Phil Kessling

9.1

A perplexing wine that we started with as a blind. We knew it was not champagne but all thought it was a field blend of chard, PN and Gamay. Maybe even some Meunier. Not a whole lot of info on this wine but supposedly 100% Chard. Has a pink color, fine mousse and I thought a little fruit in addition to the tart apple. Could easily have taken this for Pink Champagne — 3 months ago

Allyson Vaccaro-Pelton

9.9

Finally drinking our champagne we brought back from France — 5 years ago

David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

I have a six-pack of this 05. I thought after 10 years in bottle, it would be interesting to check in on its evolution. While tasty, I’ll wait another 8-10 to open another. Even after 2-3 hours in the decanter, it’s still a very young adolescent. On the nose, slightly sour blackberries & dark cherries, dark currants, baked black plum, haunting blue fruits, anise, whiff of spice, steeped tea, dry stones, dry crushed rocks with dry top soil, caramel, vanilla with fresh & dry red florals. The body is thick & full. Tannins are starting to round out. It’s velvety on the palate. The fruits are; bright, fresh & ripe and really show the greatness of the 05 vintage. Dark currants, blackberries, dark cherries, baked black plum, haunting blue fruits, baked strawberries, cherries, raspberries on the long set, dark spice, clay & loamy dry top soil with crushed rocks, dry stones, cigar with ash, graphite, dry stems, slight herbaceous character, mint, used leather, clove, caramel, vanilla, fresh & dry red florals with violets. The round acidity is about perfect. The structure and length are still strong. The balance is in harmony. As for the long finish, it’s lush, ruby, rich and well polished. Photos of; Chateau Brane Cantenac, large wood vats, Henri Lurton and Estate vines. Producer notes and history...Chateau Brane Cantenac began in the early 17th century. At the time, the estate was known as Domaine Guilhem Hosten. Even that far back, wine was produced from the property. In fact, the wine was so highly regarded it was one of the more expensive wines in Bordeaux. It sold for almost as much money as Brane Mouton. This is interesting because of who went on to buy the vineyard in the 1800’s. The Baron of Brane, also known as “Napoleon of the Vineyards”, purchased the Chateau in 1833. At the time of the sale, the estate was called Chateau Gorce-Guy. To get the funds needed to purchase the Margaux vineyard, the Baron sold what is now called Mouton Rothschild, which was at the time of the sale, known as Chateau Brane-Mouton. Not such a good move with hundreds of years in hindsight! In 1838, the Baron renamed property taking his name and the name of the sector where the vineyards were located and called it Chateau Brane Cantenac. The Chateau later passed to the Roy family, who were well-known in the Margaux appellation in those days, as they owned Chateau d’issan. Moving ahead to 1920, the Societe des Grands Crus de France, a group of merchants and growers that owned several chateaux located in the Medoc including; Chateau Margaux, Chateau Giscours, and Chateau Lagrange in St. Julien, purchased Chateau Brane Cantenac. Five years later, M. Recapet and his son-in-law, François Lurton, took over Brane Cantenac along with Chateau Margaux. Lucien Lurton (the son of François Lurton) inherited Brane Cantenac in 1956. Today, the estate is still in the hands of the Lurton family. Brane Cantenac is owned and run by Henri Lurton. After being given the responsibility of managing Brane Cantenac, it was under the direction of Henri Lurton that large portions of the vineyard were replanted. Vine densities were increased, the drainage systems were improved and the plantings were also, slowly changed. The vineyard of Brane Cantenac is planted to 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 4.5% Cabernet Franc and .5% Carmenere. Carmenere was used for the first time in the 2011 vintage. The only other Chateau I know that still uses Carmenere is Clerc Milon. The 75 hectare Left Bank vineyard of Brane Cantenac is essentially unchanged since it earned Second Growth status in the 1855 Classification. At least that is the case with the 45 hectares used to produce the Grand Vin of Brane Cantenac. Those 45 hectares are planted surrounding the Chateau. Those vines are located just in front of the Cantenac plateau and are the best terroir that Brane Cantenac owns. They have other parcels, which are further inland and much of those grapes are placed into their second wine, Le Baron de Brane. Those additional hectares can be divided into 3 main sections. Behind the Chateau, they have 15 hectares of vines on gravel and sand, 10 hectares across the road with sand, gravel and iron and a 13 hectare parcel with gravel called Notton, which is used for their second wine. The vineyard is planted to a vine density that ranges from 6,666 vines per hectare on the plateau and up to 8,000 vines per hectare for the vines located behind chateau, in their sandier soils. The higher levels of vine density are always found in the newer plantings. The terroir of Brane Cantenac consists of deep gravel, sand and clay soil. Experiments in the vineyards are currently looking at becoming more organic in their vineyard management. Today, more than 25% of Brane Cantenac is farmed using organic farming techniques. It is expected that over time, the amount of hectares farmed with organic methods will be increased. Brane Cantenac has gone through 2 relatively recent modernization’s in 1999, when they added began adding the first of their smaller vats to allow for parcel by parcel vinification and then again in 2015 when they completed a much more complete renovation of their cellars and vat rooms. While Brane Cantenac is a traditional producer, they are no stranger to technology as they were one of the first estates to embrace optical grape sorting machines. In very wet vintages, they can also use reverse osmosis. To produce the wine of Chateau Brane Cantenac, the wine is vinified in a combination of temperature controlled, traditional, 22 oak vats, 18 concrete tanks and 20 stainless steel vats that vary in size from 40 hectoliters all the way up to 200 hectoliters, which allows for parcel by parcel vinification. 40% of the fermentation takes place in the oak vats. The oldest vines are vinified in vats that are selected to allow for separate parcel by parcel vinification. The younger vines are vinified more often together in the same vats. However, the Carmenere is entirely micro-vinified, meaning that those grapes were completely vinified in barrel, using micro-vinification techniques. This can also happen because the amount of grapes produced is so small. Some vats can be co-inoculated, meaning they go through alcoholic fermentation and malolactic fermentation simultaneously. At Chateau Brane Cantenac, malolactic fermentation takes place in a combination of French oak tanks and barrels. The wine of Brane Cantenac is aged in an average of 60% new, French oak barrels for 18 months before bottling. The initial 2 months of aging is done with the wine on its lees, which adds more depth to the wine. There second wine is Le Baron de Brane. Le Baron de Brane is not new. In fact, previously, the second wine went under the name of Chateau Notton, which took its name from one of the main parcels where the grapes were planted. During the late 1950’s and into the 1960’s, having a second wine was important as the estate declassified 3 vintages, due to extremely poor, weather conditions in 1956, 1960 and 1963. Production of Chateau Brane Cantenac is about 11,000 cases per year. — 7 years ago

