Château Brane Cantenac 2008

Critic scores

• Wine Enthusiast93
• Jeb Dunnuck92
• Decanter90

The 2008 vintage in Margaux

Vintage benchmark: 91/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: A bright late season saved a cool summer: wines of unexpected freshness and aromatic precision.

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

A very expressive, powerful nose with floral notes marked by vanilla nuances with a touch of red fruits. A frank and elegant attack, nice volume and well-blended tannins, with a very round mid-palate and a long evolution. The finish is also long, and the retro-olfactory return is aromatic with smoky notes. A well-made, fine wine, typically Brane, with good ageing potential, peaking between 15 and 20 years.

Blend of the 2008 vintage

Figures from the 2008 sheet

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

Winemaking

Harvest began on September 29 with very ripe grapes. The degrees were high and the musts strongly aromatic and colored as in 2004. The cabernets were picked until October 17 to obtain optimal maturation. Throughout the harvest, careful sorting was required to remove all spoiled or immature berries. ageing: 18 months in 60% new barrels.

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.