Community Tasting Note

Cailles wrote:

Sunday, 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: Not a particularly strong vintage, this bottle performed quite well. The winery certainly pushed the ripeness as far as they could and gave it quite a bit of oak and this showed: Quite expressive dark fruit core on the nose and palate with some additional layers of cola, burnt sugar and herbs. The tannin structure was a bit harsh and first but with time got softer and softer, but unfortunately some of tannins were green and no amount of air could have changed that. 90/91pts.

Decanting: Not decanted. 30-60 minutes in a decanter should be sufficient.

Post a Comment / View Cailles's profile
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue (1,195 views)