Château Brane Cantenac 2005

The 2005 vintage in Margaux

Vintage benchmark: 97/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: Drought without any halt in ripening, together with cool nights, gave a legendary vintage: concentrated, with firm tannins and very long aging potential.

Overall reading of the year’s season across Margaux. An estate can depart from it sharply, in frost or hail years, where two neighbours did not make the same vintage. What this particular wine actually gave is on its technical sheet and in the scores above.

Tasting

Deep purple color, very dark. Nose of red fruits (cherries) and flowers. Lots of volume on the palate. Very tannic finish but with completely integrated and rounded tannins. Very long on the palate with lots of freshness despite the great maturity. Inevitably a very beautiful wine for keeping, designed in the greatest orthodoxy!

Blend of the 2005 vintage

Figures from the 2005 sheet

• 13 % vol.Alcohol
• 38 hl/haYield
• 25 yrsVine age
• 150,000 bottlesProduction

Ageing

18 months in oak, including 60 to 70% new barrels

Food pairings

Pairings: game in veneur sauce, rare beef and a bed of sweet potatoes, milk-fed lamb chops, pheasant or Souvarroff chicken, pan-fried Bordeaux-style mushrooms, Saint Nectaire, Coulommiers, Burgundy delight.

Terroir

Historically recognised as one of the greatest in the Médoc, the terroir of Brane long earned the property the description of first of the seconds. The heart of the property is a 45-hectare block, unchanged for three centuries. The very deep gravel (12 m) has a high clay content. It ensures a sufficient water reserve throughout the year while its compactness limits the amount of water the plant takes up. The water table is very deep here (5 to 6 m), allowing the roots to develop deep down. The upper layers of the soil, sandier, tend to saturate quickly during heavy rain. Much of the water then runs off, thanks to the topography.