For the tenth day of Christmas…
On the tenth day of Christmas, a mixed case to celebrate the (first) 100 years of the Lurton family at Château Brane Cantenac is likely to warm the cockles, write db’s Bordeaux correspondent, Colin Hay.
The wines: A mixed case to celebrate the (first) 100 years of the Lurton family at Château Brane Cantenac which was celebrated in September with a fabulous vertical tasting at the property.
The format: A six bottle mixed case, presumably an original wooden case from the Château itself, containing one bottle each of the following vintages of Brane Cantenac (my favourites from the tasting): 2001, 2005, 2009, 2016, 2020 and 2022.
Unique selling point: Without doubt this was the most memorable tasting of my year. It was hosted by the incomparable Henri Lurton and his wonderful team, notably Christophe Capdeville who arrived at Brane Cantenac 2 years before Henri himself, and Marie-Helene Faurie who has certainly also been at Brane as long as I have known the property. The tasting offered all of us lucky enough to be invited an exclusive and unique perspective on this universally-loved Margaux second growth. The case, quite simply, includes my personal favourites from that tasting – the wines that shone most eloquently on the day itself.
Yours for: I’m not going to reduce this to a question of price, though none of these wines are terribly difficult to find and none of them will break the bank. But I’d prefer to keep this one in the realm of fantasy. Whilst I’d be just as delighted as you to find such a case alongside my stocking on Christmas morning, there’s no need to kid ourselves!
Tasting notes:
Château Brane-Cantenac 2001 (Margaux; 35% Cabernet Sauvignon; 55% Merlot; 11% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 35.2 hl/ha; pH 3.87; 13% alcohol). An unusual composition for Brane, with 11% Cabernet Franc and relatively little Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a fascinating wine. More open and expressive than when last tasted but very much a star, then as now. It is all there. Indeed, this is one of the most complex and layered wines of the entire tasting. Soft and enticing, with beautifully svelte tannins but impressive concentration (the proverbial iron fist in the velvet glove). Rose petals are much in evidence, peony and hibiscus too. There’s a floral honey note too and with it a hint of beeswax. A sprig of fresh mint. Quite an intellectual wine with an impressive density that is a little disguised at first by the velour of its tannins. With all that Cabernet Franc and 55% Merlot too, in 2001 Brane is the Pomerol of Margaux. On a par with the 2000. Gracious, elegant, seductive and beautifully svelte in its texture. 95.
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Château Brane-Cantenac 2005 (Margaux; 51% Cabernet Sauvignon; 43% Merlot; 6% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 38.5 hl/ha; 13% alcohol). Another truly wonderful wine. Very classical and very Médocain with lovely graphite and the cedar inflecting and enrobing the dark berry fruits. Very much in the style of the 2009. Sweet-tinged and exuding perfect ripeness – solaire but not excessively so. Accessible. Pure, focussed and yet rich and with gloriously svelte tannins. Not quite the mid-palate concentration of the 2009, but really excellent. For once one notices the higher proportion of Merlot in the blend – Brane is so much a wine of its terroir that the encépagement (which varies greatly between vintages) often seems irrelevant. Very pretty, very floral, yet at the same time this has a rare savoury, meaty note – seared cote de boeuf! And that saline minerality one finds in so many of Brane’s icon vintages. Truffly and smoky on the long finish. So utterly indulgent, just as it should be. 95.
Château Brane-Cantenac 2009 (Margaux; 53% Cabernet Sauvignon; 40% Merlot; 7% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 48.4 hl/ha; pH 3.72; 13.5% alcohol); a final yield of 48.4 hl/ha; pH 3.72; 13.5% alcohol). Almost the antithesis of 2010. Open, really flattering and enticing – already in full voice. Gloriously and intensely floral. Exotic in its way, but with that impression now reined back a little by the very classical graphite and cedar. Plump. Exuberant. Energetic. Flamboyant. Generous. And strikingly complex too. This has a lovely acidity. Lithe and limpid in the glass with those dried lavender notes of Brane. Heather. Incense. Mocha. An undoubted highlight of the tasting and the vintage. Richly deserving of its reputation. This sings every time I taste it. Last time I tasted these two, I preferred the 2010; today the 2009 has it by a whisker. 97.