Alexandre Pagliano

9.2

Mesnil sur Oger grand cru chardonnay. This is top notch cuvée. — a year ago

with Jose, veronique and 1 other

Brett

9.0

Solid vino - believe it was from Dr Champagne — 4 years ago

Alec

9.3

Leesy toasty champagne notes with high acid and intense crunch. — 6 years ago

Sergio Licea

9.3

Green apples, sourdough, gardenias, caramel, saline. Vibrant acidity, satin texture, light bodied, long crisp tart-creamy-floral finish. Champagne-like aromatics, acid driven, pronounced tense mineral notes persist through finish. Post modern Bourgogne. — 7 years ago

Vanessa

9.2

It was wonderful to visit the @kostabrownewinery facilities in #sebastapol today.

🍷 We sipped on the 2017 One Sixteen Chardonnay, the 2016 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, and the 2017 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir. We had a tour of the facilities, taking in the stainless steel, concrete, and oak vessels where wines are fermented.

Loved learning about the founders Dan Kosta and Michael Browne, also Chris Costello, the three of whom carried Kosta Browne to critical acclaim, earning Wine Spectator’s “wine of the year” award for the 2009 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir.

The founders have since sold KB to @duckhornwine and the passion to produce exceptional wines continues with this label.

We also tasted a Champagne emblematic of what’s to come from KB under Julien Howsepian @jhowsepian
the current head winemaker. 🥂
We’re excited to taste this sparkling wine once available 🙌🙌
— 4 years ago

with Deked1

Shay A

9.1

Monthly WTF guys blind tasting group. This month was our annual, and famed, Left Bank vs Right Bank theme. All wines served blind as usual. Started off with a Rosé and a champagne. Great night.

The most soft and plush wine of the night. I’d enjoy these soon as there isn’t a lot of acidity, or tannin, at this 5yr mark. Very ripe. Jammy/fruit forward...fresh squeezed blueberries and blackberries on the nose. Sweetened plum, bacon fat, boysenberry jam notes on the palate. I called this ‘14, Left Bank, St Julien. Thanks @Andrew Heffley . — 6 years ago

with Andrew, Jack and 6 others

Aaron Tan

9.5

Jura's finally captured my heart. Ever heard of Rocky Byun? This must be his handy work. Such a fine balancing act. Pure fruit aromas, evolve into this whacky oxidative, savoury, and rich tones.

A very agreeable pairing with Indian food, with all the nuances of curry leaf, mustard seed, and chicken essence in the wine. A friend noted that it was like a still barrel-fermented champagne. — 8 years ago