| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > Margaux |
| Colour | Red |
| Type | Still |
The years when Brane was starting to really come sharply into focus, and this is easily one of the best 2009s in the Margaux appellation, and great value in comparison to some of the biggest names. One for serious Bordeaux lovers, just super competent and impressive winemaking. You get pretty much 90% of what you need to know on the aromatics alone, concentrated cassis, a ton of depth, with fruit, acidity and tannins all perfectly in balance, so juicy and drinkable, concentrated and enjoyable. Decades ahead of it. 70% new oak for ageing, harvest September 22 to October 9.
A spectacular effort from this estate rivaling their 2005, but more flashy/flamboyant, this dark ruby/purple wine has a strikingly intense nose of licorice, flowers, plums and dark berries. Medium to full-bodied, very approachable and silky, this suave, very sexy wine can be drunk early on as well as aged for 20+ years.
The 2009 Brane-Cantenac was picked from September 22 to October 9 with a modest 13.4° alcohol. This has long been a great Margaux. It is very delineated and yet very generous on the bravura bouquet of blackberry, raspberry, crushed stone, cedar and a touch of mint. The palate is fresh and bursting with energy right from the start. There is plenty of weight and presence here, but that tension binds this Brane-Cantenac together. Then there is that Pauillac-inspired, graphite finish that lingers for 45+ seconds. This is one of Henri Lurton’s best wines. Tasted at the Brane-Cantenac vertical at the château.
From Robert Parker's Hong Kong Tasting, 8th Nov 2011:
Aromas of blueberries and minerals with hints of spearmint and mint. Full bodied, with a fresh herb and lightly toasted oak with green coffee bean character. Racy and refined but a little lean. Try in 2017.
The 2009 Brane-Cantenac is a blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, and 7% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet colored, it barrels out of the glass with bold notions of baked blackberries, warm cassis, and stewed plums, plus hints of chocolate box, licorice, and fertile loam with a waft of dried roses. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is packed with spicy black fruit preserves and a plush texture, finishing long with a refreshing lift.
Scented and sweet. Rather a heady perfume. Then sweet and sour on the palate - not especially harmonious or integrated, and there is some greenness about the acidity. Serviceable rather than thrilling. Date tasted 31st March 2010. Drink 2015-2027.
Under the ownership of the Lurton family, Brane Cantenac remains classically Margaux in style but with a touch more polish than in days gone by. Always smooth and supple wine with no hard edges. This is one Margaux property that doesn't try to be something that it isn't. The blend this year is 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 7% Cabernet Franc. A good deep colour with hints of eucalyptus on the nose. The palate has a sweet core of fruit and is silky and polished with a seductive plumpness more than matching the tannins. Long and gorgeous. Pretty impressive.
Showing beautifully, the 2009 Château Brane-Cantenac is loaded with classic Margaux notes of sandalwood, dried flowers, spice, truffle, and blackcurrants. Based on 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc brought up in 70% new French oak, it's medium to full-bodied and has a beautifully textured, elegant mouthfeel, terrific mid-palate depth, and a great finish. It's a quintessential, elegant yet textured, concentrated Margaux to enjoy over the coming 10-15 years.
The cassis feels ripe give flesh on the nose and chocolate richness on the palate. Behind the richness there is freshness, the acidity of bright red fruits. The fruit lasts well on the finish. Drink 2020-2040.
Deeply coloured, very aromatic, with almost a leafy, green pepper note here. On the palate, this is stylish and well balanced, showing the elegance and poise you expect from a Margaux. The wine has as sweet core of fruit, nicely enveloped by tannins and underpinned by acidity. A great buy and one of the best wines in the commune in 2009. 15+ years.
Fine purple red, beautifully fragrant Cabernet nose, lovely expression of Margaux fruit, textured and dense, lifted and distinctive, both fleshy and classy, long and harmonious, very good. Drink 2015-30.
Plenty of fresh plum fruit alongside the bitter chocolate in the nose, but on the palate this retains the Margaux lightness and elegant dryness, the finish just slightly warm. Drink or hold. (Horizontal Tasting, London, 2019)
Only 37% of the production made it in to the 2009 Brane Cantenac (slightly lower than most properties because the fruit was so good). This is a blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, and 7% Cabernet Franc, with a pH of 3.87 and finished alcohol of 13.2%. It is another offering that reveals no evidence of wood even though 70% new oak barrels were utilized. A dense plum/purple color is followed by a lovely perfume of flowers, boysenberries, black cherries, and black currants. Seamless in the mouth with stunning concentration, a seductive style, an exquisite Margaux delicacy, and levels of richness and intensity I have never before seen in Brane Cantenac, it should drink effortlessly for 30+ years. (Tasted four times.) Drink 2010-2040.
Tasted at the Brane-Cantenac vertical at the château, the 2009 Brane-Cantenac is a blend of 40% Merlot, 53% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Cabernet Franc, has an extremely pure and sensual bouquet with ripe red cherries, blackberry, minerals and incense that is totally irresistible. The palate is silky smooth with very fine tannin, a great core of tensile red berry fruit with compelling mineralité towards the structured, Pauillac-like finish. This is a top-quality Brane-Cantenac, one of the best under Henri Lurton. One of the most prosaically "delicious" Brane-Cantenac releases in recent years. Tasted April 2015.
Served blind at the Southwold 2009 tasting. Always difficult to taste in its youth, I was mean with my score when I tasted the Brane-Cantenac '09 blind, but it revealed much more class with aeration. It has a very sophisticated bouquet: superb delineation and precision with wonderful minerality. The palate is medium-bodied with some hardness coming through. There is a touch of under-ripeness lurking underneath that is perhaps what diminished my score, although I have learnt that this is simply part of the youthful character of Brane-Cantenac that ebbs away with time. It will need at least a decade in the cellar as one of the vintages vin de garde. Tasted January 2013.
A blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 7% Cabernet Franc with 11.3% pressed wine, cropped between 22nd September and 9th October at 48.4hl/ha, this has a very precise nose with blackberry, cedar, sandalwood and a touch of mint, but returning after 20 minutes, boy does this open up with some lovely sweet raspberry and coffee aromas developing. The palate is medium-bodied, a little disjointed at first but coalescing beautifully over half an hour. Good acidity cutting through the fruit: soft raspberry and strawberry mixed with a hint of dark chocolate, veering towards a savoury finish. This wine only shows its true colours after some serious aeration. A second sample at the UGC was similar on the nose, but there was some vegetal notes coming through towards the finish that were not previously present. This is difficult to work out this Margaux at this stage, but the way it harmonizes gives me optimism. Tasted March 2010.
Blueberries with a chalky, mineral undertone on the nose. Full-bodied, with fine tannins and a fresh finish. New wood already showing strong. Not giving much.
Medium to deep garnet colored, the 2009 Brane-Cantenac displays notes of warm red and black plums, Morello cherries and mulberries with hints of spice cake and earth. Medium-bodied, elegant, soft and fleshy, it delivers a lively line of freshness and an earthy finish. Drink 2019-2029.
