Paddock Wood Brewing Co.

Château Brane-Cantenac

Grand Cru Classé en 1855 Margaux Red Bordeaux Blend 2005

Somm David T
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

Eric, Jason and 39 others liked this
Severn Goodwin

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Great write up, when I first saw this you were only one paragraph in. Thanks.
Somm David T

Somm David T Influencer Badge

@Severn Goodwin Thank you. I thought it was particularly interesting he sold Mouton to buy Brane Cantenac. Too bad he did have a magic 8 ball to predict the future.
Chris England

Chris England

Had this over the weekend - must post soon - love this wine 👍😎🍷

Bedrock Wine Co.

Griffin's Lair Vineyard Syrah 2013

Still coming together. Can't decide if this is lean, elegant and slightly feral or big, fruity and concentrated. Tonight, it began as the first and opened into the later. Lovely blackberry and plum notes to go along with bacon fat and a touch of wood spice and vanilla. Will love to see this mature. I continue to kick myself for opening Bedrock early but yet I still do it. — 10 years ago

David, Carla and 4 others liked this
Doctor No

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This got even better and more complex over three days and is now reminiscent of a Chave St. Joseph.
David L

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Great notes

Bedrock Wine Co.

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A good amount of wood is showing up in this wine... Not bad. Needs time to integrate. — 10 years ago

Steve liked this

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A saturated reddish-purple, the '11 Bedrock Zinfandel 'Saitone Ranch Vineyard' emits characteristic brambly clove spice, sappy dark cherry and oak aromas with some violet undertones. Great depth of cherry-cola, wood smoke and white pepper flavors on the mouth with balanced acidity that keeps the sweet fruit in line. A rich finish with stunning depth and length. — 11 years ago

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Wow, snuck a delicious Sask ale on here! This is closer to a porter with a distinct toasted malt flavour. Drink at cellar temp, don't be a knob! — 12 years ago

Lauren liked this
Tim Dubroy

Tim Dubroy

My first Sask wine!
Lauren Heppell

Lauren Heppell

I'm torn whether to put beers on here.
Feeling Good

Feeling Good

Yeah...they should have a My Beer app. as well.

Judge Palmer

Beckstoffer Georges III Cabernet Sauvignon 2011

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

Martin, Greg and 29 others liked this
Martin G Rivard

Martin G Rivard Influencer Badge

@Ron R This wine is so good that I️ ordered a special 9L bottle of it for my 1st grandson’s birth year!! That’s how much I’m a believer in this wine. Simply spectacular!!! @Ron R They are truly rockstars over there!!!
Ron R

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And it was you that put me onto this, Martin. I am forever in your debt.

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David, Alicia and 10 others liked this

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Charles liked this

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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

Brian liked this

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Gary and Stewart liked this

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Marc, David and 3 others liked this

Garage Wine Co.

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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

Matchbook Wine Co.

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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

Bob, Jonathan and 2 others liked this

Cantina dei Produttori Carema

Riserva Carema Nebbiolo 2011

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K U
8.9

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— 10 years ago

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Aran Healy
9.2

Great wine again. A little bit too much wood but otherwise great — 11 years ago

Anthony, Vinny and 1 other liked this

The Paddock

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Fairly fruity lost a lot of wood after a few days. Would drink again. — 11 years ago