2021 Chateau Brane-Cantenac, Margaux, France (750ml)

WINEMAKER’S NOTES:

Blend: 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, 1% Carmenre, 1% Petit Verdot

TASTING NOTES:

The 2021 Brane-Cantenac is a classy, elegant wine. The aromatics alone are so enticing. Crushed flowers, sweet pipe tobacco, mint, rose petal and cedar open first. The 74% Cabernet Sauvignon is a bit higher than in most years, which comes through in the wine’s aromatic and structural profile. The 2021 is quiet and understated. levage was 18 months in 100% new French oak, but the wood is not at all evidentan important and positive sign regarding the wine’s overall balance. Even so, the 2021 is a subdued Brane-Cantenac, one that needs time in bottle to shine at its brightest. Antonio Galloni

– Vinous, 95 pts.

Wild pink flowers on the nose, with blackcurrant and cherry fruit, fragrant, almost sweet and sour, super inviting. Cool but concentrated fruit on the palate, supple, agile, ripe full and direct. It has a gorgeous weight on the palate, not plush – it’s in keeping with the vintage for sure, but such a finessed, elegance to the frame. Lovely licks of minerality that don’t overhwelm the wine and the flavours carry to a long finish. A great sense of fun, joy and delicate beauty. Pretty and super charming, a delicate take from Brane but so much to like with its subtle charm.

– Decanter, 95 pts.

Beautiful finesse here that shows currants, roasted red chili pepper and a hint of charcoal, mineral and pencil shavings. Very refined and layered with a juicy, medium body and a long, composed finish. Classy and very layered.

– James Suckling, 95 pts.

The 2021 Brane-Cantenac offers up aromas of sweet dark berries mingled with mint, vanilla pod and spices. It shows its levage and malolactic fermentation in new oak more prominently than it did en primeur. Medium to full-bodied, with good depth and concentration, it’s bright and velvety, with plenty of structuring barrel tannin and a vanillin-inflected finish. The quality of Brane’s terroirs and a strict selection shows through, so if it can digest its oak more completely, this will prove exceptional.

– Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, 93 pts.

I loved the nose on the 2021 Chteau Brane-Cantenac, which has good intensity as well as the vintage’s fresher, vibrant, focused style. Ripe red and blue fruits, violets, tobacco, and a beautiful sense of graphite and minerality all define the aromatics, and it hits the palate with medium-bodied richness, a supple, elegant, layered mouthfeel, beautiful tannins, and nicely integrated acidity. The overall balance here is spot on, and while this is approachable and delicious even today, it should shine for two decades. The blend is 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc, Carmenre, and Petit Verdot, with the levage spanning 18 months in new barrels.

– Jeb Dunnuck, 93 pts.