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Château Cantenac Brown Margaux 2020 (Half Bottle 375mL)

Reviews

96 -Jeb Dunnuck -

The 2020 Château Cantenac Brown showed beautifully and is a serious, concentrated, powerful Margaux that's going to need bottle age. Ripe blackcurrants, toasty oak, ripe tobacco, and dried flower notes all define the aromatics, and it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, a layered, balanced mouthfeel, beautiful tannins, and a great finish. It shows the more focused, slightly understated style of the vintage, yet everything is in the right place, it has terrific purity, and it’s just a brilliant Margaux. I followed this bottle for multiple days, and it never put a foot wrong. It will hit its prime drinking window in 7-8 years and evolve for two decades.

95 -James Suckling -

94+ -Robert Parker's Wine Advocate -

A fine follow-up to the excellent 2019, the 2020 Cantenac Brown incorporates newly acquired holdings of Cabernet Sauvignon from the plateau of Margaux. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of cherries, cassis, burning embers and pencil shavings, it's medium to full-bodied, layered and concentrated, with good depth at the core, supple tannins and terrific purity of fruit. Concluding with a long, penetrating finish, it underlines the fact that this is the appellation's fastest-improving estate.

94 -Wine Spectator -

92+ -Vinous -

The 2020 Cantenac Brown has a more reductive nose than its peers-the aromatics are not coming out to play on this occasion. But in the glass, it does have real complexity. The palate is medium-bodied, though not quite as precise as its peers, with a little chewiness toward the finish. This does not engage as much as some of the other Margaux at the moment. It's a bit distant, though I am sure it will blossom with bottle age. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.

Technical Details

Blend 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot
Winemaker José Sanfins with consulting winemaker Eric Boissenot
Country France
Region Bordeaux
Sub Region Left Bank
Appellation Margaux
Vineyard Estate vineyards of Château Cantenac Brown, Third-Growth (3ème Grand Cru Classé)
Farming Method High Environmental Value (HVE) Level 3 Certified
Oak 60% new, 40% once used French oak barrels
Fermentation Fermentation in 50-120hl truncated stainless steel tanks
Aging / Cooperage 12-15 months
Alcohol 13.5%

Château Cantenac Brown Margaux 2020 (Half Bottle 375mL)

Name: Château Cantenac Brown Margaux 2020 (Half Bottle 375mL)
Brand: First Bottle
SKU: 1014751
Price: 29.95 USD
Availability: OutOfStock

Bordeaux Blends | Bordeaux

JD96, JS95, WA94+, WS94, VN92+

High Environmental Value (HVE) Level 3 Certified

$45.00

$29.95

375ML

33% OFF RETAIL!

Château Cantenac Brown's most distinctive feature may be its architecture: the iconic Tudor-style château built in the early 19th century by Scottish animal painter John Lewis Brown, who purchased the estate, put his name to it, and designed a building unlike anything else in the Médoc. The wine itself carries a similarly distinctive character. Classified as a Third Growth in 1855, the estate passed through several owners before the French Le Lous family took the reins from British investor Simon Halabi, with longtime winemaker José Sanfins remaining as technical director through the transition. The 2020 marked a pivotal moment in the estate's recent history: that was the first vintage to incorporate Cabernet Sauvignon from newly acquired parcels on the Margaux plateau, adding a layer of precision and classicism to a wine already on the rise.

The blend of 67% Cabernet Sauvignon and 33% Merlot was fermented at temperatures held 4 to 5 degrees cooler than usual to preserve aromatic purity without over-extraction, then aged in 60% new French oak. Jeb Dunnuck awarded 96, James Suckling 95, Wine Advocate 94+, Wine Spectator 94, and Vinous 92+. Jeb Dunnuck called it a knock-out, dense and vertical at the same time, dark cherry, plum, chocolate, new leather, licorice, and cloves saturating the palate, with real depth and concentration alongside unexpected freshness. Antonio Galloni echoed the sentiment, describing towering intensity combined with a striking sense of energy and direction. Offered here in half bottle format, which ages a touch faster than standard and opens a more accessible window into this structured wine sooner. The price for a half bottle of this caliber is exceptional. Grab yours before they're gone.

About The Producer

There is no château in the Médoc quite like this one — a full-on Tudor fantasy commissioned by its Scottish founder, John Lewis Brown, in the early 19th century, complete with 370 windows and doors and a park that would look at home in the English countryside. Brown established the estate in 1806, planted the best parcels of Cantenac, and the wine's standing earned it Third Growth status in 1855. In 2019, French agronomist and oenologist Tristan Le Lous acquired the estate and immediately set about a significant reinvention, commissioning a new winery built entirely from rammed earth and untreated wood — a one-of-a-kind facility that completed its first harvest in 2023. The 60-hectare vineyard, dominated by deep Günzian gravel, continues to produce the classically structured, Cabernet-led Margaux the address is known for, now guided by both Le Lous's agronomic precision and the long-standing expertise of managing director José Sanfins.

$45.00

$29.95

375ML

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