Château Cantenac Brown Margaux 2021 - 3ème Grand Cru Classé

Bettane & Desseauve

About the estate:

This estate was acquired by Simon Halabi, a lover of great Médoc wines, who has provided a motivated team—led by the very friendly and talented José Sanfins—with the resources to improve quality. The most recent vintages have all been successful: wines that are rather full-bodied for Margaux but harmonious in their power. The second wine, Brio, lacks a bit of panache, despite its name, but the estate produces a lovely dry white wine under the Bordeaux appellation, called Alto.

Guide Hachette des vins

About the estate:

Dominated by an imposing Neo-Tudor-style castle built in the 19th century by the Scottish wildlife painter John Lewis Brown, this 48-hectare estate—planted on beautiful gravel soils in the heart of the appellation—has enjoyed a renaissance, first thanks to the Axa Group and, since 2006, under the leadership of the Halabi family, who entrusted its management to José Sanfins.

Robert Parker - Wine Advocate

RVF - La Revue du Vin de France / Guide des Meilleurs Vins de France

About the wine:

The 2021 vintage is a great success here, producing a very graceful wine with delicate, velvety tannins. It nevertheless has a lovely liveliness on the palate, with clean, intense, and flavorful fruit. A beautiful, promising wine overall.

About the estate:

This beautiful and imposing Margaux estate consistently produces high-quality wines worthy of its classification. Its dynamic director, José Sanfins, who trained at the Cazes and Axa Millésime schools, knows how to craft wines that are charming, yet also deep and rich (such as the white Alto, produced in small quantities). A new owner, the Le Lous family, has even higher ambitions. An additional 10 hectares were acquired in 2020, and major modernization work on the production facilities is planned. This estate is certainly not resting on its laurels!

Vinous

About the wine:

Cantenac Brown 2021 is superb. Rich and vibrant, with exceptional length, this 2021 vintage is a wine of remarkable depth. Aromas of black cherry, plum, spices, new leather, and mocha are all beautifully highlighted. Wine lovers will discover a Cantenac Brown with a remarkably rich texture. The winemaker, José Sanfins, opted for a saignée of the musts, resulting in a wine of unusual opulence for the vintage, perfectly true to the house style. The 2021 is breathtakingly beautiful. 2028–2051

Yves Beck

About the wine:

To simplify things, one could say that Cantenac Brown’s bouquet is 1.5 times that of Brio! But since wine isn’t just about math, we need to go into more detail. And that’s where the real difference lies. The bouquet is deep and subtle. It unfolds with elegance and harmony. The aging process works behind the scenes to highlight the fruitiness, while the wine is characterized by its power and salinity on the palate. It is compact, linear, and displays a density that is uncommon for this vintage. The fine-grained tannins create a symbiotic relationship with the acid structure, resulting in a vigorous and fresh wine. This Cantenac Brown deserves credit for standing out with poise amid the challenging conditions of 2021 and for reaffirming the path toward excellence begun by Josef Sanfins and his teams. It is with vintages like this that we truly show what we are capable of! In my opinion, it ranks among the great successes of the 2021 vintage in Margaux. A classic, refined, elegant, and persistent wine. 2027–2047

Vert de Vin

About the wine:

The nose is elegant and offers lovely intensity with finesse, depth with finesse, density with elegance, and a subtle airiness within its power. It features notes of vibrant wild blackcurrant, pulpy/juicy black plum, and, more subtly, violet, combined with hints of juicy morello cherry, fresh/juicy red berries, as well as subtle hints of lily, graphite, cardamom, mild spices, and toasted notes. On the palate, it is fruity, elegant, well-balanced, and beautifully refined, offering juiciness, freshness, savory depth, minerality, and a lovely tart structure, along with refined tension, precision, elegant balance, refined density, a subtle, slightly tight quality, a sense of length, and energy. On the palate, this wine expresses notes of juicy, crisp blackcurrant; fresh, crisp blackberry; and, to a lesser extent, crisp cherry, combined with hints of juicy berries, blueberries, licorice, cardamom, a subtle floral note, and a sap-like quality, as well as delicate hints of toasted almond, nutmeg, and a subtle hint of fresh vanilla. Lovely acidity. Well-balanced, understated bitterness. A subtle hint of juicy blueberry and hazelnut in the background. Good length and persistence. A lovely classic, full of elegance and finesse. A nice tartness on the finish.

Tastingbook - Markus Del Monego

About the wine:

Deep purple color with violet highlights and a black core. An elegant yet concentrated nose, with distinct fruity notes reminiscent of black cherry, blackcurrant, and elderberries, as well as hints of blackberry in the background, subtle spices, vanilla, and light spicy notes, with refined oak. On the palate, this is a full-bodied, well-structured wine with beautiful depth and length, freshness, ripe fruit, elegant oak, subtle notes of oak and sweet spices, aromatic herbs, and dark stone fruits. Excellent, with a lively character, beautiful tension, ripe tannins, and a very lovely finish.