2011 Château Brane-Cantenac, Margaux, Bordeaux
- Red
- Dry
- Full Bodied
- Cabernet Sauvignon (56.5%), Merlot (37%), Cabernet Franc (6%), Carménère (0.5%)
Ready - mature
- Neal Martin MW
- 91/100
- 17.5+/20
- James Molesworth
- 88-91/100
- Robert Parker
- 90-93/100
Product: 20118003243
Description
I think this kind of vintage really suits Henri Lurton's style of winemaking more than the super-ripe years of the past decade. His gift is to craft wines of great finesse, and a careful touch was essential in 2011 to avoid extracting too much tannin from what were essentially quite fragile grapes. Ch. Brane-Cantenac is very classically Margaux, with a delicate floral perfume; on the palate there is a silky texture, great elegance, no sharp edges and a sense of considerable intensity without a feeling of power, not the easiest trick to pull off!
Colour Red
Sweetness Dry
Vintage 2011
Maturity Ready - mature
Grape List Cabernet Sauvignon (56.5%), Merlot (37%), Cabernet Franc (6%), Carménère (0.5%)
Body Full Bodied
Producer Château Brane-Cantenac
Critics reviews
Neal Martin MW 91/100
Tasted at the Brane-Cantenac vertical at the chteau, the 2011 Brane-Cantenac is a blend of 37% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, 56.5% Cabernet Sauvignon and a pinch of Carmenre. It has a more attractive bouquet than the 2012, demonstrating more complexity and fruit intensity: blackberry and raspberry, a touch of cedar and tobacco thrown into the mix. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, the oak beautifully interwoven into the brambly red berry fruit, gently building with a hint of spice and dry tobacco on the finish. There is just a tad more substance than the 2012, yet it remains elegant, and given the vintage it is sophisticated compared to others this vintage. Tasted April 2015.Neil Martin - 28/12/2016
17.5+/20
Fine fragrance of Cabernet cassis fruit, fine middle sweetness, fine natural concentration behind the lifted, elegant facade, great potential complexity.
James Molesworth 88-91/100
Nice sappy feel, with juicy kirsch and plum flesh notes and lots of well-integrated spice on the finish. Lightens up a touch in the end, but stays focused. Wine Spectator's 2011 Top-Scoring Red Bordeaux (james_molesworth, Wine Spectator, April 5, 2012 )
Robert Parker 90-93/100
Made in a sexy, perfumed style, this 2011 seduces the taster with its wonderful aromatics of blue, red and black fruits, flowers, damp earth and forest floor. With excellent to outstanding concentration, fresh acidity and velvety tannins, this plush Margaux is atypically opulent/flamboyant for the vintage. Drink it over the next 12-15 years. (robert_parker - Wine Advocate - April 2012)
About this wine
Cabernet Sauvignon
The most famous red wine grape in the world and one of the most widely planted.
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Margaux
If Pauillac is the bastion of ‘traditional’ Red Bordeaux, Margaux represents its other facet in producing wines that are some of the region’s most sensual and alluring. The largest commune in the Médoc, it encompasses the communes of Cantenac, Soussans, Arsac and Labaude, in addition to the village of Margaux itself. Its finest examples are paragons of refinement and subtlety which have few parallels in Bordeaux.
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Chateau Brane-Cantenac
Château Brane-Cantenac was for many years the home of Lucien Lurton - it is now owned and run by his son Henri. Its vineyards are located west of the village of Cantenac in the Margaux appellation. Brane-Cantenac's vineyards are planted with Cabernet Sauvignon (55%), Merlot (40%), Cabernet Franc (4.5%) and Carmenère 0,5%, and lie on fine, gravelly soils. Vinification includes up to 18 months' wood ageing, a third to a half in new `barriques'.
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