Taavi Davies

9.3

Tasted at the same time as the 2011 Clos St Urbain. Same lovely deep golden colour. The nose seemed like it was going to be heavier and sweeter but the reverse: straight to a nice by acidity, with caramels, oak and a citrusy earl grey finish — 3 years ago

Jason Huggins

9.5

Fantastic Italian red! Pairs terrific with reverse seared steak! — 6 years ago

S&M

9.7

When in Rome.... or CB, NS! — 6 years ago

Rob Moose

9.3

This was a serious overperform. Hugely impressive. A lot of tidal notes and great body with cut, no oxidation at all, just a beautiful, ass-kicking wine! Gotta be the best Saint Aubin I’ve ever had. — 7 years ago

Steven Beishuizen

9.1

A couple of years ago when Nova Scotia wines made their debut here at the wine festival, I tasted a lot with mixed results and put away a few bottles. I opened this one not expecting too much, but it was amazingly refreshing alongside a plate of ravioli with a bacony tomato sauce. Tropical flavors. Full of life. — 7 years ago

Kevin smithers

9.1

Indeed a tidal wave of flavours and easy to read too much into this wine the smaller of the family. Well worth the money but owing to the complexity yet well balanced oak I am not sure if I‘d go for the bigger brothers from this vineyard. — 7 years ago

Heather Fournier

10

Gaspereau Vineyards May 2018 Lobster supper with Cathy and Brad. Fantastic! — 8 years ago

Jay Kline

9.6

Popped and poured. No visual signs of age. Intoxicating aromas of dark berries, violets, and roasted meat in huge abundance. A tidal wave of pure dark berries and savory meats with remarkable texture. Structures for days. Hard to believe this is 12 years old...feels like it could age gracefully for 30-40 years. — 8 years ago

with Justin

Brian Ager

8.9

A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon & Merlot (60/40), this is a delicious & inexpensive left bank Bordeaux. I will say that a 30+ minute decant really helped remove some intial reduction.  Afterwards this wine presents black currant & plum with notes of graphite and cigar box with a palate that is medium bodied with just enough well integrated tannins to pair well with reverse seared ribeye steaks alongside rainbow carrots! ($15) [1/21/22] — 4 years ago

Yi-Fen Li

9.5

Delicious paired with reverse-seared ribeye, umami mashed potato, roasted purple brussels, blistered shishito peppers — 6 years ago

with Matthew

Yi-Fen Li

9.3

Decade old, paired with clove n hoof reverse seared pork chops+++ — 7 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

The nose reveals, dark currants, ripe, slightly liqueur; blackberries, black plum, dark cherries, black raspberries, charred strawberries, hints of cooked rhubarb and raspberries. Mixed berry licorice/cola, anise, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, touch clove, steeped fruit tea, herbaceous notes, leather, tobacco, charcoal, wood shavings, limestone minerals, dry stones, a little forest floor, dark fresh florals, lavender & violets.

The body is round, lush with some dusty tannins on the long set. It’s really beautiful right now but, there is still better things ahead over the next 5-8 years before it peaks. It’s silky & satiny. The structure, length, tension and balance are really starting to hit its stride. Dark currants, ripe, slightly liqueur; blackberries, black plum, dark cherries, black raspberries, plum, charred strawberries, hints of cooked rhubarb and raspberries. Mixed berry licorice/cola, anise, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, touch clove, mocha powder, medium dark spice, steeped fruit tea, herbaceous notes, mint, expresso roast, leather, cedar, limestone minerals, dry stones, crushed dry rock & clay, a little forest floor, dark fresh florals, lavender & violets. The acidity is round & beautiful...really shows the greatness of the vintage. The finish is; lush, rich, ripe, elegant, well balanced, polished and quite persistent.

Photos of, Chateau La Fleur de Bouard, the tops of the stainless steel tanks that flow by gravity into the tanks that hang from the other side of the floor/ceiling and their Merlot vines.

I think this was under $35 when I bought it in futures.

Producer history & notes...Chateau La Fleur de Bouard was started by Hubert de Bouard, the owner of Chateau Angelus and Chateau Bellevue in St. Emilion. Hubert de Bouard purchased the vineyard from in 1998. This is a relatively new wine, as the first year for the wine was produced with the 2000 vintage.

Chateau La Fleur de Bouard is produced from a specific a two hectare parcel of old vines that are around 45 years of age, situated on the Lalande de Pomerol Plateau. The vineyard for Chateau La Fleur de Bouard Le Plus is planted to 100% old vine Merlot.

In 2011, La Fleur de Bouard completed a multi-year, top to bottom reconstruction of their entire wine making making facilities and the chateau, making this one of the most modern estates in the Right Bank. The most striking new feature is their hanging, reverse, conical, stainless steel vats as shown in my photos.

The production of La Fleur de Bouard sees a five day cold soak at 10 degrees Celsius and a four-week maceration in “OVNI” stainless steel tanks. The wine is vinified in a combination of stainless steel vats and short, squat shaped oak barrels. The wine receives regular pigeages.

Malolactic fermentation takes place in 100% new, French oak barrels from four different coopers, Taransaud (40%), Demptos (40%), Darnajou (15%) and Vicard (5%). Aging sur lies takes place in 100% new, French oak barrels for an estimated 33 months prior to bottling. The wine requires collaring time for the oak to fully integrate into the wine, and for the secondary notes to develop. — 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

Deborah M

9.2

Wonderful. Really enjoyed this with a reverse seared tomahawk ribeye. Expressive nose. Dark fruit on the pallet. Well balanced. Lengthy finish. Slightly grippy tannins. — 4 years ago

Dylan Thomas

9.2

Cherrykinker and prunes, reverse cherrymander — 5 years ago

Luke Young

9.2

Fantastic. Deep dark red with a bluish tinge. First taste after opening is a tidal wave of blackberry with lingering tannins. Not overly sweet or juicy tho.
After airing blackberry partially gives way to black current and tannins seem to intensify. Almost too bold to drink alone but not. A triple creme cheese with this would be perfection. — 7 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.1

Served from Coravin. I can see why the average CT for these wines hovers around a 91. This wine seems to drink in 'reverse.' Has a powerful purple and black fruit opening, but then really thins out quite a bit to a sweeter purple fruit and fig-rich finish. Definitely not a bad wine. Almost wondering if I didn't open this one too early, but not so sure as this one sort of has somewhat of a tart fruit finish. Not that it wasn't an enjoyable tart finish, but not what I was expecting. Just seemed to be all over the place. Would I kick this one out of bed for eating crackers? Naa....I'd probably eat a few myself. I think this wine showed better at the winery. If you have these, I really can't tell you whether or not I'd drink or hold....a little confused by this one! Might be worth popping the cork on the remaining half of the bottle, re-corking in an hour and coming back to the remainder tomorrow! — 7 years ago

Kristina Hayden Bustamante

9.3

This. 2008 was amazing. Butterscotch and vanilla with great acidity and serious fruit. I wouldn’t be able to tell what this wine was if I was blind tasting and that was really really cool. Like a reverse orange wine. — 8 years ago

Tobin Spratte

9.1

Strong aromas of tidal pools, orange peel, citrus, watermelon, white fruit, and unripe strawberries. Tastes like strawberries grown near the sea. One of my favorite roses. — 8 years ago

Raj Harb

9.4

Reverse mullet. See below. Not my photo — 8 years ago