Château Brane-Cantenac is a winery in the

Margaux Margaux (; ) is a former commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune Margaux-Cantenac.appellation An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication used to identify where the ingredients of a food or beverage originated, most often used for the origin of wine grapes. Restrictions other than geographical boundaries, s ...

of the

Bordeaux wine Bordeaux wine (; ) is produced in the Bordeaux region of southwest France, around the city of Bordeaux, on the Garonne River. To the north of the city, the Dordogne River joins the Garonne forming the broad estuary called the Gironde; the Gi ...

region of France. The wine produced here was classified as one of fifteen ''Deuxièmes Crus'' (Second Growths) in the original

Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 The Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 resulted from the Exposition Universelle (1855), 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris, when Emperor Napoleon III of France, Napoleon III requested a classification system for France's best Bordea ...

. The estate also produces a

second wine Second wine or second label (French: ''Second vin'') is a term commonly associated with Bordeaux wine to refer to a second label wine made from '' cuvee'' not selected for use in the ''Grand vin'' or first label. In some cases a third wine or e ...

named Baron de Brane, a label named Château Notton, and a generic Margaux.

History

Previously a reputed estate named Château Gorce (sometimes recorded as Gorse), its wine was sold at high prices and was listed as a second growth in pre-1855 classifications such as ''

Cocks & Féret ''Cocks & Féret'', or simply ''Féret'', is the colloquial name of a Bordeaux wine directory originally created by Charles Cocks and Michel-Édouard Féret in 1846, which was published under the name ''Bordeaux, its Wines and the Claret Country'' ...

''. It was acquired in 1833 by Baron Hector de Branne, termed the "Napoléon of the Vines", who named the estate after himself, a bold gesture for that period. Having once also owned the land that today is

Château Mouton Rothschild Château Mouton Rothschild is a wine estate located in the village of Pauillac in the Médoc region, 50 km (30 mi) north-west of the city of Bordeaux, France. Originally known as ''Château Brane-Mouton'', its red wine was renamed by N ...

, the sale of Château Brane-Mouton helped finance the purchase of this estate. With the Baron's total devotion to the vineyard, the wine was estimated to be the finest produced in Cantenac. In the early 20th century the vineyard lost much of its reputation, and in 1922 it was acquired by the Lurton family. In 1992 control passed to Lucien Lurton's son, Henri Lurton; the same year, another of the family's properties, the

Château Durfort-Vivens Château Durfort-Vivens is a winery in the Margaux Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée, appellation of the Bordeaux wine, Bordeaux region of France. It is also the name of the red wine produced by this property. The wine produced here was classi ...

was passed to another of Lucien's sons, Gonzague. In the past,

Gustave Emmanuel Roy Gustave Emmanuel Roy (13 November 1823 in Paris – 20 December 1912 in Paris) was a Parisian merchant of the second half of the 19th century. Biography Son of Auguste Emmanuel Roy, merchant and textile industrialist in Reims, and Annette Car ...

was one of the owner.

Production

The

vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

abuts other Margaux châteaux, including

Château Cantenac-Brown Château Cantenac Brown is a winery located in Cantenac in the Bordeaux region of France. As a wine of the Margaux Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée, appellation, it was classified as one of fourteen Third Growths (''Troisièmes Crus'') in the ...

and

Château Boyd-Cantenac Château Boyd-Cantenac is a winery in the Margaux Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée, appellation of the Bordeaux region of France. The wine produced here was classified as one of fourteen ''Troisièmes Crus'' (Third Growths) in the historic ...

, in separate lots totalling . The

grape varieties This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried (raisin, currant, sultana). For a complete list of all grape species, including those unimportant to agriculture, see ''V ...

cultivated are 62.5%

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebano ...

, 33%

Merlot Merlot ( ) is a dark-blue-colored wine grape variety that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of , the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color ...

, 4%

Cabernet Franc Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux (wine), Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire (wine), Loire's C ...

and 0.5 Carmenère Producing annually 30,000 cases, Brane-Cantenac makes in addition to its ''Grand vin'', the second wine Baron de Brane, an additional label named Château Notton using grapes from the Notton vineyard, a plot acquired from Château d'Angludet, and a generic Margaux wine with grapes sourced from young vineyards.

References

External links

Châteaux Brane-Cantenac official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brane-Cantenac, Chateau Bordeaux wine producers