Kris

9.7

Delicious Pet Nat. A little citrusy and funky — 5 years ago

Jesse Hahn

9.1

Smooth rich cherry chocolate — 6 years ago

Anna Sangiacomo

9.5

Happy 6 Month Anniversary to our daughter & our son-in-law ♥️ — 6 years ago

Kevin Ortzman

9.0

Clearly Bill Harlan passed down great winemaking to his son Will. Big dark fruit with wet slate and earth and a hint of pencil shavings. Well done even given the challenging year Napa had in 2011. — 7 years ago

with Betty, Frank and 1 other

Pamela Matthews

9.0

Crisp and light, with more flavor than those words might suggest. — 7 years ago

with Dennis

XI MO

9.7

Fantastic Baleaeic wine...fantastic with the local food as the sobrassada or pa amb oli(bread And tomato) — 8 years ago

Lisa M

9.5

Great wine, nice notes of tobacco and earth. Plus it's got a Detroit story! — 8 years ago

Pammy Fonoti

9.2

Never knew there was a song after tis awesome wine, thanks eal my dear buddy.. — 8 years ago

Patrice Robert

9.1

Pour le fromage au son des cigales :) — 9 years ago

with Cynthia

Nick Wolfe

9.7

This is the 2004 Ánima Negra Son Negre. It is a gorgeous wine with bramble and red fruit on the nose. Palate is absolutely balanced and set off with one of the best silky textures I've had in a long time. Spice, caramel and a bit of smoke too... Gorgeous and enchanting. — 10 years ago

Richard Van Oorschot

9.0

'12 Equinoxe - Crozes-Hermitage. Pretty good stuff from Maxime Graillot (Alain's son). A fruit forward style, but some lift helps. Acidity's a bit green, but that's no big issue. — 10 years ago

Richard Lent

9.0

Very nice Pinot noir. Goes well with food or on its own. — 12 years ago

Shuhui Ng

9.3

Dense , spicy and fragrant to the nose. — 5 years ago

Brett Bordlemay

8.9

We may or may not have been overlooking Cala Deià when we drank this so our review might be positively influenced but we still very much enjoyed it. — 6 years ago

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. — 6 years ago

Roel van der Burg

Sommelier at Restaurant Entrepot

9.6

From an A+ vineyard, on the St. Aubin side of the Montrachet hill. Next to the Chevalier Montrachet parcel, but with a different exposure (south-west instead of south-east). Energetic Burgundy from a rising star domaine (especially since son Olivier took over in 1995). — 9 years ago

with Kostas, Jos and 2 others

Aris Cruz

9.0

Not too sweet and smooth — 9 years ago

Jérôme Cuvée

9.1

Impressionant ce 2012, bien plus accessible sur la jeunesse que les millésimes précédents, sans perdre son indubitable potentiel ! — 10 years ago

Anna Lapp

9.6

I love this stuff. It's definitely unusual. — 10 years ago

Ron R

9.7

Sheer brilliance!
Loved this SB... First time tasting this. Worth every cent. Son-in-law in the foreground. — 5 years ago

with Mo, Anne-marie and 3 others

Paul T HB

9.6

Last 07, pop & pour beauty
Jack in the box Fridays rule! — 6 years ago

Jonas Johansson

9.2

Rum Raisin awesomeness — 7 years ago

Michael Park

9.5

A five hour decant. Dark cherry and blueberries with a rub of minerals and tobacco. Just awesome — 7 years ago

Rebecca Fletcher

8.9

2013 vintage. Brick color. Appears unfiltered (which I like). Cherries, mushroom, vanilla, and cocoa. Damp soil. M acid. M body. M+ tannins. Balanced. Bit bitter on the palate. Went great with pepperoni pizza. Great price point. — 7 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.1

Jack and Jamie Davies revived the historic vineyards and cellars in 1965, with a mission to produce California's first world-class sparkling wines. Today, led by their son Hugh, continues with this commitment to quality. A 100% Chardonnay, straw yellow with aromas of stone and citrus fruits, with floral scents. A terrific sparkler shows crisp green apple, orange and grapefruit zest. A medium-bodied, wine with a great mousse, tiny bubbles and nice length on the finish ending with some crisp mineral notes. — 8 years ago

Shawn R

9.3

Dark, deep purple in the glass. Fragrant and powerful on the nose. Scents and flavors are very complex. Cigar, blackberry and hint of Brazil Du Banana. Nice wine! — 8 years ago

Ned Gray Creed

9.3

Gang of Four son. Started his own thing at 22. He knows how to treat Gamay. Looking forward to growing old with these. — 9 years ago

Dustin Busby

9.2

My first "orange" wine — 9 years ago

Jon Haupt

9.5

Loved this wine. Especially the aroma--pepper, bacon, slightly woody. Mildly tart, bright fruit flavors. Excellent. — 10 years ago

Eij Yas

9.0

Nice and punchy, yet readily drinkable — 10 years ago

with Yuhei