2020 Cantenac Brown
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Tasting Notes
The Cantenac Brown at this stage remains fairly compacted. Earthy, savoury notes dominate a slightly closed nose. With air more floral, scented notes emerge. On the palate it’s quite bright and pure with crunchy blackcurrant fruit and close-knit tannins. It’s fresh and tight with nice purity of fruit.
Critic Scores
Average Score
James Suckling
James Lawther MW, jancisrobinson.com
More reviews and scores
Silky with touches of caramel, chocolate, blueberry, raspberries and boysenberries - all those autumnal fruits that have texture and acidity to them, with the signature gloss of Cantenac Brown. Clear peony, violet notes also. A linen texture that slows the passage of the wine through the mouth. Retasted at UGC and this is again good quality, the austerity on the tannins is marked right now, but there is plenty of life ahead here. New owner Tristan le Lous as of 2019, and this wine also includes the new 9.5ha vines of vines from Ch�teau Charmant and la Galiane (bought in July 2020). The fermentation was conducted at temperatures 4-5 �C lower than average to preserve fruit. 60% new oak. Harvest 10 to 30 September.
The 2020 Cantenac Brown, cropped at 36hl/ha, has quite a precocious bouquet of macerated small black cherries, blueberry, touches of cassis and violet, all very generous and seductive in style. The palate is beautifully balanced and extremely pure, offering succulent ripe tannins, perfectly judged acidity and layers of blueberry, Dorset plum, crushed stone and light graphite notes toward the finish, which has just the right amount of salinity. This is a sophisticated and quite cerebral Margaux in a series of excellent recent releases from the estate. Highly recommended.
The 2020 Cantenac Brown is an outrageously beautiful wine. Ample, vertical and soaring in its intensity, the 2020 is shaping up to be a jewel of a wine. Punchy red berry fruit, lavender, spice, mint and rose petal abound. What I like most about the 2020 is the way it balances fruit intensity with vibrancy and energy. Cantenac Brown is shaping up to be one of the wines of the vintage.
