Château Cantenac Brown, Margaux, Bordeaux, France, 2016

Overview of the Wine

A noble red wine from Margaux Chateau Cantenac Brown is a Classified 3rd Growth from Margaux. The vintage required 49% of the harvest. Aged in barrels, of which 60% were new and 40% were one year old.

"At the beginning of the 19th century, John-Lewis Brown (1769-1851), bought a vineyard and designed in the village of Cantenac, a traditional Tudor style château, reminding him of his Scottish origins. His name is forever linked to the Grand Cru Classé. His grandson, John-Lewis Brown (1829-1890) esteemed animal painter and “Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur”, spent time there during his childhood.
In 1843, Mr. Gromard, banker, took over the estate. After the 1855 Grand Cru Classification, Louis Armand Lalande (1820-1894), Bordeaux winemerchant and owner of several estates in Médoc, extended the building. Surrounded by a remarkable British style park, Château Cantenac Brown is since then among the most original in Médoc.

Since 2006, José Sanfins and his team have been working on adding value to this magnificent terroir of the estate, with great respect for the soil, the vine, and its environment.

In 2019, the French Le Lous family bought the Château Cantenac Brown. Big investments are carried out, to support a modern and audacious vision of viticulture."

Grape / Blend

Origin

Bordeaux, France

95 Points - Decanter
"Poised and precise, this is excellent quality with well-defined black fruits. It feels like the fruit is ripe but not overly so, carefully delineated by great freshness and touches of slate, rosemary and dark chocolate. The extremely precise nose slowly reveals itself, gaining in power. I loved this en primeur and it's even more striking today. A great job by the Cantenac Brown team, it lives up to the quality of their 2015. 49% of production went into the grand vin, matured in 60% new oak. Drinking Window 2026 - 2045. (JA)"

94 Points - James Suckling
"This has a very delicious and attractive nose offering ample dark berries and plums with cocoa and freshly cut bracken. The palate has a smooth, fan-like array of fine but sturdy tannins that carry very fresh and upbeat into the finish. Try from 2023."

94 Points - Wine Enthusiast
"Richly structured, this dense wine has solid tannins that balance with the black fruits. It is a complex wine, poised and confident while not los-ing sight of the Margaux elegance. Drink from 2025. *Editors’ Choice* (RV)"

92-94 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
"The 2016 Cantenac Brown comes from a Margaux estate that has upped its game in recent years. It has an intense bouquet with floral aromas filtering through the black cherries, cassis and boysenberry notes, in an odd way almost Saint-Emilion in style. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin. Silky smooth with very well-judged acidity, there is a sorbet-like freshness imbued into this Margaux and it just glides across the palate towards the quite sensual finish. This is certainly equal to the impressive 2015 Cantenac Brown. (NM)"

93+ Points - Jeb Dunnuck
"A solid step up and a brilliant Margaux, the 2016 Cantenac Brown checks in as 68% Cabernet Sauvignon and 32% Merlot raised in 60% new French oak. Black cherries, currants, smoke tobacco, graphite, and hints of earth all emerge from this beautifully layered, medium-bodied, and concentrated 2016 that shines for its purity and precision, while still offering beautiful depth of fruit. Give it 3-4 years and enjoy this fabulous effort over the following 2-3 decades. 93+"

93 Points  - Vinous
Outer quote mark The 2016 Cantenac Brown has an intense bouquet of blackberry and boysenberry fruit, pencil lead and sous-bois. There is gutsiness to these aromatics. The palate is medium-bodied with grippy tannin and a rounded texture. A little heavier than the Brane-Cantenac, displaying fine structure and persistency on the finish. Do not ignore this. (NM) Inner quote mark (1/2019)

93 Points - Wine Spectator
Outer quote mark Quite dark in profile, with steeped boysenberry, raspberry and blackberry compote flavors forming a core that is coiled up with bramble, singed mesquite and anise notes. Lots of juicy energy through the finish, with a mouthwatering streak of graphite. Rock-solid. (JM) Inner quote mark (3/2019)

Product size: 750ml