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 is another 1995 that is quite weak. Muted and unbalanced, slightly green and bitter. There is some fruit left that needs some time and air to come out and make the wine better, but like many 1995s, what little fruit there is will be long gone by the time the structure has finally melted. 85pts for the good freshness and minerality?
Decanting: Not decanted. I don’t think a long decant would have improved things here but I would at least try to give it a few hours.
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A very pretty surprise! Earthy soft, well matured. Expected a bit of dryness on this and maybe some harshness but the wine has mellowed well and is a joy. Well aged, bricking red of course, earthy across but also healthy. This is now getting to the last 5 proper years of its life we feel but very good at this stage too especially if one likes well aged, classic claret. 92
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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: - Still a bit reserved, also has quite a bit of Cabernet fruit (parprika, tomato) but a bit rounder, the barrel is nicely integrated. Behind it aromas of forest floor and undergrowth. - On the palate still a lot of freshness, yet tertiary aromas of foliage, has some greenish components and still rustic tannins. A bit too much acidity. The wine is overall out of balance. - 89-90 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: This is another 1995 that is quite weak. Muted and unbalanced, slightly green and bitter. There is some fruit left that needs some time and air to come out and make the wine better, but like many 1995s, what little fruit there is will be long gone by the time the structure has finally melted. 85pts for the good freshness and minerality?
Decanting: Not decanted. I don’t think a long decant would have improved things here but I would at least try to give it a few hours.
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11/19/2023 - Papies wrote: 92 Points
A very pretty surprise! Earthy soft, well matured. Expected a bit of dryness on this and maybe some harshness but the wine has mellowed well and is a joy.
Well aged, bricking red of course, earthy across but also healthy. This is now getting to the last 5 proper years of its life we feel but very good at this stage too especially if one likes well aged, classic claret. 92
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9/10/2023 - J_H Likes this wine: 89 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:
- Still a bit reserved, also has quite a bit of Cabernet fruit (parprika, tomato) but a bit rounder, the barrel is nicely integrated. Behind it aromas of forest floor and undergrowth.
- On the palate still a lot of freshness, yet tertiary aromas of foliage, has some greenish components and still rustic tannins. A bit too much acidity. The wine is overall out of balance.
- 89-90 points
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7/5/2023 - Claret & CdP Gang Likes this wine:
Pencil lead, tobacco box, black fruits, quite a decent aged Margaux
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4/1/2022 - Marc C Likes this wine: 88 Points
Bu en parallèle du 96, il m'a paru un cran en-dessous avec un léger déséquilibre sur l'acidité et une bouche assez carrée.
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