Jose Lorenzo

9.4

Loooovvve this juice for Miami weather — 3 years ago

Stephen Gniadecki

8.9

Straight forward easy drinking cold weather white. Citrus zip with a clean finish. Great with a simple meal of chicken, lemon, and parm. Not too much acid. Cheap and tasty. — 6 years ago

Patrick Derdeyn

8.9

All 5 BDX Varietals led by CS and Merlot in a typical bombastic Paso style. The fruit is amped up, acid is fairly low and tannins are medium. I do appreciate that in a hot weather wine they kept the alcohol fairly in check at 14.4% — 7 years ago

dan boedeker

9.1

Grapefruit and Tang. Drinks wonderfully with great weather. — 8 years ago

Brian

9.0

Great light crisp wine on a hut summer day. Nice to drink sitting outside enjoying the weather. — 8 years ago

Kyle Bella

9.1

Juicy, fresh red berries, a lovely acid and a generous touch of funk and a mouthwatering finish that leave you wanting more. Good in any weather but if it’s over 80, this is what you want to drink. Definitely a little sweet but not cloying. — 8 years ago

Stephanie

8.9

Strawberry jam wine. Drank this during a rare heat spell. Light enough for the warm weather, and fruitiness was very refreshing. Once paired with food, the fruitiness was a bit excessive. — 9 years ago

Daniel Bloom

9.0

N: Orange blossom special. Herbs( I guess you might say alpine) Straw, rocks.
P:Zing! Bright acidity melts into an herbal, mineral bath. Very forward.(front part of the under palate)
Young winemaker working near Mt. Blanc in Valle’e D’Aoste. An interesting Feb. quaff for sure, I could see a case going fast in the warm weather.
Pre-phylloxera Prié Franc, a new grape to me. — 3 years ago

Paul Horn

9.0

Nice decently priced Napa Cab. Part of the Stormy Weather vineyard, this was a solid Cab, with a decent finish. — 6 years ago

Ming L

8.9

Probably my last bottle of Rose this year before the weather turns cold, and it’s a good one. Very aromatic with perfume, strawberry, tangerine, grapefruit, watermelon, sea breeze, and hint of white flower. Soft and smooth on the palate with medium high acidity and a bit saltiness, yet the finish is fresh and crisp. So nice!

40% Grenache, 30% Carignan, 25% Mourvèdre & 5% Cinsault.

— 8 years ago

Faye Lessler

9.0

Fresh, sour, mineral. Amazing wine for warm weather!

From Gnarly Vines in Brooklyn. — 8 years ago

with Marie

Aaron Rankin

9.1

It’s rosé season in spirit in Chicago. This is a great one. Nice balance of the acid you expect with lush fruit off the old Mourvèdre vines. Wish I had more bottles for actual warm weather. — 8 years ago

Wine101Hamden

9.0

Bring on the warm weather! Bright acidity dancing on the palate. Super dry finish. Clean ocean breeze nose. Unripened red berry fruit. Ever so slightly tart. — 8 years ago

Muralee Murugesu

9.0

Warm weather, lovely refreshing rose. Crisp, delicate with peach flavours. — 9 years ago

Eric

9.2

Nice CF. Mature and deeply flavorful. Great structure, firm tannins and long finish. Cheers! — 4 years ago

David Shaw

8.9

Newish vintage, 600 cases produced. 94/6 blend of Grenache Blanc and Roussanne from three vineyards: Boushey (81% GB), Weather Eye (13% GB), Olsen (6% R). Pale yellow white, excellent clarity. Floral, vanilla and mild aldehydic barnyard aromas. Guava, lactic flavors, tropical fruit finish (banana then coconut? But this ain’t no Piña colada). Lingering cherry and heavy (skin and seed) tannic aftertaste . This is either serious experimental winemaking, or ultra craft-focused ‘blanc de noir’, or is this just their iteration of a pale “orange” wine? Massive tannins for a “white” wine. Not a wine for the faint of heart. Dry, just enough acidity, fruity but still pondering this one... The trop fruit flavors backed off, with cherry and other red fruit and Grenache character flavors emerging after 30-60 minutes. Tannins also softened somewhat, with patience — 6 years ago

Jeffrey McKown

9.8

My favorite go-to Sav Blanc, especially when the weather turns warm in Phoenix. Green apple, pear and citrus notes (lime?) followed by a hint of herbs in the finish. Pairs well with goat cheese. I like this wine with a cheese board. — 8 years ago

Emily Ward

9.2

Light and lovely...if only the weather was more sunshine and beach like today. #usingmyimagination — 8 years ago

Delectable Wine

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9.8

Bottled just a few months ago, the 2015 Continuum is shaping up to be a real gem. The flavors are dark, bold and incisive. In 2015, poor weather during flowering took with it 50% of the production in Continuum's prime Cabernet Sauvignon blocks. As a result, the 2015 has a high percentage (31%) of Cabernet Franc. Today, the Franc is keeping the wine a bit clenched, but that should be less of an issue as time passes. (Antonio Galloni, Vinous, March 2018) — 8 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

