Château Cantenac Brown, 3ème Cru Classé, Margaux, 2022

Name: Château Cantenac Brown, 3ème Cru Classé, Margaux
Brand: Château Cantenac-Brown
Price: 308.74 GBP

Available Vintages

all 2005 2020 2022 2023 2024

justerini & brooks tasting note

Cantenac Brown may have the façade of an austere prep school run by a sadistic headmaster, but the wines are beginning to show real promise. Still on the darker end of the spectrum, there are some nice touches of inky cassis, gravel, pencil shavings and iris – really quite lifted and floral. The palate is a continuation with clear cassis and vibrant blueberries – there's a creamy texture to the fruit followed by a good core of acidity and detailed tannins. 69% Cabernet Sauvignon and 31% Merlot.

critic reviews

94/100Chris Kissack,The Wine Independent

The assemblage of the 2022 from Cantenac-Brown is 69% Cabernet Sauvignon and 31% Merlot. The aromatics here are fragrant yet brooding and spicy, with layers of liquorice, salted dark olive, black pepper and toast, but there are scented top notes of rose and crushed gravel which feel true to the Margaux appellation. This is matched by a palate which is finely polished, with dark and savoury fruits to the fore, set within a finely polished substance, cut through by supremely ripe and finessed tannins. This is just delicious, the fruit dark and brooding but sitting within a coherently formed palate with great texture and a richly integrated core of tight-knit tannins. A very impressive composition, with a lingering grip of dark, smoky and toasted tannins. This has lovely potential, and a great result for Cantenac-Brown, a property clearly on a role. Tasted twice. The alcohol on the label is 14%.

DRINKING WINDOW 2027 - 2047

date of review 06/2025

95/100Jane Anson,Inside Bordeaux

Medium to full intensity, plenty of depth and character through the palate here. Excellent quality, vivid, character, not too sweet, has kept lift and character and tension, touches of fern and iris, with cassis puree, blackberry, graphite. Very good, 60% new oak barrels. Delivering on En Primeur promise.

DRINKING WINDOW 2028 - 2042

date of review 03/2025

95/100Neal Martin,Vinous

The 2022 Cantenac Brown was a stunner from barrel. Now in bottle, it has a vivacious bouquet highlighting blackberry, wild strawberry and cedar aromas, with hints of violet emerging over time. It shows wonderful delineation and focus. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-boned tannins, fruit that is a little blacker than its peers, gentle grip, nicely judged acidity and a very harmonious, persistent finish. This is a seductive, quite sensual Cantenac Brown worthy of their brand new winery. It’s superb.

DRINKING WINDOW 2028 - 2060

date of review 02/2025

94-96/100William Kelley,Robert Parker Wine Advocate

A few years ago, this estate purchased 22 additional hectares in the heart of the plateau of Margaux, including old vine Cabernet Sauvignon that is now making an appreciable contribution to the blend, and that helps to explain why the 2022 Cantenac Brown is so good. Unwinding in the glass with notes of dark berries, plums, charcoal, pencil shavings and violets, it's medium to full-bodied, rich and elegantly muscular, with a layered core, refined tannins and a penetrating finish. The finest wine that Jose Sanfins has produced to date, the 2022 only improved during the several weeks I spent in Bordeaux. It's a blend of 69% Cabernet Sauvignon and 31% Merlot.

date of review 04/2023