Dive In: Cantenac Brown 1978-2018

Eric Boissenot stares at a disused swimming pool. The reclusive yet immensely influential oenologist, whose counsel is sought by almost every major Médoc château, the “Brian Eno of Bordeaux,” is transfixed. I understand why. An empty swimming pool is an inexplicably thought-provoking sight. Devoid of any purpose, the onlooker imagines those that splashed, swam or dived in its chlorinated water. It seems bizarrely out of place here, something that I did not anticipate seeing when I visited the Margaux property. “It won’t be here much longer,” head winemaker José Sanfins warns us. “It will be demolished as part of the reconstruction work.” My heart sinks a little. I think Boissenot’s does too. “Is there no chance of saving it,” I enquire before desperately asking, “What if future workers want to swim?” Sanfins grins. The decision has already been made. I have been long overdue a morning touring this château. Recent vintages demonstrate an unequivocal uptick in quality, part of an overall trend within Margaux. Nowadays, there is a roster of thoroughbreds and less also-rans within the appellation. Sanfins welcomed me to the estate in the summer of 2021, together with Boissenot, to undertake a rare vertical and discover more about the estate. HISTORY The estate traces its roots back to the 16th century when it was known as Château de Cantenac. The land was owned by the Irish Boyd family, though there was no château at that time. The story really begins in 1806 when a majority of the land was bought by Scotsman, John Lewis Brown, who married the granddaughter of Jacques Boyd. Brown commissioned the construction of a château in an unorthodox architectural style that draws strongly on a Tudor design. It is the most grandiloquent, arguably ostentatious château in the vicinity with some 370 windows and doors. Quoting Sanfins, “there are as many windows as there are days of the year.” Though with rising energy costs, that’s a lack of forward thinking. Brown also built a folie, an exterior building for aesthetic reasons only, in the rear garden that remains standing today. Brown belonged to the Clan Broun of Colstoun, whose motto was “Floreat Majestas” – let majesty flourish. He was both a shipper of claret and a renown naturalist painter that became close friends with Degas, Manet and Toulouse-Lautrec. Those artists were probably attracted by Brown’s penchant for hosting lavish and doubtless, bibulous parties at the château. Unfortunately, he was unable to sustain his hedonistic lifestyle from paintbrushes alone and was forced to sell the estate in 1843 to avoid bankruptcy. The property was sold in two lots, one part forming Château Boyd-Cantenac. Cantenac Brown first passed into the hands of a banker, Mon Gromard, who unsurprisingly was more interested in pecuniary gains instead of looking after the property. In 1855, it still managed to secure ranking as a Third Growth, but five years later, he sold it on to Armand Lalande, then co-owner of Léoville-Poyferré. Lalande resolved to restore the 134-hectare estate to its former glory and began to replace missing vines. The estate was renamed Cantenac Brown in 1884. In the 1898 edition of Féret, the vineyard totals 67-hectares, one of the largest in Margaux, commending Lalande for noble varieties, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot when in pre-appellation rules, it was perfectly legitimate to plant whatever you liked. Lalande’s family remained owners until 1968, whereupon it was sold to the du Viviers that ran the Bordeaux merchant A. de Luze & Fils. The man in charge was Bertrand du Vivier, though he did not live at the château. Too many windows perhaps? Instead, he rented part of it out. In 1989, the estate was acquired by French insurers AXA-Millésimes. The wines were made by Jean-Michel Cazes, ‘moonlighting’ from Lynch-Bages. Christian Seely oversaw the wines between 2000 and 2004 before Sanfins took the helm. “I started with Jean-Michel Cazes and Daniel Llose in 1989 as a trainee at Lynch Bages,” he explains. “When Cantenac Brown was integrated to AXA-Millésimes’ portfolio, I had the luck to follow my internship at Cantenac Brown. I’m still here … my internship continues. After the purchase of Quinta do Noval by AXA, I had the opportunity to work there with Christian Seely for several years. My Portuguese roots helped me a lot. During my spare time, I still make wine on my personal estate of 2.5 hectares in Haut-Médoc and Margaux. In the last few years, my wife and I bought a little Quinta in the Douro Valley where we produce olive oil.” In 2006, Cantenac Brown changed hands once again, acquired by the Simon Halabi family, who appointed Sanfins as estate director. Finally, in 2020, it was bought by Tristan Le Lous. Le Lous clearly has grand ambitions for the estate and embarked on a large-scale program of reconstruction. The centerpiece will be a 5,000m² cellar designed by Philippe Madec, details of which you will find further on. --Neal Martin, Dive In: Cantenac Brown 1978-2018, October 2022 To read Neal’s full report and learn more about the vineyard, vinification and the wines, check out the full article on Vinous now .