2014 Chateau Cantenac Brown
Regular price £77.85 Save £-77.85ABOUT THE WINE
The Chateau for Cantenac Brown is unique in the Bordeaux wine appellation. It is perhaps the only Bordeaux chateau designed as a traditional Tudor estate in the entire region! At the start of the 19th century, the well-known Scottish, animal painter, John Lewis Brown purchased the estate and Bordeaux wine vineyards. As was the tradition in the Medoc at the time, he renamed the estate Cantenac Brown. More recently, in 1989 AXA, the massive insurance company with several Bordeaux chateaux in their portfolio including Pichon Baron in Pauillac, and estates in Pomerol and Sauternes bought the vineyard. AXA sold the property in 2006 to the Halabi family.Today, the Simon Halabi family are the owners of Chateau Cantenac Brown. One of the first moves made by the new owners was to place Jose Sanfins in charge of the wine making at Cantenac Brown.
TASTING NOTES
Among the finest Cantenac-Browns of the last three decades, the saturated purple-coloured 2000 is a sleeper of the vintage. Loaded with chocolatey black currants intermixed with sweet earth, cedar, and spice box, it exhibits medium to full body, surprisingly ripe tannin for a wine from this estate, a multi-layered texture as well as mid-palate, and a finish that lasts 25-30 seconds.
FOOD PAIRING
Any game, red meat, super creamy cheese and fatty fish cooked with complex herbs and spices. Lamb curry.
FRIARWOOD SAYS
This is the wine for you if into earthy, tannic full-bodied wines.
2015 Chateau Cantenac Brown
Regular price £74.80 Save £-74.80ABOUT THE WINE
The Chateau for Cantenac Brown is unique in the Bordeaux wine appellation. It is perhaps the only Bordeaux chateau designed as a traditional Tudor estate in the entire region! At the start of the 19th century, the well-known Scottish, animal painter, John Lewis Brown purchased the estate and Bordeaux wine vineyards. As was the tradition in the Medoc at the time, he renamed the estate Cantenac Brown. More recently, in 1989 AXA, the massive insurance company with several Bordeaux chateaux in their portfolio including Pichon Baron in Pauillac, and estates in Pomerol and Sauternes bought the vineyard. AXA sold the property in 2006 to the Halabi family.Today, the Simon Halabi family are the owners of Chateau Cantenac Brown. One of the first moves made by the new owners was to place Jose Sanfins in charge of the wine making at Cantenac Brown.
TASTING NOTES
Among the finest Cantenac-Browns of the last three decades, the saturated purple-coloured 2015 is a sleeper of the vintage. Loaded with chocolatey black currants intermixed with sweet earth, cedar, and spice box, it exhibits medium to full body, surprisingly ripe tannin for a wine from this estate, a multi-layered texture as well as mid-palate, and a finish that lasts 25-30 seconds.
FOOD PAIRING
Any game, red meat, super creamy cheese and fatty fish cooked with complex herbs and spices. Lamb curry.
FRIARWOOD SAYS
This is the wine for you if into earthy, tannic full-bodied wines.
2015 Chateau Dauzac
Regular price £71.65 Save £-71.65A relatively obscure Fifth Growth, the history of Dauzac goes back to 1671, when the farm was sold to an order of Carmelite nuns. A succession of notable owners followed, until the Great Depression forced the sale of the estate at auction to an ice-cream manufacturer, Jean-Jacques Bernat. He brought a number of innovations to the estate, including temperature-control for the fermentation-vats. In 1988 the estate was purchased by the current owners, an insurance company, MAIF. They lacked the expertise to manage the property, though, and so Andre Lurton (owner of La Louviere and Couhins-Lurton in Pessac-Léognan) took over the running of the estate until the 2014 vintage. A large estate, at 120 hectares, of which only 45 are planted to vines.
TASTING NOTES
Medium-bodied, with a supple texture; cherries and earth on the palate. Not especially complex, but this will come with bottle-age. Drinking well already, this will likely be at its best 10 years from vintage.
FOOD PAIRING
A versatile wine for pairing; a fine, punchy pairing for a beef-burger...
FRIARWOOD SAYS
The estate includes an experimental 0.6hectare block of own-rooted Cabernet Sauvignon vines farmed biodynamically; the rest of the vines on the estate are relatively young though, at an average of 20 years.
