Tree Kilpatrick

9.7

Dark, deep purple color. Lovely aroma of roses, ripe red/black plums and wood-stove. Flavors are elegant and meaty. Some savory, chewy parts and plenty of bing cherry. Also has an inky streak. This is a great cooler climate Zin. Drinks a bit like Merlot, but has a hazelnut or chestnut thing that sings pure Zin. — 5 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.2

The nose reveals; sweet & sour dark cherries, deeply, ripe & juicy strawberries, rhubarb & cranberry crossing, plum liqueur, blackberries, blueberries, candied raspberries, dark chocolate, limestone minerals, sandstone, anise to black licorice, dry, crushed rocks with blue, red, dark, fresh & withering florals with fields of violets.

The body is still firm, thick, grainy and full. The structure, tension are still tight. The length and balance are working their way into adolescence. Sweet & sour dark cherries, deeply, ripe & juicy strawberries, black raspberries, juicy, black plum, rhubarb & cranberry crossing, plum liqueur, blackberries, blueberries, candied raspberries, caramel, clove, touch of nutmeg, vanilla, dark chocolate, semi-sweet tarriness, understated herbaceousiness, limestone minerals, powdery sandstone leather, dry tobacco, saddle-wood to cedar plank, dark spice, sandstone, anise to black licorice, dry, crushed rocks with blue, red, dark, fresh & withering florals with fields of violets.

It’s still a youthful wine with another 10-15 years ahead.

Photos of; the hilltop town of Barbaresco with the Produttori tasting room underneath and right of the tower, the Produttori tasting room and the co-op of Produttori. Third largest in Europe. — 6 years ago

Ignacio D. Cenicacelaya

9.9

Apple with wood notes very smooth. — 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. — 7 years ago

"Odedi"

9.2

This is a very tasty Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley.

Rich, powerful, extracted and fruit forward with black fruits and chocolate notes, vanilla, wood, spices, peppercorn, tobacco, graphite and dark coffee.

Full bodied with medium acidity.

Spicy with a long finish and round tannins.

Good right out of the bottle and better as it opens up. Good for parties.

14.5% alcohol by volume.

92 points.

$80. — 5 years ago

David Kline

9.2

Okay, just black. Blonde wood/ baked apple hurrah, and then the dark quiet of space, or the grainy expanses of closed lids. The lacing of lazy, wood-boring insects. Such sights have set me to worrying of late. Mornings being a struggle at times, especially after these nighttime wooden cudgels and dark devices. The rack anyone? Coconut on coals. Tar socks. Dried violets. Black strap cola. Scraped vanilla beans, and dark chocolate cookie covered coal. Anise cinnamon and thin mint. Well, that’s the smell of the thing. The mouth below is unsweetened baker’s dark chocolate, blackened iron, vine charcoal, charred bone, hot springs through rubber piping, black sugar, Spanish “chocolate” brandy/black strap rum and graphite/smoke with evergreen suggestions. Not the Dragon of fire and smoke I expected, but certainly a formidable cave monster, living inside a volcano. I particularly appreciated the mineral/ethereal aspect. — 6 years ago

Michael Tuchband

9.7

Golden color, nose of golden raisins, honey, dry wood, palate of caramel, baking spices, beautifully smooth and balanced sweetness and acidity, nice long finish with notes of wet aged wood. — 7 years ago

with Moné

Douglas Braun

9.1

This is lot # 57 Carignan blend 2014 - awesome wine subtle almost Zinfandel like wild fruit wood spice nice complexity — 7 years ago

Scott Wiegand

9.0

Very good Zin. Well balanced between acidity and ripeness. Solid blackberry and raspberry tart flavors with subtle wood spices. I am continually impressed by this stuff. — 8 years ago

Dave Genevro

9.4

Aromas of citrus flowers, lemongrass and faint lighter fluid; lime, lemon, with juicy and saliva building acidity. I feel like the wood influence helped the acids from getting too crazy in it's youth. I can't wait to try the second bottle years from now. Fruit from the second oldest known Riesling vineyard in CA, planted in 1963. Granite and limestone soils...that are unmistakably present in the wine, in both the nose and mouth feel. Own rooted, cared and tended to by Pat Wirz. Morgan used indigenous yeasts and aged it partly in neutral french oak casks. 13.5% ABV. — 8 years ago

