2020 Château Cantenac Brown Margaux

Tasting notes

2020 is a winemaker’s vintage. The ripeness is astounding,
dark in color, the aromas are refined, complex and spicy, the tannins are elegant and sexy, with the sensation of a balanced power. It stands up to the challenge of the 2018 and 2019 vintages, with a pretty dash of supplementary freshness. 2020 is an open window to the future.

Vintage Notes

2020, A BEAUTIFUL SENSORY PARENTHESIS...

A new wind of enthusiasm blows across the team at Château Cantenac Brown with the arrival of “Famille Le Lous”. We thought of everything, from the vine to the bottle, using all methods possible to create one of the best wines of Margaux.
The vines awoke very early this year, in mid-March. After a beautiful beginning to Spring in the first weeks, even withsome very heavy rain though June, the skies of the Médoc opened up to lovely periods of sunshine.The Merlot and Cabernet took advantage of these windows to rapidly flower in the best conditions.
Particularly dry weather with several very hot days continued into mid-August where little spurts of rain allowed the vine to suffer slightly, and to jump start the ripening with a restrained hydration. In September, the wind accompanied the new heat wave in this last ripening phase, bringing about a unique concentration of the fruit.
Generous sun during the harvest did its work and therefore produced a beautiful vintage. With a rather unusual grape composition, we had to be extremely vigilant in the last phase of ripening. The fermentation was conducted at temperatures from 4-5 degrees Celsius, much lower than normal in order to preserve the most from these magnificent fruit aromatics without over extracting the tannins.
2020 also marks the beginning in the blend of the “Grand Cabernet Sauvignon” from the plateau of Margaux and the “Enclos de Cantenac Brown”.

Viticulture

Harvest proportion
51% Château Cantenac Brown

Harvest date
Merlot : Sept. 10 to 11, 14 to 18, 21
Cabernet Franc : Sept. 21
Cabernet Sauvignon : Sept. 24-25, 28 to 30

Vinification

Aging
French oak barrels
60% new oak barrels
40% one vintage barrels