Château Brane-Cantenac Margaux de Brane 2019, Margaux, Bordeaux

Margaux de Brane is made by Henri Lurton at Château Brane-Cantenac, the celebrated Margaux Second Growth. It is the estate’s third wine, after the grand vin and Baron de Brane, and comes from the youngest plots on the estate, selected by Henri Lurton to make a wine that shows the Brane-Cantenac style in an earlier-drinking form. It carries the Margaux appellation and is usually Merlot-led, with Cabernet Sauvignon adding structure, and like the estate’s other wines it is aged in French oak.

In the glass Margaux de Brane is silky, fruit-driven and perfumed, in true Margaux fashion. The nose is gently spicy and slightly smoky, with tobacco opening onto red fruits such as raspberry and plum, along with hints of rose and sweet spice. The palate has a silky entry, a fleshy, rounded middle and soft tannins, finishing fresh and aromatic.

This is a versatile red for roast chicken, lamb chops, duck breast or a mushroom and herb pie, and it is a good partner for milder hard cheeses. Serve at 15–17°C. Margaux de Brane is made to be enjoyed young, so it is drinking well now and will keep comfortably for 5–7 years from the vintage.

Château Brane-Cantenac is one of the great names of Margaux, ranked a Second Growth (2ème Cru Classé) in the 1855 Classification. Once called Château Gorce, the estate was bought in 1833 by Baron Hector de Brane, the “Napoleon of the Vines”, who sold what is now Mouton Rothschild to fund the purchase and gave the property his name. The Lurton family has long owned Brane-Cantenac, and Henri Lurton has run it since 1992, replanting large parts of the vineyard, improving drainage and introducing organic and biodynamic trials on part of the estate. The vines grow on the gravel plateau of Cantenac, and the wines are known for their elegance, perfume and precise, Cabernet-led character.