This bottle with a low shoulder fill was pleasurable in the tertiary if anonymous way that very old Bordeaux can be. A better kept bottle last year (different source) still showed incredible vitality and personality.
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Poured directly from a pristine Nicolas bottle with an upper shoulder fill to glass and followed, this showed brilliantly from the first moment. Big, plush, sublime nose of raspberry, rose, violet, sous-bois. A tiny bit of volatile acidity actually seems to add to the surprisingly refreshing nose. Delicious palate; all silk now. Remarkable longevity - I do hope that whoever is making Brane at the moment has tasted this to serve as a template! 96+
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Acker Merrall Pre-Auction Tasting (Le Cirque - New York NY): Tasting, brief note. Cigar box aromas with fully mature black cherry and spice notes. Surprisingly bright flavors as well, even if slightly lean at the very end. Good length. What a treat.
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Brick colored, this piece of history is filled with complex aromas of Cuban cigars, pipe tobacco, cherry blossoms, leather, soy and smoke. With the beautiful patina of age, rusty black cherries, spice, backed dark berry pies and spice. The wine began to fade after 20 minute. But those initial moments were memorable. It is always a treat to enjoy history.
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This bottle made me feel like either I needed to take up smoking, or quit, I was not sure which message it was sending. This could have been a Graves. Smoke, ash, cigar box, earth, tobacco, wood fire, lit cigar and cigarettes, along with pipe tobacco and hint of cassis made up the smoke filled perfume. Full bodied, but with only faint hints of dark berries poking through, this was an interesting experience. Interestingly, I recently discovered the 1928 was kept in wood for 4 years before bottling. This may have had some effect on the quality of the wine. However, the saying about wines over 20 years of age holds even more truth when the wine is over 80 years old! After 20 years of age, there are no great wines, just great bottles. But it will remain a great memory having tasted a wine with my father that is almost a decade older than he is!
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Provenance & Handling 80 year old Chateau bottle, served in USA. Wine removed, sampled, re-labeled, recorked at Chateau Brane-Cantenac, December 2007. Received at the Waldorf-Astoria, NYC, 1/23/08, from Ms. Corrine Conroy, Marketing Director, Brane-Cantanac. Cellared five months prior to service in honor of another 1928 birthday -- my father's 80th. The bottle was opened using the “Audouze Method”, whereby the original cork is carefully extracted (intact in this case), and the bottle is then left to rest, opened, but not aerated. After consulting with Mr. Audouze himself, he recommended a 5 hour waiting period, undisturbed, before sampling and sharing.
Tasting Notes
May 31, 2008: The first unmistakeable aromatic impression is that of a natural wine cellar -- a cave that has experienced decades of vintages, barrels, and bottles. Musty, floral, venerable. This is class. Old, but very much alive. When shared with the family: fragile and precious elegance. Bright smiles, the wine demonstrates a deep constitution, exceptional finesse, but not complete fragility, and an unforgettable finish. We are all indelibly kissed. Glorious.
Angel's Share resealed.
June 1, 2008, Angels Share. Pooling blue color, orange rim. Pipes & channels forming as the wine sits in the glass and settles out even more. Nose is a faded rose garden, softly waning fragrance. Sediment, silt is collecting. The color and now the bouquet both evoke dried rose petals. Fleeting whiffs -- mushrooms, and essence of compost. Gently slow-roll the glass, and the deep red-blue pool of fine silt stays in place, “climbing the glass” as the elixir separates and moves over it. Now more porcini mushrooms. And, an hour later... at the end, cool, sweet, serene. Everlasting, mouth-watering, and incredibly long & beautiful. Love. It is love.
Photo of label & final sample uploaded to www.Cellartracker.com.
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Ch. Brane Cantenac 1928 - Mid shoulder level - Tasted September 7th, 2003. Nice bright light ruby color with slight amber on the rim that cannot betray its old age. This 1928 is outstanding both by its youth on the nose and palate. Black berries with some spices on the nose, a good freshness and a "creme de cassis" -blueberry liquor- aroma on the palate, this wine still holds a lot of fruit and can probably be kept for an extra 5 to 10 years easily. The finish is just a little dry and tannins can be felt over on the palate although well integrated. The after taste stays on cherry and "creme de cassis". Hard to tell this wine is 75 years old! and glad to have a second one in the cellar...
Ch. Brane Cantenac 1928 - niveau mi epaule- deguste le 07/09/2003 -Robe legerement tuilee sur les bords qui ne trahait en rien son age avance. Le 1928 etonne par sa jeunesse tant au nez qu'en bouche avec a la fois un arome de fruit noir au nez et une pointe de creme de cassis en bouche. Encore plein de fruit a deguster pour ce vin qui supportera probablement encore quelques annes en cave. La finale est legerement seche avec des tannins bien fondus mais encore present. On reste sur des aromes de liqueur de cassis/cerise en retro-olfaction. On a du mal a croire que ce vin fete ses 75 ans !!!
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8/10/2020 - Boone's Farm Likes this wine: 92 Points
First rate old Bordeaux with plenty of life. Earth, forest floor, dark fruit but not fading at all. Elegant, integrated and long on the palate.
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10/1/2019 - englishman's claret wrote:
This bottle with a low shoulder fill was pleasurable in the tertiary if anonymous way that very old Bordeaux can be. A better kept bottle last year (different source) still showed incredible vitality and personality.