Château Brane-Cantenac 2016 (Margaux; 70% Cabernet Sauvignon; 27% Merlot; 2% Cabernet Franc; 1% Carmenere; a final yield of 52.5 hl/ha; pH 3.57; 13.5% alcohol). ‘Golden Brane … texture like sun’. This has changed a little in personality since I last tasted it, becoming nuttier and maybe a little more expressive and effusive; it’s also more bulby in its florality – peony bulb and blossom together and a touch of iris. Just glorious and, for me, certainly one of the wines of the tasting. When it was made, this was the best ever wine I had tasted from Brane. An ethereal nose of Médocain perfection. Cool, calm, composed and utterly classy. Quite serious, even sombre and a little held back and insular with much more to come. But, on the palate, we have already a wondrous plunge-pool of deep, dark, rich fruit. The tannins are imperceptible, giving the impression of cool depth. Profound. Elegant. A bit Pichon Comtesse de Lalande in mouthfeel (not the first time I’ve thought that). Then lovely cedar and graphite notes kick in. Beautifully rolling and rippling on the fruity sappy finish. It is as if the fruit were being dripped onto the palate. Brilliant Brane! 98.
Château Brane Cantenac 2020 (Margaux; 70% Cabernet Sauvignon; 26% Merlot; 2% Cabernet Franc; 1% Carmanere; 1% Petit Verdot; a final yield of 30.8 hl/ha; aging in a combination of new oak and amphorae for 18 months; pH 3.71; 13.7% alcohol). Glorious. Radiant. Brilliant. Extremely limpid, like moonlight on a silvery lake, very dark hued, accentuating the effect, but translucent at the core and seemingly very gently extracted. The nose is instantly ‘Brane’, for me always the most aromatic and the most distinctive aromatically of the great Margaux estates. It takes a little while to come together, but when it does this could not be any other wine. In this vintage it has always been more floral I think that any other left-bank wine, with rose petals, peonies and patchouli enrobing the dark berry and cherry fruit, but also with oodles of Brane graphite and cedar and a lovely fresh cracked peppercorn note too. If only I could bottle the aroma and carry a jar of it around with me! Soft, sleek, supple, sinuous and sensuous on the palate, with the most gloriously svelte tannins, this is a very refined and elegant wine that ripples as it rolls over the palate. Very complete, supremely harmonious and utterly compelling, this is on a par with the 2016 for me. Golden Brane once again! 98.
Château Brane Cantenac 2022 (Margaux; 74% Cabernet Sauvignon; 23% Merlot; 1% Cabernet Franc; 1% Carménère; 1% Petit Verdot; a final yield of 31.5 hl/ha; pH 3.61; 14.3% alcohol). An utterly brilliant Brane Cantenac built around the old vines on the plateau. Perfectly integrated and harmonious, if slow at first to divulge its secrets. This unfurls gradually and at its own rhythm, with lovely cedar and graphite encrusted black cherry and berry fruit, a lovely touch of walnut skins or fresh walnuts before the skins have changed colour. Candlewax and incense too. This is quite toasty at first (more so perhaps than I recall and one feels the need to put this back in the cave and revisit). Given a little time, that remarkable signature of Brane eventually fills the glass but all at its own place. A little peony and a pink rose petal florality, both subtly delivered. The quality of the tannins and even the sapidity of this are already somehow evident on the nose. Texturally remarkable, a wine that so beautifully epitomises Brane. So cool and gracious with a lovely tight frame that accentuates the sense of concentration. A wine of incredible impact in the mouth – this is all about fresh, fresh fruit. Crystalline and limpid and with great precision. So clear and yet with so much impact and density. Succulent, sapid and tender on the fantail finish before the taper towards a very long and distant horizon. The best yet from Henri and Christophe at Brane. The intensity of the florality in the mouth is sublime. 99.
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