Cantenac Brown 2020

Margaux, Third Growth

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12 75cl Bottle Case 6 £200 per Case Cases [Add to shopping basket]
Tasting Notes

The 2020 Cantenac Brown is a knock-out. A Margaux of towering intensity, the 2020 is dense and vertical at the same time. It’s a combination that works so well. Dark cherry, plum, chocolate, new leather, licorice and cloves all saturate the palate. There's real depth and concentration here from the summer heat and small size of the berries, but at the same time the 2020 has more freshness and energy than some recent years. There have been quite a few changes here in recent years, starting with a new parcel on the Margaux plateau that entered the blend in 2019 and move towards lower toast levels in the barrels. Cantenac Brown remains a potent, opulent Margaux, but 2020 has a measure of classicism as well. Superb.

Score: 97

Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com Maturity: 2026-2040 23 February 2023

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.

Score: 94 - 97

Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com Maturity: 2030 - 2060 01 June 2021

The 2020 Cantenac Brown delivered the goods from barrel. Now in bottle, it has a wonderful, very expressive and complex bouquet with blackberry, raspberry, potpourri and light graphite aromas. You could lose yourself in these aromatics. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit, fine grip, quite firm in the mouth, good density and concentration with an almost sinewy finish. I can see this closing down for some time before reemerging. Have patience - it will be worth the wait.

Score: 94

Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2025-2050 08 February 2023

The 2020 Cantenac Brown delivered the goods from barrel. Now in bottle, it has a wonderful, very expressive and complex bouquet with blackberry, raspberry, potpourri and light graphite aromas. You could lose yourself in these aromatics. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit, fine grip, quite firm in the mouth, good density and concentration with an almost sinewy finish. I can see this closing down for some time before reemerging. Have patience - it will be worth the wait.

Score: 94

Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2025-2050 01 December 2022

Brown 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.

Score: 94 - 96

Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2025 - 2050 27 May 2021

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.

Score: 94 - 96

Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2025-2050 01 May 2021

I loved the 2020 Château Cantenac Brown, a pure, medium to full-bodied, beautifully textured Margaux that shines in the vintage. Offering up lots of classy cassis fruits as well as spicy oak, violets, and flowers, it has plenty of mid-palate depth, outstanding balance, and a great finish. There’s no trace of the often firm chewy tannins found in this appellation in 2020, and it’s unquestionably a beautiful wine.

Score: 92 - 94

Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com 25 May 2021

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2020 Cantenac Brown slides effortlessly out of the glass with pronounced notes of licorice, tar, tapenade and fertile loam over a core of warm cassis and plum preserves, with a waft of charcuterie. The medium-bodied palate is refreshing, bursting with crunchy black fruit and herbal sparks with a well-managed, grainy texture, finishing long and earthy.

Score: 91 - 93

Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2025 - 2042 20 May 2021

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 Château 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.

Score: 93

Jane Anson, Decanter.com Maturity: 2028 - 2044 16 May 2021

67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot. Cask sample. Delicately floral and fruity on the nose with just a hint of oak. Soft and supple on entry then a lingering freshness. Adequate juice and fine tannins with a leafy, Cabernet note on the finish. More refined and less chunky than in the past. (JL)

Score: 16+

Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com 08 May 2021

Fantastic depth of fruit with layers of firm, chewy tannins that are medium-grained and long in the mouth. Full and dynamic. One of the best ever.

Score: 96 - 97

James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com 16 April 2021