TheWineStalker

9.0

Vegetable oil in color. The nose has a massive layer of flint over the aromas of peach and pear. It's full bodied in the mouth and creamy in mouthfeel with mellow acidity. There's flavors of peach, pear, pineapple and wood. It finishes pineapply, spicy and viscous. Excellent alternative to Chardonnay or Muscadet. — 9 years ago

Jeremy Bohrer

9.5

Wow! What a cool wine. 17 varietals co-planted in a 50 year old vineyard. Super drinkable and super complex. Aged for a short time in Acacia wood which adds body and a cool floral component. — 9 years ago

Shay A

9.2

A few fun 4th Friday wines from tonight.

This was more elegant than expected. Beautiful notes of cherry vanilla tobacco, baked black cherry pie, plum, and spiced rhubarb aromatics. On the palate, there are red and black fruits, peppercorn, cherry cordial, cherry smoked wood. Less tannic than expected. In a good spot now, so I’m not sure if it’s just a unique drinking window to be this accessible this early (these normally have massive tannins that help these age for 10-15 easy). — 6 years ago

with Mark, Dan and 1 other

"Odedi"

8.9

Dark ruby in color with a cloudy brick rim.

On the nose, currants, plums, light wood, vanilla, spices, wet leaves, forest floor, pencil lead, vinaigrette, leather and peppercorn.

Full-bodied and elegant with medium plus acidity.

Dry on the palate with blueberries, oak, red currants, vanilla, licorice, earth, eucalyptus, vinaigrette, leather, dark chocolates, coffee and peppercorn.

Nice finish with fine grained tannins and tangy pomegranates.

This is a very nice aged Shiraz from Australia. Not fully balanced anymore, but showing nice complexity and a great mouthfeel.

Showing a nice tangy ending, which would pair well with food.

Interesting and enjoyable, although this was probably better a couple of years ago.

Wine Enthusiasts 91 points.

Thank you, Scott for sharing.

I paired it with cheeses and light appetizers.

15% alcohol by volume.

89 points.

$75. — 6 years ago

Bill Bender

9.6

My co-WOTN was this open and captivating Cornas that was showing so much for a relatively young 💯 percent Syrah. This is probably the best youthful Cornas I’ve ever had the pleasure to drink. Dark hued plum, tar, smoke and burnt wood. Tremendous depth and intensity. Thank you @Michael Meyer! — 7 years ago

Ron R

9.3

Wifey is in raptures about this tonight. Very exotic wood treatment. Shitty vintage, but boy, Palmer and Co pulled off some acrobatics here. — 8 years ago

with Anne-marie

Eric Linderman

9.0

Nice new world cab from child , plenty of cassis and dark fruit only criticism is the wood is a bit heavy — 9 years ago

Frank Kuo

9.2

Color of conventional burgundy. Nice nose of wet enoki/oyster mushroom, ripe berries, cedar wood, and barrel fragrance. Taste of bright acidity, wet mushroom, bittersweet, some strawberries, low on tannins, smooth but a bit watery, and a bit edgy sulfate presents itself also. Aftertaste is a bit missing, short with some cherry jam. Nice cherry jam and unbelievable nose of mushroom earns my scores. If you wonder why Pinot can have beautiful flavor of mushroom, try this one! — 9 years ago

Andy80218

9.1

Early tartness moving on to blackberries and dark damp old forest wood lingering taste after about a half hour. Will get another bottle for 2020!
— 9 years ago

Brett Fromme

9.1

Much better on the second day (i.e. Let this breath or decant). Strong berries and some fragrant wood on the nose. Great complexity with astringent berry flavors mingled with cedar and black pepper spice on the long finish. A nice Cab for an excellent steak. Yummy, I want more of this great value Lake County Cabernet. — 9 years ago