| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > Margaux |
| Colour | Red |
| Type | Still |
Henri Lurton, the proprietor here, has been working to improve quality in the vineyard with regrafting of Merlot to high quality Cabernet Sauvignon as they look to keep freshness and structure in the wines. The vineyard is now planted with 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% split between Petit Verdot and Carmenère. Recent vintages have been outstanding and this property is now producing the best wines in Margaux behind the superstars of Château Margaux, Palmer and Rauzan Ségla.
The 2022 has the same yield as last year at 31.50 hl/ha. 42% of the production will be grand vin, 30% Baron de Brane and the rest Margaux de Brane. The grand vin contains 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot and a splash of Cabernet Franc and Carmenere.
The 2022 Brane-Cantenac marked a year when ownership passed to Henri Lurton's four children, although he remains as general manager. More importantly (perhaps), the 2022 is a benchmark for the Margaux estate, its future North Star. This has a stupendous nose with intense Cabernet Sauvignon inflections, its intensity and delineation superior to the 2019 and 2020. An underlying floral scent emerges with time. The palate is medium-bodied with silky and fine tannins that frame the seductive black fruit laced with crushed peppercorns, and a touch of cedar on the crystalline finish. I raved about this 2022 from barrel and in bottle. I see no reason to change my "raving." Tasted at the Brane-Cantenac vertical at the château in September 2025. Drink 2030-2060.
An undeniable star in Margaux, the 2022 Château Brane-Cantenac checks in as a blend of 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 1% each Cabernet Franc, Carménère, and Petit Verdot. This deep purple-hued beauty offers up a sensational perfume of darker currants and cassis that gives way to more floral, spicy oak and graphite nuances with air. With flawless overall balance, ripe, velvety tannins, terrific purity, and a great finish, this riveting Brane-Cantenac already offers pleasure, yet I wouldn't be surprised to see this firm up with 4-5 years of bottle age, only to reemerge later and drink beautifully for 30+ years. It's one of the truly greats in the appellation, and readers will love to have this beauty in the cellar. (Drink between 2035-2065)
So aromatic with blackcurrant, blueberry and violet aromas that follow through to a medium body with ultrafine tannins that are extremely integrated and refined and go on for minutes. Some lead pencil and stone at the end. Very complex and subtle for the vintage. 74% cabernet sauvignon, 23% merlot, 1% cabernet franc, 1% petit verdot and 1% carmenere. Drink after 2029 and beyond.
The 2022 Brane-Cantenac has turned out nicely in bottle, wafting from the glass with aromas of cassis and plums mingled with hints of cigar wrapper, violets and pencil shavings. Full-bodied, layered and velvety, with a lively core of fruit framed by rich, chalky tannins, it displays excellent energy and persistence. This blend of 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot and the balance Cabernet Franc, Carmenère and Petit Verdot was bottled in July 2024. 2030 - 2055
The nose is marked by toasty wood for now but the fruit underneath is very fine, ripe without a hint of excess. The palate offers violet and red cherry tones together with fresh blackcurrant. The structure winds around the fruit to keep it compact and precise, expanding with more of that wood spice. This has real grip and depth, it should impress from bottle after a decade and will offer long-term drinking pleasure.
A blend of 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot, the 2022 Brane-Cantenac has a pH of 3.61 and there is 15.8% press wine in the blend. It has a deep garnet-purple color and it is a little subdued to start with notes of cedar chest and redcurrant preserves leading the charge, soon giving way to a profound core of crème de cassis, juicy black plums, and candied violets, with a touch of iron ore. The medium to full-bodied palate is simply electric, shimmering with bright, energetic black and red berry layers, supported by super-ripe, finely grained tannins and amazing tension, finishing long and perfumed. Stunning!
Deep plum colour, touch of grilled campfire smoke on the aromatics, good lift through the finish, this is so enjoyable, clearly skilled and full of joy. One of the wines of the vintage, totally delivers on En Primeur beauty. Technical director Christophe Capdeville, owner Henri Lurton, 100% new oak for ageing.
74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, 1% Carmenère, 1% Petit Verdot. Tasted at the château because Henri Lurton left the UGC tastings in 2022. Apparently the Airpulse system for mixing in air and management of the cap during red-wine fermentation (at low temperatures, around 26 °C) has been used here since 2019. Brane-Cantenac was the second to use it after Calon Ségur. Very soft extraction results. Cask sample.
Rich and round. Very gentle texture for a Cabernet-dominated wine, in which it is remarkably difficult to see the tannins. But apparently the IPT (measure of total phenolics, including tannins) is right up there. Henri Lurton agrees that when you taste it you can hardly see the tannins. Sappy and appetising. Persistent.
Drink 2025– 2042
The 2022 Brane-Cantenac showed supremely well from barrel. Now in bottle, the aromatics are tightly wound at first, opening with each swirl to reveal blackberry, crushed stone, peony and cracked black pepper scents. It is quintessential Brane-Cantenac. The palate is medium-bodied with finely chiseled tannins that lend this Margaux unerring sym. Indeed, this is the finest balanced Brane-Cantenac that I have encountered to date. It is almost pixelated in quality and very focused, with wonderful depth, precision and gentle grip toward the finish. So much energy is packed into this wine that it is almost impossible to detect the 100% new oak. It’s brilliant. 2030 - 2065
The 2022 Brane-Cantenac, as usual, is a wine that you must sit and contemplate before words gush forth. It was picked from 7 September to 10 October (their tiny plot of Carmenère) at 31.5hL/ha and contains 16% vin de presse from the Cabernet Sauvignon. It is well-defined and fresh, a very subtle Margaux, precise with blackberry, wild strawberry, cedar and tobacco scents. As previous vintages have proven, there's a kind of "hidden depth" that will become apparent post-bottling. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, very elegant and unashamedly classic in style. This is blessed with haunting poise, composed and detailed on the finish. This Margaux is not a show stopper, which in any case, is not really Henri Lurton/Brane Cantenac’s signature style. Instead, it is a wine that 15 to 20 years down the road, you are going to treasure. 2030-2065
A blend of 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot and the balance Cabernet Franc, Carmenère and Petit Verdot, the 2022 Brane-Cantenac unwinds in the glass with aromas of dark berries, crème de cassis, black truffles, loamy soil, burning embers and violets. Medium to full-bodied, deep and velvety, with a fleshy core of fruit, terrific concentration and lively acids, it concludes with a long, perfumed finish. This is a terrific 2022 that may rival or even surpass the 2019 if it realizes all its potential in bottle.
A long and very linear red for Margaux with intense freshness and energy. The cabernet sauvignon shows real clarity with blackcurrants and flowers. Crushed stone. Firm and racy with lots of lemon rind and intensity. 74% cabernet sauvignon, 23% merlot, 1% cabernet franc, 1% petit verdot and 1% carmenere.
Easily one of the best wines of the appellation. Red rose petal fragrance, damp earth, rosemary, baking spice, sandalwood, incense, graphite and slate. Exceptional balance, deep chocolate and mint character, with lush damson and cassis fruits. Crushed violet flowers and salted cracker salinity, extremely impressive. Owner Henri Lurton has experience of making wine overseas, in Baja California, which may have given insights into viticultural techniques n the heat, but the real key here is the old vine Cabernet Sauvignon planted in the 1950s and 1960s by his late father Lucien Lurton. 100% new oak, from 8 coopers, and the meticulous approach to oak ageing care of technical director Christophe Capdeville is also important. 42% of production in the 1st wine. All the young vines, even when co-planted in the same rows were picked separately also this year.
