Winemaker Notes
Blend: 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 1% Carmenère
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A stellar year for Brane-Cantenacl. Excellent depth and complexity, with graphite. black currants, blackberries and spices on the nose. Almost full-bodied, with tight, fine-grained tannins and a long finish. 70% cabernet sauvignon, 26% merlot, 3% cabernet franc and 1% carmenere.
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Wine Enthusiast
Rich, fruity and with great potential, this ripe wine is also dense with firm tannins. Its juicy fruits are a part of a package with the concentrated tannins and smoky wood flavors that allow for long aging. This is an impressive wine from one of the Margaux properties owned by the Lurton family. Drink from 2025.
Cellar Selection -
Jeb Dunnuck
Ripe currants, cassis, graphite, spice wood, camphor, and flowery incense all emerge from the 2015 Château Brane-Cantenac, a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Carmenère that was aged 18 months in 70% new French oak. Medium to full-bodied, supple, and layered, it has a sexy, rounded style that's impossible to resist, with velvety tannins and a great finish. This flat-out awesome beauty might be the best since the 2009 and 2010 and can be drunk any time over the coming 25+ years or more.
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Decanter
Beautifully concentrated floral, fragrant fruit plus minerally depth with smoothness to come. A very fine wine from this on-form second growth.
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Wine Spectator
Silky and refined, with seductive crushed plum and raspberry fruit that glides along, perfectly melded with singed alder and mesquite notes along with black tea and warm licorice details. A violet element hangs in the background, adding to the elegance. Best from 2020 through 2035.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Brane-Cantenac is medium to deep garnet-purple in color with a nose of crushed black berries and chocolate-covered cherries with touches of fried herbs and tilled soil. Medium-bodied, refreshing and elegant in the mouth, with chewy tannins, it has an herbal lift on the finish.
Lucien Lurton's grandfather acquired the estate in 1925, and was succeeded by his grandson in 1956. Lucien Lurton's son, Henri, currently manages the estate and puts all his efforts into producing a great Margaux in each and every vintage, reflecting Brane-Cantenac's superb vineyard soil.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Silky, seductive and polished are the words that characterize the best wines from Margaux, the most inland appellation of the Médoc on the Left Bank of Bordeaux.
Margaux’s gravel soils are the thinnest of the Médoc, making them most penetrable by vine roots—some reaching down over 23 feet for water. The best sites are said to be on gentle outcrops, or croupes, where more gravel facilitates good drainage.
The Left Bank of Bordeaux subscribes to an arguably outdated method of classification but it is nonetheless important in regards to history of the area. In 1855 the finest chateaux were deemed on the basis of reputation and trading price—at that time. In 1855, Chateau Margaux achieved first growth status, yet it has been Chateau Palmer (officially third growth from the 1855 classification) that has consistently outperformed others throughout the 20th century.
Chateau Margaux in top vintages is capable of producing red Cabernet Sauvignon based wines described as pure, intense, spell-binding, refined and profound with flavors and aromas of black currant, violets, roses, orange peel, black tea and incense.
Other top producers worthy of noting include Chateau Rauzan-Ségla, Lascombes, Brane-Cantenac, and d’Issan, among others.
The best wines of Margaux combine a deep ruby color with a polished structure, concentration and an unrivaled elegance.