2006 Château Brane-Cantenac

Community Tasting Notes (90) Avg Score: 90.1 points

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  11/19/2023 - Cailles wrote: 85 Points

  20 Vintages of Brane Cantenac: My limited experience with Brane has been mostly positive, and this tasting confirmed my initial thoughts: these days, Brane is A) usually quite accessible and charming, even young; B) the quality has steadily improved over the years, the wines are becoming more complex, precise and balanced; while vintages pre 2015 often seemed a bit simple, more recent vintages show better, C) the aromatics in recent vintages remind me of Ch. Margaux, with beautiful ripe red fruit core, as well as floral and coffee components; and D) the quality/price ratio is exceptionally good (not considered for the ratings). E) The best wine was the ethereal 2020 (96 points), followed by a superbly fresh 2010 (95 points). Although the quality is exceptional these days, the Chateau didn't fully nail every vintage, the 2019 (93pts) and, more surprisingly, the 2016 (93pts) were strong but a tad too ripe and sweet.
  
  TN: There was not much expression here, the wine seemed locked. In addition there were green notes on the palate and the finish showed quite astringent. I’m not sure, if this was a totally representative bottle.

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  11/11/2023 - Motz wrote: 93 Points

  A better bottle than the one tasted two years ago. This one featured elegant Margaux terroir, on the bouquet and palate. With air, the wine revealed crème de cassis top notes. Subtle and balanced. In a very good place now and likely to hold for a few years. Satisfying.

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  9/10/2023 - J_H Likes this wine: 90 Points

  Vertical of 20 vintages - Chateau Brane-Cantenac: It was a pleasure to taste 20 vintages of Brane-Cantenac. All wines were tasted blind and with little time (10min per flight of 4 wines). Coming from the Margaux appellation, the wine convinced 1) with its accessibility of all vintages, 2) often very feminine and fresh vinification and 3) especially the consistency of quality to be emphasized. So it was not surprising that all 20 bottles (for the first time in this tasting with 12 people) were empty. At the same time, it could also be noted that the very great complexity for ratings above 94 points is often somewhat lacking. Very exciting to observe were the significant change in fruit. Until the 2009 vintage, this was often primarily red-fruited, light and very strongly Cabernet influenced. From the 2009 vintage on, a clear shift to more extraction and sweetness of the fruit is noticeable. The last, often great vintages from 2015 to 2020 are ripe but still with a good freshness/acidity (except for 2015 according to my impression).
  
  Tasting Note:
  - This vintage is similar to the 2010, but is a little more restrained and emphasises red fruit aromas more strongly.
  - When tasting, it is noticeable that this wine has a slightly higher, even crisp acidity compared to the 2010, especially also compared to the 2009 vintage. Towards the finish, however, there is a certain dominance of quite strong tannins and acidity, accompanied by a slight bitterness. The balance seems to be lacking here.
  - Wait some years till opening these bottles, aeration recommended.

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  3/9/2023 - Khon Kaen Likes this wine: 91 Points

  6 years since the last bottle. The previous notes brought back my memory. Uncork the bottle 2 hours in advance. Nose with earthy, dark fruits, smokey, tobacco and leather. Medium-body. Wine is sweet, soft tannins, fresh & elegant. Lovely nose. Very balanced. Overall a very tasty experience.

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  9/26/2022 - Oliverl1 Likes this wine: 88 Points

  Decanted four hours. A pleasant and enjoyable Margaux, but nothing particularly special. I wonder what the 2000, ‘05 and ‘09/‘10 are like. Thus bottle had obviously been kept very well with an excellent fill level and will go on for another 10 years.

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