Château Brane Cantenac 2023

Critic scores

• James Suckling97
• Decanter97
• Vinous96
• Jeb Dunnuck96
• Wine Advocate93-95

The 2023 vintage in Margaux

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

Vintage character: July mildew followed by a hot September demanded strict selection: fleshy, aromatic wines, more approachable than 2022.

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 wines have a lot of fruit, they are extremely colorful and despite never before reached tannin indices, they are very supple and very silky. They combine maturity, freshness, power and balance.

Blend of the 2023 vintage

Cabernet Sauvignon (77%), Merlot (20%), Cabernet franc (1%), Carmenère (1%), Petit verdot (1%)

Shares for this vintage, as recorded on the 2023 technical sheet. The vineyard itself is planted with cabernet sauvignon, merlot, petit verdot, cabernet franc, carménère.

Figures from the 2023 sheet

• 13.7 % vol.Alcohol
• 45.7 hl/haYield

Winemaking

At Brane-Cantenac, we manage tailor-made vinification, each vat being tasted daily to orchestrate the extraction operations and adjust the fermentation temperature. In a vintage like 2023, this à la carte vinification revealed the best possible expression of each terroir and the three red wines produced there.

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.