Freddy R. Troya

9.2

Château Brane-Cantenac 2023 – Margaux, Grand Cru Classé, BDX France 🇫🇷

Overview
A highly aromatic and deeply concentrated Margaux showing impressive layering, polished texture, and outstanding fruit density, with oak integration still prominent in its youth. Built for complexity and long-term evolution.

Aromas & Flavors
Blackberry compote, wild blueberry, cassis, black cherry liqueur, violet petal, sweet cedar, cocoa powder, graphite, subtle vanilla and toasted spice from new oak.

Mouthfeel
Medium-plus to full-bodied with silky, refined tannins, dense mid-palate concentration, seamless flow across the palate, and a long, plush finish. Oak remains slightly forward at this stage but clearly destined to integrate.

Food Pairings
Dry-aged ribeye, rosemary lamb, duck confit, porcini risotto, aged Gruyère or Comté.

Verdict
A seductive, high-concentration Margaux with real depth and aromatic brilliance. Oak currently rides slightly high, but the underlying fruit density and texture suggest excellent aging potential and future harmony.

🍷 Personal Pick
The perfume is intoxicating and the fruit core is massive, this just needs time for the oak to melt into the frame. Big upside once the pieces lock together. — 6 months ago

ESF

9.3

In the pocket w/long life ahead: solid Napa CS - usually priced out of these wines, but I picked this up years ago and decided to see where it was: super inky, not a sign of age, very generous fragrant nose right away, lots of [chambord] liqueur like blackberry, black cherry, black raspberry, cassis, and well integrated oak. Rich luscious viscous on palate, finely grained tannins, loads of fruit from nose and a lengthy finish. Perfect w/ribeye — 3 years ago

Andrew Schirmer

9.3

Cherry liqueur/eucalyptus nose. Palate is high altitude, great purity & elegance. Summer fruit, gentle tannins. Lovely now and good for the long haul. 😍 — 4 years ago

with Alsu

Daniel M

9.3

After a 2 weeks pause for (very mild) health reasons I thought it would be good to pop a bottle I had kept on the side for such occasion.
Cola, cherry, hay and an irony thing one the nose, very inviting. The palate is superlative. Massive acid backbone, superb juicy cherry fruit all along, great width, soft mouthfeel, a little bit of cherry liqueur on the sides too, ample mid palate with a slight drying effect like a subtle brush and a finish with those same cherry juice and cherry liqueur notes. This is so beautiful... — 5 years ago

Delectable Wine

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9.6

Inky ruby. An exotically perfumed bouquet presents an array of mineral-driven dark fruit liqueur, spice and floral qualities, along with hints of vanilla and pipe tobacco that build as the wine opens up. Sweet and densely packed on the palate, offering intense blueberry, cassis, cherry compote and violet pastille flavors and a touch of cola. Rich yet energetic in character, displaying superb definition, building tannins and outstanding, smoky persistence. (Josh Raynolds, Vinous, March 2021)
— 5 years ago

Shay A

9.3

I opened this as part of a virtual Clos de Papes tasting with the WNH. Other vintages opened were 2001, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2012, 2013 and 2015.

After a two hour decant, this was still quite thin. Hour three it opened and finally in hour four it blossomed. Aromatically this was full of kirsch, licorice, herbs de Provence and a soft spicy red fruit profile. On the palate, the dominant note is very much black peppercorn crusted rhubarb. Crunchy and tart red and black fruit profile with a slightly sweet and lengthy finish. There was a distinct cherry liqueur and fig note with high acidity. Good lift here. Definitely zero funk. With this needing a couple hours to open, I’d say this is just now entering a prime drinking window with a lengthy window ahead. — 6 years ago

Brandon Boesch

9.1

Light bodied, flowers and herbs, cherry liqueur, lingering wood and cherries and leather finish. Dry. Overall I like it and would drink again for the price. — 7 months ago

Roman Ochocki

9.4

Never disappoints. Deep nose: liqueur cherry & plum. But "deeper": caramel brownie - caramel, dark chocolate & gingerbread note. — 2 years ago

Adam Gäfvert

9.5

A full bodied and really rich old vine Grenache (with 20% mourvèdre). Ripe with a great concentration of flavours. Plums, cherry liqueur, garrigue, crushed rock, violets, melted liquorice, pepper corns and so much more. This has seen mostly concrete and really confirms to me my preference on how a great southern Rhône wine should be made. — 3 years ago

Will Stanley

9.4

From the get-go, the 2016 Brunello from Fattoria dei Barbi is an attractive, forthcoming wine showing all the hallmarks of a great vintage, which of course 2016 was - in Montalcino as in Tuscany, Italy, Europe, indeed the world so it seems. It is oaked in a barrel

Quite pale garnet in colour, the wine has pretty aromas of rose petal, dry cherry, cranberry, with some lavender, dark chocolate, and coffee bean.

