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Wine Description
The Story
Henri Lurton believes that a great wine should combine structure with elegance and possess great aromatic purity. Château Brane Cantenac’s aromatic qualities have been acknowledged for a great many years. Its bouquet develops over time. The more the wine ages, the greater power it develops.
Brane’s greatest asset is the amazing quality of its historic terroir, because at the end of the day wine is made in the vineyard. This is why Henri Lurton attaches such great importance to vine canopy work, very strict selection and moderate yields (an average yield of 45hl/ha). Contrary to what may have been written about the estate, Brane produces a very limited quantity of First Wine. Scarcely a third of the production carries the famous gold and black label!
Wine Information
After an early bud-break at the end of March, the growing season was slowed down by a cool, damp spring. Spraying was vital for combating downy mildew and other fungal diseases. July was abnormally cold and wet, though August and September were sunny and dry, ensuring good ripening of the grapes. Harvest conditions were favourable, allowing us to wait for optimal ripeness in each plot.
Thanks to hot weather the quality and concentration of the grapes was far superior to previous vintages. The Merlot showed good deep colour and fatness on the palate. The Cabernets displayed outstanding tannins, balance, roundness and finesse. Paradoxically, selection remained very severe.
Vintage 2000
Weather conditions / The 2000 vintage was proclaimed from the start as one of the best vintages of modern times. In the spring of 2003, I had many opportunities to find out if we really had a true dream vintage on our hands.
During the 2000 harvest, while doing a “personal inspection” in the vineyards, I noticed that something extraordinary was on the way. The grapes looked extremely healthy.
While the sorting table was rolling, I observed that there were few leaves, stems and weeds among the grapes. This is why sorting the grapes was so easy and quick. This must be one of the characteristics of the 2000 vintage, because normally even great vintages require a lot of work at the sorting table.
The 2000 vintage is a classic, extravagant and extremely long Bordeaux with dark and extremely dense wines, which have a huge concentration of fruit, length and superbly concentrated tannins. The tannin is not allowed to dominate, as it is well enveloped by the fruit. A scent of under-ripeness is only present in a few wines. One of the hallmarks of this vintage is an intense, deep aroma of dark berries, such as blueberries, blackberries and black cherries.
All red grape varieties have reached perfect maturity, including Bordeaux's most temperamental and unruly grape variety, Petit Verdot. Petit Verdot brings to wines the long-awaited addition of backbone and power.
Additionally, the grapes for whites, such as Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon and Muscadelle, ripened perfectly and produced extremely fine dry white wines. The sweet white wines have unfortunately transformed into some light, elegant and charming wines, based 100% on the September harvest. From October 11, it rained a lot in Bordeaux and this continued until the end of the year.
