Château Brane Cantenac 2007

The 2007 vintage in Margaux

Vintage benchmark: 83/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: A cool, wet summer demanded strict selection: light, delicious wines, to be drunk young.

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

Very complex nose dominated by aromas of red fruits (raspberry, blackberry) demonstrating very good maturity. Vanilla and spicy notes (white pepper). A beautiful bouquet when aerated. Full mouth attack. General impression of a powerful and round wine. Finesse and elegance of Brane’s characteristic tannins. Dense mid-palate and long finish, supported by a strong retro-olfaction and bright fruit.

Blend of the 2007 vintage

Figures from the 2007 sheet

• 13 % vol.Alcohol
• 52 hl/haYield
• 30 yrsVine age
• 150,000 bottlesProduction

Winemaking

The harvest began on September 24. The very aromatic Merlot musts were concentrated or bled. The harvest of the Cabernets began on October 1st and finished on the 12th. Despite a few showers, the harvest took place in excellent conditions. Thanks to the leaf removal, decompaction and thinning work, the health of the grapes remained perfect until the end of the harvest. These harvests in Brane were marked by a significant improvement in the cellar. Sorted once in the vineyard, then once upon arrival at the conquet, the harvest is now sorted by an innovative system, ‘Viniclean’, which passes the berries on a vibrating table to eliminate all dry skins, millerande berries, seeds and small plant fragments. A system of rotating brushes then captures the remains of leaves, stalks and petioles.

Ageing

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

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.