2020
A beautiful sensory parenthesis …
Harvest
2020 is a winemaker’s vintage. The ripeness is astounding, dark in color, the aromas are refined, complex and spicy, the tannins are elegant and sexy, with the sensation of a balanced power. It stands up to the challenge of the 2018 and 2019 vintages, with a pretty dash of supplementary freshness. 2020 is also an open window to the future.
Informations
Varietals
67% Cabernet Sauvignon
33% Merlot
Aging
French oak barrels
60% new oak barrels
40% one-year-old barrels
Harvest proportion
51% Château Cantenac Brown
Harvest dates
Merlots: Sept.10-11, Sept. 14-18, ending Sept. 21
Cabernet Franc: Sept. 21
Cabernet Sauvignon: Sept.24-25, Sept. 28-30
Year 2020
A new wind of enthusiasm blows across the team at Château Cantenac Brown with the arrival of “Famille Le Lous”. We thought of everything, from the vine to the bottle, using all methods possible to create one of the best wines of Margaux.
The vines awoke very early this year, in mid-March. After a beautiful beginning to Spring in the first weeks, even with some very heavy rain though June, the skies of the Médoc opened up to lovely periods of sunshine.
The Merlot and Cabernet took advantage of these windows to rapidly flower in the best conditions.
Particularly dry weather with several very hot days continued into mid-August where little spurts of rain allowed the vine to suffer slightly, and to jump start the ripening with a restrained hydration. In September, the wind accompanied the new heat wave in this last ripening phase, bringing about a unique concentration of the fruit.
Generous sun during the harvest did it’s work and therefore produced a beautiful vintage.
With a rather unusual grape composition, we had to be extremely vigilant in the last phase of ripening. The fermentation was conducted at temperatures from 4-5 degrees Celsius, much lower than normal in order to preserve the most from these magnificent fruit aromatics without over extracting the tannins.
2020 also marks the beginning of the blend of the the “Grand Cabernet Sauvignon” from the plateau of Margaux and the “Enclos de Cantenac Brown”
2020 is a winemaker’s vintage. The ripeness is astounding, dark in color, the aromas are refined, complex and spicy, the tannins are elegant and sexy, with the sensation of a balanced power. It stands up to the challenge of the 2018 and 2019 vintages, with a pretty dash of supplementary freshness. 2020 is also an open window to the future.