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Cantenac-Brown Margaux 2020

ID No: 450475
Country:France
Region:Bordeaux
Winery:Cantenac Brown
Grape Type:Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage:2020
Bottle Size:750 ml
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WINE DATA:

Grape Composition: 100% Malbec

Appellation: Finca Piedra Infinita, IG Paraje Altamira,Valle de Uco, Mendoze

Vinification: Manually selected grapes, filling of tanks by gravity. Fermentation with native yeasts in concrete vessels without epoxy. Aging in concrete vessels. The 2020 was a very particular vintage, characterized by limited yields and a high speed of maturity, which made it one of the fastest and most challenging on record.

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Altitude: 3,609 feet above sea level

Soil Type: Short alluvial soil covered with calcareous materials

Alcohol: 14% Total Acidity: 5.6g/l

TASTING NOTES:

Color: Bright ruby color

Aroma: Dark berries, black olive tapenade, and iron

Flavor: Rich on the palate, with firm tanins


Review:

Just short of perfection in 2020, but this is still a world class wine from the brilliant Sebastián Zuccardi, sourced from a 0.74-hectare parcel on gravel and limestone soils within the Piedra Infinita estate. Scented, ethereal and energetic, this is a detailed, complex, unwooded Malbec with blood orange and blackberry flavours and some underlying grip and backbone. The essence of the new Argentina, it’s a wine that inspires and delights

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Review:

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Arzuaga Crianza Ribera del Duero 2020

Arzuaga Ribera del Duero Crianza 95% Tempranillo and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon.

Dark cherry color with purple highlights. Powerful nose and high aromatic diversity of ripe red and black fruits, spicy and balsamic notes, and a roasted finish. Soft and mellow in the mouth with a great fruitiness and length.


 



Review:

Dark ruby to the eye, this wine has a nose of purple fig, aniseed and graphite. Rigorous tannins provide a framework for blackberry, black-cherry, mocha, fennel-bulb and crumbled sage-leaf flavors that evaporate into a red-berry and milk-chocolate finish.

A mixture of black and red fruits with sweet cinnamon spices and...

The 2020 Crianza is 90% Tempranillo and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon from Ribera del Duero and was aged for 16 months, 75% in French oak casks and 25% in American oak. Garnet-red in hue. The nose features strawberry, plum, undergrowth, herbs, cedar and vanilla notes. The dry and ample palate shows mild tannins and a velvety oak texture that leads to a long-lasting finish.

 Vinous Antonio Galloni: 91 Wine Enthusiast: 92 92 Points
Arzuaga Ribera del Duero Reserva 2020

Arzuaga Ribera del Duero Reserva is made from 95% Tempranillo, 4% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Merlot.

Clean and bright ruby red with purple reflections. Great aromatic intensity, complex and elegant, where the compote of red fruits dominates. The palate is structured with silky, sweet tannins and a lingering finish.

The harvest was done manually at the optimum point of maturity, and carried out separately for each of the more than 20 different plots used to make this wine. After the selection tables, a pre-fermentation maceration at low temperature and subsequent alcoholic fermentation at 28º is carried out, giving way to malolactic fermentation and aging in new French oak barrels for 26 months.  

Ideal with red meats (big game), roasted white meat, and blue cheese.




Review:

This deep garnet-colored wine has a nose of black currant, sage leaf and cherry pipe tobacco. It is smooth at first sip and then bold tannins settle in and coat the tongue and gums. Blackberry, raspberry, cocoa powder, crème brûlée and orange zest flavors are accompanied by a note of butterscotch that endures on the palate.

Aged 35 months in oak barrels, the 2020 Reserva comes from Ribera del Duero. Balsamic herbs, mature black fruit, camphor and bay leaf define the profile, while evident oak emerges in the background. Broad on entry, the palate then tightens through gum-coating tannins and a firm mid-palate. For the house style, it still needs more bottle age, though it already hints at the more structured and patient side of Ribera. Worth revisiting in five years.

Spicy oak to the fresh blackberries with some vanilla, smoke, walnut and...

 Vinous Antonio Galloni: 93 Wine Enthusiast: 94 94 Points
Product Description

A new wine for the new century: BriO de Cantenac Brown was born in 2001.

