flavor, but still phenomenal — 5 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.5

Pontet Canet tasting and dinner with Alfred Tesseron.

2016 is such a beautifully, ripe and elegant vintage. The 16 stands tall from the other vintages we tasted.

The body is rich, bold and thick. Beautiful dark fruits of ripe, ruby; blackberries, plum, dark cherries, strawberries and amazing blue fruits shine as it sit on the palate. There is more balance in the 16...fruits and earth. Saddle-wood, tobacco, leather, dry soil, dry & moist clay, dry stone, rich dark earth, lead pencil, bright, fresh, red, blue, dark flowers with violets. Very nice acidity with a beautiful finish.

Don’t even touch a bottle for 15 plus years. This nice now but, you will only be cheating yourself out of a very special wine 15 plus years from now.

Photos of; Clyde and Alfred at the bar, their Amphora style cement tanks they ferment part of each vintage now, road signs of the good neighbors they keep and Chateau Pontet Canet. — 6 years ago

C. Cole

9.3

Anise, dark cherries, and a hint of forest floor. Well balanced and smooth from the first sip to the last. — 8 years ago

Susan Sangiacomo

9.1

If you read my other post....I'm thinking it's (partially) me. Another wine that I usually rate high, but my rating falls short from my typical Opus rating. After my disappointment with the Continuum, I opened this. Was more pleased, but these are two wines I typically would rate 9.4+....so very odd I rated both on the lower 9 end of the scale. Must be me. — 8 years ago