2009 Chateau Lascombes
Regular price £70.50 Save £-70.50ABOUT THE WINE
Chateau Lascombes, a Margaux ranked Second Growth in the 1855 classification, bears the name of its first owner, Chevalier de Lascombes, born in 1625. At the turn of the 18th century, Jean-Francois Lascombes, a counsellor at the Bordeaux Parliament, dedicated his wealth to making a great wine at Lascombes. The existing chateau was built in 1867 by Chaix D'Est Ange. Alexis Lichine took over the property in 1952. He completely restructured Chateau Lascombes and renovated the vineyard and cellars, giving this large vineyard new life. In 1971, he sold everything to the English brewer, Bass-Charrington. Since its purchase in April 2001 by Colony Capital, a new era has begun for this property.
TASTING NOTES
The wine has a beautiful blueberry-scented nose with hints of acacia flowers, liquorice, graphite and some subtle charcoal and background oak. Clearly a modern style of Margaux, it is pure, seamless, full-bodied and opulent, and the high glycerin and silky texture of 2009 are brilliantly displayed in this wine.
FOOD PAIRING
Venison, creamy dishes, hard cheese are a perfect pair with this wine!
2015 Chateau Marquis d'Alesme
Regular price £68.10 Save £-68.10ABOUT THE WINE
Château Marquis d'Alesme is a distinguished wine producer that has been tending to an exceptional terroir in the heart of the Bordeaux region since 1616. With a unique combination of mystique and classicism, the estate is a land of culture and passion that consistently delivers premium Margaux wines.
The vineyard, spanning 15 hectares, is managed in a meticulously individual manner, much like a beautiful garden, with utmost care and craftsmanship by the team.
TASTING NOTES
The grapes of this wine were carefully selected by hand and underwent rigorous sorting in both the vineyard and cellar. Fermentation took place in 80 hl truncated wooden and stainless steel vats, followed by malolactic fermentation in barrels. The wine was aged in French oak barrels, consisting of 65% new and 35% first-fill barrels, with 3 months spent on lees. This Margaux wine is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Petit Verdot. The nose is complex and rich, with fragrances of black fruit such as dark mulberries, liquorice, and smokiness. The palate has a lively vibrancy, followed by powerful yet, silky and elegant tannins. This wine is not shy but provides lush exuberance with layered, deep fruit notes with savoury complexity, which linger in the long, showy finish.
FOOD PAIRING
Juicy and tender grilled lamb chop with a balsamic reduction with creamy garlic mashed potatoes, and mushroom duxelles
FRIARWOOD SAYS
The vines, averaging 40 years of age, are planted on clay-limestone, silica-gravel and silica-marl soils.
2016 Chateau Cantenac Brown, Brio
Regular price £45.70 Save £-45.70Purchased by the Scottish painter, John Lewis Brown, at the beginning of the 19th Century, who added his name to the estate, and designed the Tudor-style mansion that graces the property today. A series of owners followed, and the estate suffered from a lack of investment, until 1989, when it was acquired by AXA Millésimes. Over the subsequent decade they worked tirelessly to improve the estate, and in 2006 the sold a greatly improved Cantenac-Brown to the Simon-Halabi family. Under this ownership the estate saw its three greatest vintages – 2009, 2010 and 2015 – before being sold once again in 2019.
TASTING NOTES
A blend of 49% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon & 11% Cabernet Franc, with a year in French oak barrels, 25% of which are new and 75% of them one-year-old barrels. The 2016 vintage captures the essence of a balanced vintage with enough flavour intensity while preserving the charming perfumed violet and rose notes. A full, velvety structure gives way to a long dark plum finish. A very precise and enjoyable Margaux that over-delivers for its value.
FOOD PAIRING
Roast quail with celeriac remoulade and pan-dried Jerusalem artichokes
FRIARWOOD SAYS
51% of the harvest was declassified for the second wine in 2016, with grapes that would usually be reserved for the Grand Vin adding to the depth and complexity of the Brio; this will be drinking well from 2021, and will continue to develop for a further decade.
2014 Chateau Brane Cantenac, Baron de Brane
Regular price £21.75 Save £-21.75Located west of the village of Cantenac in the Margaux appellation, this 2eme Cru Classe estate has seen significant improvement in the vineyards and winemaking since Henri Lurton took over management in the 1990s. The 75 hectares of vineyard remain virtually unchanged since the Classification in 1855, and the estate also boasts significant parkland and beautifully manicured gardens. 25% organic, with progress towards 100% planned, and 12 hectares dedicated to an experiment in biodynamic farming.
TASTING NOTES
Intense red fruits, accented by liquorice, menthol and caramel. Accessible and concentrated, with good balance and elegant tannic structure. Finishes with a lingering hint of chocolate.
FOOD PAIRING
Perfect for burgers; simple, fatty meat dishes suit the red-fruit character of this second wine.
FRIARWOOD SAYS
Already accessible, but best from 2019 to 2024.