Through the style of its label, but also through the quality of our work from the selection of the lots to the bottling, it aims at expressing the modernity of our Château.
The lots supposed to be the main part of BriO are pre-selected because of their evolution all through the year, which means that we focus on each different lot of the winery, from the budburst through the flowering to the ripeness control.

A meticulous attention

The lots for BriO often need more work: more leaf pruning, some green harvest, for example on the young vines, to help them to deal with the weather conditions.

Our two labels are made from vines located on a beautiful terroir where you find gravelly soils, and we want the vinification of BriO to lead to an elegant wine with lots of flavours, a compromise between strength and finesse.
So, if you like the fruits, you can start to drink it from 2 to 5 years after the harvest.

The blend between Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot is different for each vintage but the Merlot percentage is usually more important than the one in the Château Cantenac Brown.

The 12 months-long ageing in 20% to 25% new oak barrels is traditional; we rack it every 3 months. Before the bottling, we do the fining with egg whites.

It is on purpose if the bottles of BriO are different from the ones of Cantenac Brown: we want BriO to become a brand on its own, and it’s true that we talk much more about “BriO” than about “BriO de Cantenac Brown”.

We want BriO to be a wine you drink before, during and after a meal; just for your pleasure. 

Winery: Cantenac Brown

Cantenac Brown Estate

Grand Cru Classé in 1855

At the beginning of the 19th century, John-Lewis Brown (1769-1851), bought a vineyard and designed in the village of Cantenac, a traditional Tudor style château, reminding him of his Scottish origins. His name is forever linked to the Grand Cru Classé. His grandson, John-Lewis Brown (1829-1890) esteemed animal painter and “Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur”, spent time there during his childhood.
In 1843, Mr. Gromard, banker, took over the estate. After the 1855 Grand Cru Classification, Louis Armand Lalande (1820-1894), Bordeaux winemerchant and owner of several estates in Médoc, extended the building. Surrounded by a remarkable British style park, Château Cantenac Brown is since then among the most original in Médoc.

In 2006, the Simon Halabi family has given new impetus to the estate with the ambition of raising it to the highest echelons.

José Sanfins presently manages Château Cantenac-Brown. He does his utmost to make the best of the magnificent terroir, lavishing the greatest of care on the soil and the vines, with great respect for the environment.
This meticulous attention to detail continues into the cellar, where everything possible is done to produce an exceptional wine.

John-Lewis Brown (1769-1851) acquired the estate in the early 19th century and decided to build in the village of Cantenac, a Tudor style chateau reminiscent of his Scottish origins.

The building is one of the most unusual in Médoc region and is surrounded by a remarkable English-style ground.

The quality of the wine was acknowledged in the 1855 classification, when Château Cantenac Brown was included into the growths.

The Bordeaux winemerchant and owner of several estates in Médoc, Louis Armande Lalande (1820-1894), extended the building, keeping the same architecture.

 

One hundred fifty years later, the Simon Halabi family has given a new impetus to this estate with a British atmosphere

…which they are determined to raise to the very highest level.
José Sanfins presently manages Château Cantenac-Brown. He does his utmost to make the best of the magnificent terroir, lavishing the greatest of care on the soil and the vines, with great respect for the environment. This meticulous attention to detail continues into the cellar, where everything possible is done to produce an exceptional wine.

Cantenac Brown Vineyards

With José Sanfins in charge, methods have changed.

The vineyard is managed in a more environmentally friendly way: the “sustainable approach” goes without saying.

The vines are cared for throughout the year and yields are perfectly controlled.

Strictly plant-based fertilizers are applied in a moderately and balanced way in tune with the needs of the vines.

This respect for Nature explains why the Château Cantenac Brown team continues to use the traditional soil maintenance techniques, which gradually enhance the structural, chemical and biological properties of the earth.

“A perfect match between Men and Nature…”

Over 400 000 vinestocks are managed every year. Pruning, removal of buds, leaves and secondary shoots, hand harvest …, several times per year the whole team works vine by vine and checks each single cluster.

 

Such a sharp selection does not replace the environment. The finest wines are given by the Nature.

 

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