Château Brane Cantenac, 2ème Cru Classé, Margaux, 2022

Name: Château Brane Cantenac, 2ème Cru Classé, Margaux
Brand: Château Brane-Cantenac
Price: 452.74 GBP

Available Vintages

all 2012 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

justerini & brooks tasting note

This is Henri Lurton's 30th vintage at Brane Cantenac and he describes it as "legendary, like 1945 and 1961". It is a homage to Lucien Lurton (Henri's father) who passed away earlier this year. Henri believes this is "his greatest vintage" to date, and fittingly, the 60-year-old Cabernet vines that his father planted after the frosts of 1956 form the backbone of this wine. Vinified at lower temperatures than normal, which has preserved a freshness and redness to the fruit, this is a beautifully nuanced and juicy example. Opening with a terrific bouquet of fresh plums, bright hedgerow fruits and rose petals, it leads to a detailed and well delineated palate of perfumed cranberries, griotte and creme de mûre. Texturally, this is wonderful – the core possesses vigour and refinement and an almost creamy character. Henri explained that they have used a record amount of press wine 15.8%. This all came from Cabernet Sauvignon and added "another dimension" to the wine. There's loads of nervy tension here to counter the sumptuous fruit, finishing with brightness and sapidity. 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc, 1% Carmenère and 1% Petit Verdot.

critic reviews

98/100Neal Martin,Vinous

The 2022 Brane-Cantenac marked a year when ownership passed to Henri Lurton's four children, although he remains as general manager. More importantly (perhaps), the 2022 is a benchmark for the Margaux estate, its future North Star. This has a stupendous nose with intense Cabernet Sauvignon inflections, its intensity and delineation superior to the 2019 and 2020. An underlying floral scent emerges with time. The palate is medium-bodied with silky and fine tannins that frame the seductive black fruit laced with crushed peppercorns, and a touch of cedar on the crystalline finish. I raved about this 2022 from barrel and in bottle. I see no reason to change my "raving." Tasted at the Brane-Cantenac vertical at the château in September 2025.

DRINKING WINDOW 2030 - 2060

date of review 09/2025

98/100Jane Anson,Robert Parker Wine Advocate

Juicy and extremely impressive fruit quality, this harnesses the best of 2022 and is one of the wines of the vintage. You feel the texture and the power of the fruit, streaks of cocoa, liquorice, and rose petals, totally love it. The biggest alcohol of the series, and certainly you get a touch of crème de cassis and ripe fresh fig, carefully delivered with great texture to the tannins. This was the year that Henri Lurton passed the estate over to his four children while remaining as general manager, and also planted Malbec for the first time in the vineyard. Harvest September 7 to October 10, 315hl/h yield, 100% new oak barrels for ageing. Eric Boissenot consultant, Henri Lurton owner, Christophe Capdeville technical director. I have given this wine 98 points consistently every time I have tasted it, and truly it is excellent.

DRINKING WINDOW 2030 - 2046

date of review 09/2025

97/100Chris Kissack,The Wine Independent

The 2022 from Henri Lurton is a blend of 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot and 1% each Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Carmenère. I just adore the nose here, dark yet perfumed and fresh, with smoked blackberry fruit laced with sandalwood, incense, white peach and a touch of mint, as well as a gentle touch of peppery energy. The palate is no less beautiful than the nose suggests, with great harmony and polish, a very correct stance, the dark fruit underpinned by a spindle of dark and deliciously well-knit tannins. This is wonderfully coherent, all spiced and peppery in the finish, before a length which comes infused with peppery tannins. A brilliantly fashioned Margaux with a rich tannic structure that will carry this forward for decades. A great example of Brane-Cantenac and the appellation as a whole. Tasted twice. The alcohol on the label is 14%.

DRINKING WINDOW 2029 - 2059

date of review 06/2025

98/100Jane Anson,Inside Bordeaux

Easily one of the best wines of the appellation. Red rose petal fragrance, damp earth, rosemary, baking spice, sandalwood, incense, graphite and slate. Exceptional balance, deep chocolate and mint character, with lush damson and cassis fruits. Crushed violet flowers and salted cracker salinity, extremely impressive. Owner Henri Lurton has experience of making wine overseas, in Baja California, which may have given insights into viticultural techniques n the heat, but the real key here is the old vine Cabernet Sauvignon planted in the 1950s and 1960s by his late father Lucien Lurton. 100% new oak, from 8 coopers, and the meticulous approach to oak ageing care of technical director Christophe Capdeville is also important. 42% of production in the 1st wine. All the young vines, even when co-planted in the same rows were picked separately also this year.

DRINKING WINDOW 2030 - 2050

date of review 05/2023