Family Article
Château Cantenac Brown BriO
Last edited on 5/31/2016 by joesi16
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BriO de Cantenac Brown was born in 2001.
Through the style of its label, but also through the quality of our work from the selection of the lots to the bottling, it aims at expressing the modernity of our Château. The lots supposed to be the main part of BriO are pre-selected because of their evolution all through the year, which means that we focus on each different lot of the winery, from the budburst through the flowering to the ripeness control. The lots for BriO often need more work: more leaf pruning, some green harvest, for example on the young vines, to help them to deal with the weather conditions. Our two labels are made from vines located on a beautiful terroir where you find gravelly soils, and we want the vinification of BriO to lead to an elegant wine with lots of flavours, a compromise between strength and finesse. So, if you like the fruits, you can start to drink it from 2 to 5 years after the harvest. The blend between Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot is different for each vintage but the Merlot percentage is usually more important than the one in the Château Cantenac Brown. The 12 months long ageing in 20% to 25% new oak barrels is traditional; we rack it every 3 months. Before the bottling, we do the fining with egg whites. It is on purpose if the bottles of BriO are different from the ones of Cantenac Brown: we want BriO to become a brand on its own, and it’s true that we talk much more about “BriO” than about “BriO de Cantenac Brown”.
Technical Data
Vineyard: 48 Ha
Grape Varieties: 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc
Vinification: in temperature controlled stainless steel vats
Ageing: 12 months
20% to 25% new oak barrels
Through the style of its label, but also through the quality of our work from the selection of the lots to the bottling, it aims at expressing the modernity of our Château. The lots supposed to be the main part of BriO are pre-selected because of their evolution all through the year, which means that we focus on each different lot of the winery, from the budburst through the flowering to the ripeness control. The lots for BriO often need more work: more leaf pruning, some green harvest, for example on the young vines, to help them to deal with the weather conditions. Our two labels are made from vines located on a beautiful terroir where you find gravelly soils, and we want the vinification of BriO to lead to an elegant wine with lots of flavours, a compromise between strength and finesse. So, if you like the fruits, you can start to drink it from 2 to 5 years after the harvest. The blend between Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot is different for each vintage but the Merlot percentage is usually more important than the one in the Château Cantenac Brown. The 12 months long ageing in 20% to 25% new oak barrels is traditional; we rack it every 3 months. Before the bottling, we do the fining with egg whites. It is on purpose if the bottles of BriO are different from the ones of Cantenac Brown: we want BriO to become a brand on its own, and it’s true that we talk much more about “BriO” than about “BriO de Cantenac Brown”.
Technical Data
Vineyard: 48 Ha
Grape Varieties: 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc
Vinification: in temperature controlled stainless steel vats
Ageing: 12 months
20% to 25% new oak barrels