Château Brane Cantenac 2011

The 2011 vintage in Margaux

Vintage benchmark: 87/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: A scorching spring followed by a wet August turned the seasons upside down: classic wines, shorter but true to type.

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

The style of this wine is racy, aromatic, both complex and balanced. It gains in regularity, velvety and freshness on the palate. This wine can be consumed from its youth but it is also capable of being kept for 15 to 20 years.

Blend of the 2011 vintage

Figures from the 2011 sheet

• 13 % vol.Alcohol
• 41 hl/haYield
• 35 yrsVine age
• 150,000 bottlesProduction

Winemaking

The Brane vat room was designed to allow plot and even intra-plot vinification. The materials used (wood, concrete and stainless steel), the number of tanks and the multiplicity of their capacity (from 40 to 200 hl) are adapted to the current plot. However, its avant-garde design allows it to be scalable and adapt to changes in the vineyard and its plots.

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.