Cantenac Brown 2015

Readers who need more proof that Margaux was the place to be in 2015 just need to taste the 2015 Château Cantenac Brown. Based on roughly 65% Cabernet Sauvignon and 35% Merlot it offers an extraordinary nose of crème de cassis, caramelized cherries, flowers, and spices. This medium to full-bodied effort has plenty of tannins, as well as toasty oak, yet is perfectly balanced and has a great mix of both freshness and richness. It’s a tour de force that will be drinkable in 4-5 years and last for 25-30 years! 2022 - 2052

Deep, rich violet-ruby in color with a complex array of scents ranging from espresso, violets, truffle, boysenberry, cassis and black cherry, this wine is sensuous, concentrated, opulent and balanced with a long, intense, mouthful of fresh, pure berries. The finish is impressive and lingers with a flurry of sweet, dark, red fruits and even darker chocolate. Easily the best wine since 2009. From 61% Cabernet Sauvignon and 39% Merlot, this wine reached 13.9% alcohol with a pH of 3.7 and is aging in 60% new, French oak barrels. The harvest took place from September 17 to October 8. Only 51% of the harvest was used in the Grand Vin.

Barrel Sample. Beautiful dusty tannins permeate this ripe wine. It has a smooth and rich texture, with bright blackberry flavors and a refreshing, vibrant close.

The 2015 Cantenac-Brown has a fresh, perfumed bouquet of raspberry, wild strawberry and cedar aromas that feel very focused and cohesive. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red fruit and gentle grip, and quite saline in the mouth, leading into a spicy, vivacious, almost Saint-Julien–inspired finish. This impressed in barrel just as it does here. Highly recommended. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting.

The 2015 Cantenac Brown follows their excellent 2014 with another great Margaux. Here, a nuanced nose that does not come racing from the blocks, but keep your nose in the glass and it reveals detailed blackberry, cranberry and strawberry aromas that are neatly embroidered with the new oak. The palate is medium-bodied with fine, quite tensile tannin. There is breeding interwoven into this Margaux, palpable sophistication, and it finishes with panache, fanning out with lightly spiced red and black fruit. It is not the most ostentatious Margaux in what is a fecund season for the appéllation, but I suspect it will surprise a few wine-lovers as its ages.

Very structured and muscular with black currant, chewy tannins and a flavorful finish. Full body. Yet polished and intriguing.