Château Brane Cantenac 2014

Critic scores

• Wine Enthusiast95
• Vinous94
• Wine Advocate92
• Jeb Dunnuck91
• Decanter91

The 2014 vintage in Margaux

Vintage benchmark: 90/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: A gloomy summer redeemed by an Indian summer: the cabernets are radiant and the freshness is true to the Médoc.

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

Nose of beautiful finesse. Notes of blackcurrant, white pepper, candied black cherry, cocoa. All with nuances of menthol and graphite. The attack is ample and round with a very dense mid-palate and a long and powerful finish. The structured tannic structure has remarkable precision.

Blend of the 2014 vintage

Figures from the 2014 sheet

• 13 % vol.Alcohol
• 44 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 70% new barrels. Proportion of great wine: 38%

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.