I have a six-pack of this 05. I thought after 10 years in bottle, it would be interesting to check in on its evolution. While tasty, I’ll wait another 8-10 to open another. Even after 2-3 hours in the decanter, it’s still a very young adolescent. On the nose, slightly sour blackberries & dark cherries, dark currants, baked black plum, haunting blue fruits, anise, whiff of spice, steeped tea, dry stones, dry crushed rocks with dry top soil, caramel, vanilla with fresh & dry red florals. The body is thick & full. Tannins are starting to round out. It’s velvety on the palate. The fruits are; bright, fresh & ripe and really show the greatness of the 05 vintage. Dark currants, blackberries, dark cherries, baked black plum, haunting blue fruits, baked strawberries, cherries, raspberries on the long set, dark spice, clay & loamy dry top soil with crushed rocks, dry stones, cigar with ash, graphite, dry stems, slight herbaceous character, mint, used leather, clove, caramel, vanilla, fresh & dry red florals with violets. The round acidity is about perfect. The structure and length are still strong. The balance is in harmony. As for the long finish, it’s lush, ruby, rich and well polished. Photos of; Chateau Brane Cantenac, large wood vats, Henri Lurton and Estate vines. Producer notes and history...Chateau Brane Cantenac began in the early 17th century. At the time, the estate was known as Domaine Guilhem Hosten. Even that far back, wine was produced from the property. In fact, the wine was so highly regarded it was one of the more expensive wines in Bordeaux. It sold for almost as much money as Brane Mouton. This is interesting because of who went on to buy the vineyard in the 1800’s. The Baron of Brane, also known as “Napoleon of the Vineyards”, purchased the Chateau in 1833. At the time of the sale, the estate was called Chateau Gorce-Guy. To get the funds needed to purchase the Margaux vineyard, the Baron sold what is now called Mouton Rothschild, which was at the time of the sale, known as Chateau Brane-Mouton. Not such a good move with hundreds of years in hindsight! In 1838, the Baron renamed property taking his name and the name of the sector where the vineyards were located and called it Chateau Brane Cantenac. The Chateau later passed to the Roy family, who were well-known in the Margaux appellation in those days, as they owned Chateau d’issan. Moving ahead to 1920, the Societe des Grands Crus de France, a group of merchants and growers that owned several chateaux located in the Medoc including; Chateau Margaux, Chateau Giscours, and Chateau Lagrange in St. Julien, purchased Chateau Brane Cantenac. Five years later, M. Recapet and his son-in-law, François Lurton, took over Brane Cantenac along with Chateau Margaux. Lucien Lurton (the son of François Lurton) inherited Brane Cantenac in 1956. Today, the estate is still in the hands of the Lurton family. Brane Cantenac is owned and run by Henri Lurton. After being given the responsibility of managing Brane Cantenac, it was under the direction of Henri Lurton that large portions of the vineyard were replanted. Vine densities were increased, the drainage systems were improved and the plantings were also, slowly changed. The vineyard of Brane Cantenac is planted to 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 4.5% Cabernet Franc and .5% Carmenere. Carmenere was used for the first time in the 2011 vintage. The only other Chateau I know that still uses Carmenere is Clerc Milon. The 75 hectare Left Bank vineyard of Brane Cantenac is essentially unchanged since it earned Second Growth status in the 1855 Classification. At least that is the case with the 45 hectares used to produce the Grand Vin of Brane Cantenac. Those 45 hectares are planted surrounding the Chateau. Those vines are located just in front of the Cantenac plateau and are the best terroir that Brane Cantenac owns. They have other parcels, which are further inland and much of those grapes are placed into their second wine, Le Baron de Brane. Those additional hectares can be divided into 3 main sections. Behind the Chateau, they have 15 hectares of vines on gravel and sand, 10 hectares across the road with sand, gravel and iron and a 13 hectare parcel with gravel called Notton, which is used for their second wine. The vineyard is planted to a vine density that ranges from 6,666 vines per hectare on the plateau and up to 8,000 vines per hectare for the vines located behind chateau, in their sandier soils. The higher levels of vine density are always found in the newer plantings. The terroir of Brane Cantenac consists of deep gravel, sand and clay soil. Experiments in the vineyards are currently looking at becoming more organic in their vineyard management. Today, more than 25% of Brane Cantenac is farmed using organic farming techniques. It is expected that over time, the amount of hectares farmed with organic methods will be increased. Brane Cantenac has gone through 2 relatively recent modernization’s in 1999, when they added began adding the first of their smaller vats to allow for parcel by parcel vinification and then again in 2015 when they completed a much more complete renovation of their cellars and vat rooms. While Brane Cantenac is a traditional producer, they are no stranger to technology as they were one of the first estates to embrace optical grape sorting machines. In very wet vintages, they can also use reverse osmosis. To produce the wine of Chateau Brane Cantenac, the wine is vinified in a combination of temperature controlled, traditional, 22 oak vats, 18 concrete tanks and 20 stainless steel vats that vary in size from 40 hectoliters all the way up to 200 hectoliters, which allows for parcel by parcel vinification. 40% of the fermentation takes place in the oak vats. The oldest vines are vinified in vats that are selected to allow for separate parcel by parcel vinification. The younger vines are vinified more often together in the same vats. However, the Carmenere is entirely micro-vinified, meaning that those grapes were completely vinified in barrel, using micro-vinification techniques. This can also happen because the amount of grapes produced is so small. Some vats can be co-inoculated, meaning they go through alcoholic fermentation and malolactic fermentation simultaneously. At Chateau Brane Cantenac, malolactic fermentation takes place in a combination of French oak tanks and barrels. The wine of Brane Cantenac is aged in an average of 60% new, French oak barrels for 18 months before bottling. The initial 2 months of aging is done with the wine on its lees, which adds more depth to the wine. There second wine is Le Baron de Brane. Le Baron de Brane is not new. In fact, previously, the second wine went under the name of Chateau Notton, which took its name from one of the main parcels where the grapes were planted. During the late 1950’s and into the 1960’s, having a second wine was important as the estate declassified 3 vintages, due to extremely poor, weather conditions in 1956, 1960 and 1963. Production of Chateau Brane Cantenac is about 11,000 cases per year. — 8 years ago