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

michele janezic

8.9

the "i better make my flight drink" — 9 years ago

with Jennifer

Laura McLean

9.2

Declassified Condrieu. I've had this before and I'll have it again. Under $30, would happily pay $50+. Floral, fragrant, jasmine and honeysuckle notes with a ton of peach and nectarine. Hell yes. I friggin' love Viognier and this is such a classic representation. — 9 years ago

Benoit TABAKA

9.2

vintage 2010 — 9 years ago

Peter J.

9.2

2011. Nose is insane — 10 years ago

Victor Hwang

9.4

Very enjoyable and drinkable now. Brighter red fruit notes compared to the 96 clerc milon; softer tannins; longer finish — 10 years ago

Jim Stehli

9.4

Always great to see an old friend...! — 7 years ago

Cristina Agnoletto

9.3

Bright golden color, quintessential round meursault palate, complimented with balanced acidity, melon and lime zest flavors. A delicious, powerful wine with laser precision backed by balanced mineralization — 7 years ago

with Gene

Diana Eng

8.9

2010 vintage. A good find from one of the off areas of Beaune from a great year. Earth, mineral, floral, tart cherries, currants. — 8 years ago

with EatSommThings

Mark Howard

9.4

Crisp fun burg. — 8 years ago

with Renegade and Elizabeth

Ross Chernin

9.2

Really need to give time to decant. 2+ hours. Velvety soft structure but still hints of the youthful power. Reminiscent a Clerc-Milon — 8 years ago

Mike Cox

9.4

Definitely sliding into brett territory, but the mouthfeel and depth made up for it. — 9 years ago

Jeff Verellen

9.1

Had the last piece of @nicolas clerc bread with this wine. PERFECT combination. The wine makes makes me think of the LULU of bouju. Raging rasberry acidity. Sweetness to support. — 9 years ago

aldevis

9.8

2011
Marvellous body. — 9 years ago

Ebony N Simon

10

Great taste...... — 9 years ago

George Yasutake

9.5

Well balanced, fruit forward & nice finish. Best wine of the night - 06 Clos De Tech Pinot Louise & 05 Clerc Milon. — 10 years ago

with Wade

Sung Park

9.3

98 clerc milion is good — 10 years ago

Justin Debrosky

10

Simply amazing! — 11 years ago

Brandi Bratek

8.9

Maintains bubbles well. Delicious on its own or as a cocktail mixer. — 7 years ago

Franz Gondard

9.6

Vin de fou complexe a souhait bravo martin — 7 years ago

Wendy Narby

9.3

Camarelused but not oxidised - almost a botrytis note - lovely — 7 years ago

Alex Westphal

9.0

Trinkbar ä — 8 years ago

with Gordon

David Brodrick

9.6

Wow, what a luscious but restrained wine - haven't had a great Burgundy in a while, and now I've been reminded of what I'm missing. The perfect thing to start our anniversary off on the right foot, with great friends.. — 8 years ago

with Iris

Jimmy Smith

Director, West and North London Wine School

9.4

2007: lovely opulent nose, creamy, light salted butter, vanilla, almond, and bags of red Apple, peachy notes. Very forward. Complex, mouth coating, minerally, clean, creamy, green apple, white peach, a long smoky mineral and oak length. Fab. — 9 years ago

Michelle Liu

8.9

Delicious. — 9 years ago

Michel Rolland

9.2

Very nice bottle, the wine was perfect with nice aromas, and a beautiful mouth feeling. — 9 years ago

Andrew Jamieson

9.0

Always a staple in my collection. — 9 years ago

James Heygate-Browne

9.2

More like a Meursault than a Montrachet, lucky I'm a big fan of the former :) Loved it! — 9 years ago

Sasha Agapov

9.6

Strong oak. Maybe a bit too strong in my opinion. Very strong sunflower seeds, lemongrass and vanilla in the nose, and the body delivered—well-balanced and full. Would drink again. — 10 years ago

Victor Hwang

9.4

Still huge. Can age another 5-10 yrs and will be more well integrated. Tannins were big. It outshone the clerc milon. — 10 years ago