February 24, 2024 - This is always great. It’s a great example of a ready to drink, not over the top, Bordeaux, from a fairly ripe vintage, I might add. This has classic red and black cherries, and plenty of soil and mineral traits. It’s picking up secondary traits as well; aged tobacco, forest floor, air dried mahogany, furniture shop, etc. I love it as a classic Bordalais exemplar, it’s balanced, with pure fruit, and so many big pieces, that add no weight at all! Really terrific.
November 19, 2023 - 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: This was the best wine in the first flight (55/82/83), a touch above the almost equally good 1983. The 1989 vintage with lots of fine fruit and a seductive character is on full display: The bouquet shows intense dark fruit and some burnt sugar notes. With time some medicinal notes. Not very complex but inviting. The palate displays a complex dark berry core with burnt sugar notes, fresh herbs and crushed rocks. Quite complete and balanced with a melted tannin structure and good tension and freshness. Easily 93+pts.
Decanting: Not decanted. It seemed that this vintage doesn’t need much air. A short decant should be sufficient.
October 15, 2023 - WOTN. Medium bodied, lots of earthy / savory notes, clean dark red fruit, super silky tannins, and a long finish. This is ready to go; I don’t see any room for improvement.
September 10, 2023 - 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:
- Significantly more intensity and fruit, also first hints of dark fruit recognizable. Rather red and dark plums, currants.
- Very nice on the palate with polished tannins, still has some tannins but is a lot of fun, very great structure. With nice acidity to the finish.
- Striking here in this flight (compared to 1955, 1982) that there is the most fruit and balance.
- 93-94 points
August 19, 2023 - PnP. Brick color taint, still dark-ish. Roses, dark berries and a touch of pencil lead. Although polished, the tannins are still present. The acidity plays nicely along with the fruit, making this a pleasure to drink. Lacking a bit of complexity. However: pairing this wine with beef tartare along with chantarelle, makes this a pairing made in heaven. Alone: 89p. Pairing: 93p.
May 15, 2023 - The wine is still so vital after nearly 34 years since its harvest. Pours a deep red with only a slight bricking at the edges. Herbs and bramble on the nose with some dark cassis. Holds true on the palate, showing medium body, refined tannin structure, and still quite a bit of acid. Very classic and elegant style overall.
March 3, 2023 - Commanderie de Bordeaux: Spring Parlement - Chateau Brane-Cantenac (Minneapolis Club, Mpls, MN): Very dark red/purple color. Decanted - unsure of time; drank a glass over an hour. Cassis, black raspberries, violet, lacquer, tobacco leaf, sauvage on the nose. The palate is full bodied, but from this bottle a bit flat for an '89; cassis, black cherry, a little sorched earth, more brooding, though evenhanded, and less compelling than '78 or '00 in my glass. Others felt the '89 took honors (there were 4 different bottles - so variation was likely present), though I found mine less compelling. Rank '00, '78, '89, '82.
August 13, 2021 - Tasted blind. This was lovely. The nose showed a herbal whole cluster note in the foreground like you find in Dujac Burgundy for example. There is good fruit and sweetness to buffer this element. Additional forest floor aromas and mouthfeel point to CabSav though. I was guessing St.Julian. Nice to see such elegant claret. Was terriffic with the Chinese food.
August 4, 2021 - 8 years since last having the 89 Brane and this has come together beautifully. 1h slow ox’ed, but I could smell that the wine was good to go when pulling the cork. Plenty of leather notes but also still good fruit concentration. Tannins still a bit sandy but worked great with steak at home.
A golden period for Brane those 70s and 80s, what followed in the 90s and 00s was merely solid in my eyes.
March 9, 2021 - Dès le premier coup de nez, on se sent bien. C'est intense, complexe et élégant: bois précieux, léger fruit, tabac, notes florales, sous-bois, quelques épices (poivre). Très très joli !
Bouche à la hauteur avec de la présence et du raffinement. Quelques tannins accrocheurs au début mais tout rentre dans l'ordre à l'aération et surtout à table où le vin s'exprime parfaitement avec un équilibre et une harmonie parfaites.
Très bonne persistance sur la complexité perçue au nez.
Grand plaisir sur cette bouteille !