2021 Chateau Cantenac Brown - 3eme Cru Classe Margaux

Decanter.com - 93 pts - GH: *Perfumed black cherries and raspberries on the nose. Lovely sculpting, you get waves of juicy, bright, red summer berries and just-ripe red cherries with creamy, chalky edges. Tannins are present and linger on the tongue, gently gripping the flavours. This has great character, not too dense nor expansive, but good definition, energy and classicism with slate and crushed stone. Touch of bitter black chocolate marks the finish which is extremely attractive. Excellent job from winemaker José Sanfins.* - 04/2022

Falstaff Magazin – 92 pts – PM: *Dunkles Rubingranat, opaker Kern, violette Reflexe, zarte Randaufhellung. Schwarze Waldbeeren, zart nach Cassis, frische Orangenzesten, Brombeerkonfitüre, zartes Edelholz. Elegant und saftig, reife Kirschen, feine Tannine, mineralisch, gutes Entwicklungspotenzial.* - 05/2022

The Wine Advocate – (92-94) pts – RP: *The 2021 Cantenac Brown is another fine effort from a Margaux estate that's been on something of a roll of late. Unwinding in the glass with notions of cassis, wildberries, loamy soil and cigarbox, it's medium to full-bodied, layered and seamless, with good concentration, lively acids and a nicely defined finish. José Sanfins and his team opted to wait to pick the estate's Cabernet Sauvignon between the fourth and 12th of October, and that appears to have paid off. The blend is 73% Cabernet Sauvignon and 27% Merlot, and just over half the estate's production went into the grand vin. "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 Sanfins'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.*

Vinum Magazin – 17/20 pts: *Sehr ausbaugeprägtes Muster, besonders in der Nase; im Mund rund und geschmeidig, mit vanillig-fruchtigem Ausklang; gefällig im besten Sinn.*

WeinWisser – 17/20pts – GL, TW: *Schwarzes Johannisbeerbouquet, frisch gemahlener schwarzer Bergpfeffer, zarte Fliedernote und Waldhimbeergelee. Am satten Gaumen mit weicher Textur, stützender Rasse, dann packt das engmaschige Tanningerüst zu und lässt nicht mehr los, sehniger Körper. Im konzentrierten Finale verschlankt sich der Margaux, getrocknete Schlehenhaut, Wacholder und mürbe Adstringenz.* – 04/2022

JancisRobinson.com – 16+/20pts – JR: *73% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot. Cask sample. Deep, glowing crimson. Intense nose of blackberries. Round – as though very carefully worked. Not desperately long and with quite marked acidity but the phenolics were certainly ripe enough. Clean and fresh. Just slightly lacks the flesh of the Giscours 2021 tasted alongside.* - 04/2022

Vinous.com – (92-94) pts – AG: *The 2021 Cantenac Brown is going to require time to come together.The Cabernet is pushed up.That very much comes through in the wine’s aromatic profile and overall intensity. Sweet red-fleshed fruit, tobacco, incense and rose petal are some of the many notes that build. Vibrant and exquisitely layered, Cantenac Brown is quite promising. Elevage will be critical. Like so many of his colleagues, Technical Director José Sanfins saignéed the Merlots, lightly chaptalized the Cabernets and opted for longer but gentler extractions. Tasted two times.*

Thewinecellarinsider.com – (92-94) pts – JL: *Flowers, espresso, cocoa and black currants are what you find on the nose. The wine is soft, round and polished on the medium/full-bodied palate, finishing with more of that dark cocoa, roasted coffee, black cherry and a hit of peppery spice on the backend. Drink from The wine is a blend of 73% Cabernet Sauvignon and 27% Merlot. 13.2% ABV, 3.75 pH. The harvest took place September 23-October 4. Drink from 2024-2032.* - 05/2022