Chateau Cantenac Brown Margaux Bordeaux, Complete Guide

Learn everything about Chateau Cantenac Brown Margaux, Third Growth with wine tasting notes, and wine with food pairing tips. Learn all the best vintages, a history of the property, information on vineyards, and winemaking. If you want to read about other important, Bordeaux Chateaux: Links to all Bordeaux Wine Producer Profiles

Chateau Cantenac Brown History, Overview

The Chateau for Cantenac Brown is unique in the Bordeaux wine appellation. It is perhaps the only Bordeaux chateau designed in the style of a traditional, Tudor mansion in the entire region! How did that happen?

At the start of the 19th century, the well-known Scottish, animal painter, John Lewis Brown purchased the estate. It was John Lewis Brown that drew up the plans and designed the ostentatious chateau in the Tudor style. While beautiful, it stands out, due to its unique design which includes 370 windows and doors.

As was the tradition in the Medoc at the time, he renamed the property, Chateau Cantenac Brown. Financial issues forced a sale of the estate. The vineyard was reduced as a portion of the vines were sold to Chateau Boyd Cantenac.

The estate passed through the hands of several owners including Armand Lalande who also owned Chateau Leoville Poyferre in St. Julien.

Chateau Cantenac Brown the Modern Era

More recently, in 1989 AXA, the massive insurance company with several Bordeaux chateaux in their portfolio including Pichon Baron in Pauillac, and estates in Pomerol and Sauternes bought the vineyard. AXA sold the property in 2006 to the Halabi family.

One of the first moves made by the new owners was to place Jose Sanfins in charge of the winemaking at Cantenac Brown. Under the direction of Jose Sanfins, the level of quality has continued to improve since 2009, followed by 2010 and 2015 as benchmark vintages for the chateau.

In December 2019, Chateau Cantenac Brown was sold to Tristan Le Lous of the Urgo Group. Urgo was founded in 1880 as a pharmaceutical company whose main business remains in the healthcare industry. Jose Sanfins remains in charge of the estate.

The new owners wasted no time improving and building up the vineyards. In June 2020, they purchased 9.5 hectares of vines from the neighboring estates of Chateau La Galiane and Chateau Charmant.

Chateau Cantenac Brown Vineyards, Terroir, Grapes, Winemaking

The 62.5-hectare Left Bank vineyard of Cantenac Brown is planted to 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, and 5% Cabernet Franc. Although 1.2 hectares of Petit Verdot were just added to the vineyard.

In total, they have 59-hectares under vine in Margaux. Aside from vineyards, the large estate of Cantenac Brown uses 5 hectares of land to create a stunning, park-like setting with picturesque greenery and a lake with swans.

For bio-diversity, you can find beehives on the estate which they use to produce their own honey. The jars are cool because they use a Cantenac Brown label. Their closest neighbor, as their name suggests is Chateau Brane Cantenac which is just down the small paved road.

The vineyard can be divided into 3 separate parts, which can be further subdivided into 62 parcels. The 3 main sections are based on their soils. Cantenac Brown has 34 hectares of gravel, which includes 16 hectares of vines planted on the plateau of Cantenac, which are close to the chateau and in view of the tasting room. This is their best terroir. They also have 16 hectares of gravel terroir in Margaux, Soussans, and further inland, close to the vineyards of Chateau du Tertre, and roughly 6 hectares of clay, and limestone where they plant Merlot and their white wine grapes. The peak elevation in the vineyards is just about 18 meters.

They have old vines, some of which are close to 60 years of age. The density of the vines varies from a density of 8,500 vines per hectare for the old vines, and up to 10,000 vines per hectare in other parcels, most of which are the more recent plantings. All replanting takes place at 10,000 vines per hectare.

The vineyard of Cantenac Brown is farmed using a sustainable approach to their farming techniques. This approach means only plant-based fertilizers are used. The grapes are picked parcel by parcel, which is how they are vinified as well.

Chateau Cantenac Brown Winemaking

To produce the wine of Cantenac Brown in the new cellar, the wine will be vinified in 70 stainless steel tanks ranging in size from 50 hectoliters to 120 hectolitres. This is a big improvement over the previous cellar which was only 28 tanks.
Malolactic fermentation takes place in a combination of French oak barrels and vats. The wine of Cantenac Brown is then aged in 60% new, French oak barrels for 12 to 15 months, depending on the vintage.

On average, Chateau Cantenac Brown produces 11,000 cases of Bordeaux wine per year. There is a second wine, BriO de Cantenac Brown, which made its debut in 2001. Before 2001, their second was sold as Chateau Canute.

The best vintages for Chateau Cantenac Brown are: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2012, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2006, 2005 and 2000. Cantenac Brown has truly increased the level of quality at the estate starting with the 2005 vintage.

I’ve heard good things about older vintages from the 1950s, but I’ve never seen a bottle. As prices are probably fair, it could be worth taking a chance on.

White Wine of Cantenac Brown

Cantenac Brown also started to produce a small amount of white Bordeaux wine called AltO de Cantenac Brown in 2011.

AltO de Cantenac Brown comes from a specific 5.1-hectare parcel of vines planted to 90% Sauvignon Blanc, 6.5% Sauvignon Gris, and 3.5% Semillon. AltO de Cantenac Brown is vinified in French oak barrels.

There is no malolactic fermentation. The wine is aged in 100% new, French oak barrels for 12 months before bottling. The wine is sold as a generic AOC Bordeaux Blanc. The average production of Alto de Cantenac Brown is close to 800 cases a year.

The estate makes a third Margaux wine, Sijac de Cantenac Brown. In addition, the estate also owns 3.5 hectares of Bordeaux AOC vines where they produce Chateau Brown Lamartine, which is a 50/50 blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, which is sold a Bordeaux Superieur.

When to Drink Chateau Cantenac Brown, Anticipated Maturity, Decanting Time

Chateau Cantenac Brown is not a wine to drink on the young side. The wine is usually far too tannic, and concentrated in its youth. Young vintages can be decanted for an average of 2-3 hours, give or take. This allows the wine to soften and open its perfume. Older vintages might need very little decanting, just enough to remove the sediment.

Cantenac Brown is usually better with at least 12-15 years of bottle age. Of course, that can vary slightly, depending on the vintage character. Chateau Cantenac Brown offers its best drinking and should reach peak maturity between 18 and 30 years of age after the vintage.

Serving Chateau Cantenac Brown with Wine, Food, Pairing Tips

Chateau Cantenac Brown is best served at 15.5 degrees Celsius, 60 degrees Fahrenheit. The cool, almost cellar temperature gives the wine more freshness and lift.

Chateau Cantenac Brown is best served with all types of classic meat dishes, veal, pork, beef, lamb, duck, game, roast chicken, roasted, braised, and grilled dishes. Chateau Cantenac Brown is a perfect match with Asian dishes, hearty fish courses like tuna, mushrooms, and pasta as well as cheese.

The technical director, Jose Sanfins also produces a value-priced wine from a 3-hectare parcel of vines he owns in the Margaux appellation, Chateau Chantelune. The family of Jose Sanfins also makes great olive oil from the Duro, Quinta da Lua.

www.cantenacbrown.com