Chateau Brane-Cantenac2009
RED WINE
- Producer Chateau Brane-Cantenac
- Blend 100% Red Bordeaux Blend
- Country France
- Region Bordeaux
- Appellation Margaux
- UPC 0 15643 24991 4
Reviews
Wine Spectator 92
Ripe and fleshy, with an enticing mix of linzer torte, currant confiture and crushed plum fruit offset by hints of briar and bay leaf. The long finish lets roasted apple wood, singed iron and tobacco leaf notes fill in, while staying plush in feel.
by JM, Wine Spectator , 2012
Wine Advocate 91
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.
by LP, Wine Advocate , 2019
James Suckling 92
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.
by JS, James Suckling , 2019
Vinous Media 94
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.
by NM, Vinous Media , 2019
Wine Enthusiast 94
Warm and rounded, this spicy wine has wood flavors just showing through the ripe fruit. It is already delicious, with rich blackberry flavors right up front, although its aging potential is evident with the concentrated, deep structure.
by RV, Wine Enthusiast , 2012
Technical Details
Harvest
Harvesting that started on September 22nd with the Merlot plants, and then continued in the early ripening areas of the Brane "plateau", with the last Merlots harvested on October 2nd.Cabernets that were harvested from September 30th to October 9th, with perfect ripeness, producing aromatic, full-bodied and powerful wines.
Wines having an alcohol content of 12.5 to 14.5& and that still remained fresh thanks to their excellent acidity.
In the cellar, musts that were so fragrant that the vat-room smelled of blackcurrant, raspberry, gooseberry and black fruits.
Completely mature skins that easily released their top-quality content.
Intense extraction during vinification, strengthening the structure of the wines.
An excellent health status until the end of the harvest.
Harvesting that finished by gathering Carmenere, which was replanted in 2007
Yield: 48.4 hl/ha
Vineyard
Abundant first blossoms and rapid growth at the beginning of the cycle.High mildew pressure at the start of the campaign, eradicated in July.
Brief and homogenous flowering from early June.
Rapid and steady veraison starting on July 16th, and encouraging sign of a homogeneous harvest.
Vegetative growth that completely ceased in the beginning of August, enabling a long ripening phase.
Efforts focused on reducing the number of bunches per vine to limot yield.
Careful leaf thinning to promote sun exposure.
Complete elimination of secondary grapes, which were abundant.
Vintage
Like any exceptional vintage, 2009 will have a unique personality. The ripening period was hot and impacted by the lack of water. Finding the ideal maturity is never easy but was perhaps even less so this year, as each of the property's soils reacted differently to this extended drought. We had to study each plot to try and determine the time when the skins were ripe and the fruit aromas were still fresh. The feeling that we are participating in the creation of a vintage that will undoubtedly be mythical makes this moment particularly exhilarating.Weather
A dry, sunny early spring.Several streaks of violent weather in May, with hailstorms on the 11th and 14th that spared the Brane-Cantenac vineyards by chance.
Ideal weather conditions with systematical rainfall defecit after the last week in June
In June, July and August, temperatures 2 to 3°C higher than the decade's averages (the summer of 2009 was one of the hottest since 1950).
Exceptional and ideal weather conditions in September and October on all fronts, enabling the grapes to ripen perfectly: cool nights that promoted the synthesis of phenolic compounds alternated with midsummer daytime temperatures that lingered around 30°C.
Virtually no rainfall in Margaux in September and until the end of the harvesting period.