Chateau Cantenac Brown 2017

Professional Ratings

• 95 Wine Enthusiast

  A lush wine packed with tannins and rich dark fruits, this will be dense and complex. Its solid structure is balanced with good acidity from the fruitiness. Drink from 2024

• 93 James Suckling

  A solid core of fruit to this with blueberry and blackberry character. Plenty of chocolate as well. Medium to full body. Dense and flavorful for the vintage. Needs two or three years to come together. Better after 2021.

• 92 Wine Spectator

  Warm and seductive in feel, with velvety plum sauce, blackberry puree and incense notes all melded together, flowing through a sandalwood- and black tea–tinged finish. Nicely done for the vintage. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Drink now through 2032.

• 92 Jeb Dunnuck
  The deep, inky-colored 2017 Château Cantenac Brown is beauty that shines in the vintage. Black and blue fruits, plenty of violets, charcoal and spice, medium body, and ripe tannin all make from a beautiful, charming, balanced Margaux that will drink nicely for 15-20 years.
  Barrel Sample: 89-92
• 92 Decanter

  This is an excellent Cantenac Brown, working extremely successfully with the vintage. It has precision and good flesh to the dark cassis and blackberry fruits, with layers of coffee, earth and the softest truffle notes that add complexity. Not as tightly knit as the 2016 for sure, but there is a lot to enjoy here, easy to recommend.

• 92 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
  With a larger proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon this year, the blend is 67% Cabernet Sauvignon and 33% Merlot. Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2017 Cantenac Brown leaps from the glass with exuberant notes of cassis, warm plums and black forest cake with touches of violets, dark chocolate, cloves and cigar box plus a waft of lavender. The palate is medium-bodied and firm with fine-grained tannins and tons of freshness, finishing with plenty of black fruit and perfumed layers.
  Barrel Sample: 90-92