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12/10/2018 - englishman's claret wrote: 96 Points
Poured directly from a pristine Nicolas bottle with an upper shoulder fill to glass and followed, this showed brilliantly from the first moment. Big, plush, sublime nose of raspberry, rose, violet, sous-bois. A tiny bit of volatile acidity actually seems to add to the surprisingly refreshing nose. Delicious palate; all silk now. Remarkable longevity - I do hope that whoever is making Brane at the moment has tasted this to serve as a template! 96+
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4/6/2017 - Burgundy Al wrote: 93 Points
Acker Merrall Pre-Auction Tasting (Le Cirque - New York NY): Tasting, brief note. Cigar box aromas with fully mature black cherry and spice notes. Surprisingly bright flavors as well, even if slightly lean at the very end. Good length. What a treat.
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4/20/2011 - Jeff Leve wrote: 93 Points
Brick colored, this piece of history is filled with complex aromas of Cuban cigars, pipe tobacco, cherry blossoms, leather, soy and smoke. With the beautiful patina of age, rusty black cherries, spice, backed dark berry pies and spice. The wine began to fade after 20 minute. But those initial moments were memorable. It is always a treat to enjoy history.
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7/29/2010 - Jeff Leve wrote: 75 Points
This bottle made me feel like either I needed to take up smoking, or quit, I was not sure which message it was sending. This could have been a Graves. Smoke, ash, cigar box, earth, tobacco, wood fire, lit cigar and cigarettes, along with pipe tobacco and hint of cassis made up the smoke filled perfume. Full bodied, but with only faint hints of dark berries poking through, this was an interesting experience. Interestingly, I recently discovered the 1928 was kept in wood for 4 years before bottling. This may have had some effect on the quality of the wine. However, the saying about wines over 20 years of age holds even more truth when the wine is over 80 years old! After 20 years of age, there are no great wines, just great bottles. But it will remain a great memory having tasted a wine with my father that is almost a decade older than he is!
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5/31/2008 - City Wine Journal wrote: 96 Points
Provenance & Handling
80 year old Chateau bottle, served in USA. Wine removed, sampled, re-labeled, recorked at Chateau Brane-Cantenac, December 2007. Received at the Waldorf-Astoria, NYC, 1/23/08, from Ms. Corrine Conroy, Marketing Director, Brane-Cantanac. Cellared five months prior to service in honor of another 1928 birthday -- my father's 80th. The bottle was opened using the “Audouze Method”, whereby the original cork is carefully extracted (intact in this case), and the bottle is then left to rest, opened, but not aerated. After consulting with Mr. Audouze himself, he recommended a 5 hour waiting period, undisturbed, before sampling and sharing.
Tasting Notes
May 31, 2008: The first unmistakeable aromatic impression is that of a natural wine cellar -- a cave that has experienced decades of vintages, barrels, and bottles. Musty, floral, venerable. This is class. Old, but very much alive. When shared with the family: fragile and precious elegance. Bright smiles, the wine demonstrates a deep constitution, exceptional finesse, but not complete fragility, and an unforgettable finish. We are all indelibly kissed. Glorious.
Angel's Share resealed.
June 1, 2008, Angels Share. Pooling blue color, orange rim. Pipes & channels forming as the wine sits in the glass and settles out even more. Nose is a faded rose garden, softly waning fragrance. Sediment, silt is collecting. The color and now the bouquet both evoke dried rose petals. Fleeting whiffs -- mushrooms, and essence of compost. Gently slow-roll the glass, and the deep red-blue pool of fine silt stays in place, “climbing the glass” as the elixir separates and moves over it. Now more porcini mushrooms. And, an hour later... at the end, cool, sweet, serene. Everlasting, mouth-watering, and incredibly long & beautiful. Love. It is love.
Photo of label & final sample uploaded to www.Cellartracker.com.
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1/11/2008 - SimonK wrote: 86 Points
Bodeaux Raritäten Probe Day 1 1864-1949 (Haus der Harmonie, Bochum, Germany): Slightly opaque dark brick with small orange rims
In the nose some plum and slightly sour
Full of Cherries, very nice but is dying pretty quick
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9/7/2003 - agallut wrote: 95 Points
Ch. Brane Cantenac 1928 - Mid shoulder level - Tasted September 7th, 2003. Nice bright light ruby color with slight amber on the rim that cannot betray its old age. This 1928 is outstanding both by its youth on the nose and palate. Black berries with some spices on the nose, a good freshness and a "creme de cassis" -blueberry liquor- aroma on the palate, this wine still holds a lot of fruit and can probably be kept for an extra 5 to 10 years easily. The finish is just a little dry and tannins can be felt over on the palate although well integrated. The after taste stays on cherry and "creme de cassis". Hard to tell this wine is 75 years old! and glad to have a second one in the cellar...
Ch. Brane Cantenac 1928 - niveau mi epaule- deguste le 07/09/2003 -Robe legerement tuilee sur les bords qui ne trahait en rien son age avance. Le 1928 etonne par sa jeunesse tant au nez qu'en bouche avec a la fois un arome de fruit noir au nez et une pointe de creme de cassis en bouche. Encore plein de fruit a deguster pour ce vin qui supportera probablement encore quelques annes en cave. La finale est legerement seche avec des tannins bien fondus mais encore present. On reste sur des aromes de liqueur de cassis/cerise en retro-olfaction. On a du mal a croire que ce vin fete ses 75 ans !!!
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