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

jiamin

9.0

Has a really pleasant mineral notes and silky smoothness on pallet. Had this 2009 vintage in a nice day with a nice weather in Opus one Winery at Napa. — 10 years ago

Chris Hogan

9.2

Pure stone fruit. None of the nasty sweetness I remember from Chenins years ago. A really nice warm weather wine that leaves you feeling like you just had a peach. — 10 years ago

Daniel Wade

9.0

Easy to enjoy, maybe not with the weather too hot. — 10 years ago

Sara Teska

9.1

Very crisp. Grapefruit and green apple. Served cold. Nice warm weather wine. — 10 years ago

Laura McCafferty

10

Rose. Great warm weather wine. — 11 years ago

Liz E

9.8

Had at Rail House. Very good, light, crisp, perfect for summer weather! — 12 years ago

Muralee Murugesu

9.0

Warm weather, lovely refreshing rose. Crisp, delicate with peach flavours. — 8 years ago

Michael Rodgers

9.1

Had at The Smokey Rose? Smokey and very good. — 8 years ago

Winston Jones

Host OrganicWineReview, Assistant Buyer Savvy Cellar Wine Bar

9.0

This a really nice wine! I drink each vintage and it's fairly consistent. I paired this Vermentino with an angel hair pasta, bathed in an infused truffle cream and mushroom sauce. All of a sudden my humble California abode felt like I was in Sardinia, Italia! Wine can do that! Isn't that why we love it? BEST with food, warm weather and friendships. Waxing poetic is easy after a few glasses of this beauty. And it's a value play! — 8 years ago

Tobin Trevarthen

8.9

Bold grapefruit, effervescent zip. Perfect for 90 degree weather. — 9 years ago

Alex DiFrancesco

8.9

Pretty damn good dry rosé. Great summer weather wine. Finish leaves you wanting more. — 9 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.2

One of the peatier Single Malts around and being from the West and being a McDonald, one of my favourites. Seaweed and spirity with the expected heat on the throat. A good evening tipple as the colder weather sets in. — 9 years ago

Steven Gruczelak

9.1

This one is complex it starts off with a nice raspberry fruit board and finishes very interesting, definitely something to enjoy when the weather is a little colder — 9 years ago

Aeiko Mitchell

9.8

Refreshing in hot humid weather. Crisp — 10 years ago

with Wendy

Ashley Ready

9.0

Great wine for the hot Houston summer weather. — 10 years ago

Joe Hakim

9.1

Perfect for warm weather. Berries, tart, effervescent. — 10 years ago

Wu Kit

9.0

Refreshing and crisp with some nice mineral flavours. Perfect for the warmer weather. — 10 years ago

Sarah Herrlinger

9.3

Pink wine is really tasty in 90 degree weather — 11 years ago

with Tim

Carl Fischer

9.1

Perfect for HOT weather. Citrus, grapefruit, tart - strong acidity with a touch of oak. Did I mention delicious in this heat. The priming for the WNH dinner continues. — 8 years ago

with Mike

Jake Griffin

9.2

Mix of Syrah, can sauv, and garnacha, limestone off the nose with hints of lime, abundant strawberry and slight melon. Easy to drink especially during warm weather. Would recommend to pair with almost anything other than a number of steaks. — 8 years ago

Christina Hansen

9.2

Wow, this is an amazing value wine at only $10! I confess, I didn't know anything about la Côtes Rêvée and assumed it was in Provence, due to the sweet lychee aroma. However, the medium plus acidity definitely makes sense for the Loire Valley. This delicate rosé has aromas of slightly underripe strawberry and raspberry, like they were the first crop of late spring. There is a bit of minerality that isn't quite smoke or gravel, but more like soft chalk. I would think from the aromas that the summer of 2015 (this vintage) was hot and they picked the grapes early. The varietals are Carignan (70%, increasingly popular in CA) and Grenache (30%).

I would pair this with a strawberry, goat cheese, and spinach salad or baked salmon with buerre blanc... mmm.... yes, definitely the salmon! Oooh, or shrimp scampi or pasta á la vodka! Definitely a food-friendly wine!

Word of advice: do not over-chill, otherwise you lose the aromas. 57-62 degrees is perfect for this wine, great for porch sitting when the weather is nicer! — 8 years ago

Michael LoRusso

9.5

Might be my new favorite... The Plucky just received a few cases and was lucky enough to be offered this with dinner. — 9 years ago

Kate

9.0

Not a rose fan but I like this one. Tart up front but then a smooth finish. Pretty color. Perfect warm weather lunch wine. — 9 years ago

mattlovesnikki

9.0

2014 Italian red
Fruity, light, good for spicy food, hot weather
Bought 2015 Milan — 9 years ago

Tim Edge

9.5

Awesome. Cool weather Syrah wins. — 10 years ago

Erin Bender

9.5

Typical pet-nat. Delicious and bubbly with a yeasty finish. Not too funky. — 10 years ago

Keith Lauck

9.2

Perfect for 100 degree weather. Drink more Rose Arizona! — 10 years ago

Turd Ferguson

9.0

I've been too drunk the last two weeks to upload any of the wines I've had. This ones pretty good. Easy drinker. Clean. Delineated. Nice fruit. Not much structure. Like a good warmer weather Chablis. I'm high as shit. — 10 years ago

Martin Diehr

9.6

Glass of rose and patio ;) in this kind of weather - simply perfect — 11 years ago