The palate is firm, juicy, with a well of macerated cherry and kirsch liqueur to go with savoury characteristics of aged meat and herbs. Acidity is high, but this is enjoyable now with a good decant - it will of course age very well too.
— 5 years ago

Delectable Wine

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9.2

Ruby-red. Oak-spiced red berry liqueur, cherry, pipe tobacco and vanilla aromas are complemented by a smoky topnote. Sweet and pliant in the mouth, displaying velvety texture and plush black raspberry, cherry-vanilla and fruitcake flavors. Shows impressive depth as well as energy, especially for a hot vintage, and finishes with repeating cherry and spice notes and harmonious tannins. (Josh Raynolds, Vinous, April 2021)
— 5 years ago

Cathy Corison

Owner/Winemaker Corison Winery

9.5

Wow. Brewed coffee. Plums and luxardo cherry. Old but a rare treat. So alive. Almost 45 years young. — 5 years ago

Severn G

9.4

Nose has ripe blackberry, fresh black cherry, cherry jam, mashed cherries, toasted anise seed, sweet smokey cedar, cherry liqueur. Rich and beautiful.

Palate has bright black cherry, old milk chocolate, cherry jam reduction, ripe fig, dried fig, black currant jam, moist garden soil, licorice and grape Jolly Rancher candy. Rich palate with mild tannins and long finish. This wine is in an outstanding spot with years ahead of it still, enjoy 2024-26, in proper storage. Decanted 6H.

Paired with pulled pork sandwiches, a Superbowl Sunday tradition for us. A local pork shoulder (Mill River Farm, New Marlborough, MA), dry spice rubbed and rested for 24H, then 10H in the slow cooker; it's just falling apart...so beautiful, our kitchen smells amazing! Garnished with our garden bread & butter pickles, homemade barbeque sauce, pickled red onion and a dash of cilantro, all a worthy combination. — 5 years ago

Brenda Terzich-Garland

9.4

Dark crimson and garnet color. Very dark cherry fruit, bacon spices and a smokey vanilla hit the nose then lingers with a spearmint menthol scent and chocolate that is pleasant and inviting. Velvety feel fills the mouth with a cherry liqueur hitting the pallet; as the wine coats the tongue a raisin-prune and cedar taste comes out with hints of vanilla and coffee floating in and out. Medium to long finish and tannins pretty much resolved. 2017 Wine Spectator’s wine of the year! — 6 years ago

with Karin and Jill

Ming L

9.3

The fruit has retreated, leaving somewhat a muted nose on the first day. But subtle of sweet cherry and black currants came back on the 2nd day, making for a complex bouquet along with leather, dried herbs, date, steeped red tea, and chocolate cream liqueur. The palate is savory, and silky smooth, with resolved tannins supporting a lean, earthy finish. A fully evolved, contemplative wine. — 9 months ago

Byron Hewett

9.1

Cherry liqueur, mineral spine. Vibrant acidity. You can smell the stem inclusion here. Quite nice. The cork smelled of TCA, but the wine was sound. Whew! Got lucky! — 3 years ago

Jay Kline

9.3

Popped and poured; consumed over a three hour period. No formal notes. The 2015 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco pours a deeper garnet color with a translucent core. Medium+ viscosity with no staining of the tears. No signs of sediment. On the nose, the wine is currently bursting with red and dark fruits: blackberries, Luxardo cherry, pomegranate, green herbs, red flowers, green herbs, and tar. On the palate, the wine is bone dry with high tannin and medium+ acid. The notes on the nose are confirmed. The finish is long and savory. Really compelling stuff in the context of the night. I think the 2015’s are drinking so well right now. Unfortunately, this is my last bottle of the “classico” but I’ll be on the hunt for more if I can score at a good price. Drink now if you’re going to allow for some evolution in the glass or enjoy through 2035. — 3 years ago

Tom Casagrande

9.3

Delicious. A sentimental favorite winery for my wife and me, Freemark’s reds are, in my experience, consistently top notch. Nose has sweet Luxardo cherry, rich humus, just a tad of barrel spice, stony crushed gravel, and sniffably tangy acids. Round and full-flavored, it’s got smoky cassis fruit that is clingy and turns minerally/savory as the finish progresses. Soft textured and balanced. Just a joy to drink. — 5 years ago

Steven Beishuizen

9.0

I kinda liked this one. Very Luxardo cherry on the nose... The palate offers this along with herbal, tobacco, beef jerky, and dry kirsch... Though we enjoyed this one at a Greek restaurant paired with lamb, I can't help but think about what other foods this might pair with... When we see Greek wine, we always think Greek food, but here I don't know if that's the obvious choice. I thought BBQ, but here I might even suggest turkey dinner may be a nice pairing. — 5 years ago

with Anita

Jazmina

9.0

Candied Orange peel, white pepper, cloves, stewed cherries and star anise on the nose. Dense full bodied texture. Luxardo cherry syrup, white pepper, roasted red pepper, apricot jam as well as a yogurt finish. — 6 years ago

with Deegan and Ross