Chateau Cantenac Brown 2021 [WA 93]

Wine Advocate 93 points.

The 2021 Cantenac Brown has turned out very nicely in bottle, wafting from the glass with notes of dark berries and cherries mingled with hints of menthol, licorice and violets. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and seamless, with a layered core of fruit, sweet tannins and nicely integrated acids, it concludes with a delicately vanillin-inflected finish. This strong performance in a challenging season underlines this property's upward trajectory.

"We've never had so many people put in so many man-hours in the vineyard," observed José Sanfins, who has directed this Margaux château since 1989. Deleafing right after flowering, a green harvest of fruit that was likely to be tardy to ripen, and then taking the risk to wait to harvest the estate's Cabernet Sauvignon late were, in Sanfin's eyes, the key to the vintage; and the results in the glass are persuasive. The grand vin itself incorporates an unusually high percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon, as well as fully 10% of carefully selected press wine, and it's very impressive. It's likely to number among the sleepers of the vintage, as has often been the case in recent years.

Published: Feb 09, 2024.