Brane-Cantenac Margaux 2018 375ml

96 points/'Cellar Selection,' Wine Enthusiast: "This is now performing as one of the top Margaux estates. Their latest release shows structure, elegant black fruits and rich tannins. Densely textured and vibrantly fruity, the wine has a fine future. Drink from 2027. Alcohol 13.5%. (May 2021)"

96 points La Revue du Vin de France: "It's hard to resist the charm of the 2018 vintage, which offers a creamy, smooth mouthfeel with great intensity. The balsamic notes add a touch of sweetness to the finish. (2022)"

96 points Jeff Leve (The Wine Cellar Insider): "Elegant, fresh and refined, the wine offers layers of sweet, ripe, fresh, red berries, smoke, flowers, wet earth, herbs, spice box and tobacco leaf in the perfume. On the palate, the wine is silky, lifted, long and pure, displaying a beautiful depth of flavor in the finish. The wine blends 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. (Mar 2021)"

95+ points Jeb Dunnuck: "A quintessential Margaux as well as one of the finest wines I've tasted from this estate, the 2018 Château Brane-Cantenac is based on 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, all aged in 70% new French oak. Beautiful cassis and mulberry fruits as well as notes of leafy tobacco, spice, cedarwood, and spring flowers emerge from the glass. Medium to full-bodied, beautifully balanced, and elegant, it has loads of fruit, a seamless texture, and a good spine of acidity. Give bottles 4-5 years and enjoy over the following 30 years or more. Drink: 2025-2055. (3/11/21)"

95 points Antonio Galloni (Vinous): "The 2018 Brane-Cantenac opens with a super-classic bouquet of dried herbs, pencil shavings, licorice and mint. Medium in body and wonderfully nuanced, Brane-Cantenac marries the natural richness of the year with a classic structural feel. This is one of the most elegant, restrained 2018s readers will come across. I loved it. Drink: 2028-2048. (Mar 2021)"

95 points Jane Anson (Inside Bordeaux): "(74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot). Generous yet balanced, plenty to sink your teeth into here, this is a Brane Cantenac that knows exactly where it is going, and that has kept a Margaux effortlessness even in the heat and drought of the summer. You feel the warmth in telltale sweetness of the fruits - blackberry puree, cassis fruit pastilles, plenty of bitter black chocolate and liqourice, but it never loses its juice, and keeps momentum through the palate. No Carmenère in the blend in this vintage. 45hl/ha yield. 70% new oak. Harvest from 17 September to 11 October. Alcohol 13.5%. Drinking Window: 2026-2044. (9/20/21)"

95 points James Suckling: "Aromas of mushroom, meat, bark and iodine with blackberries and blackcurrants, following through to a full body with firm, creamy tannins that give structure and form to the wine. Tight on the finish. Long and persistent with presence. Drink after 2025. (1/8/21)"

95 points Jane Anson (Decanter): "Deep and generous blackberry fruits and rich chocolate, there is good balance here with depth and interest and a ton of flavour. Really good stuff, with juice and a drive forward through the palate. 1% Petit Verdot makes up the blend - there was no Carmenère in the grand vin in 2018. A yield of 45hl/ha. 70% new oak. Drinking Window: 2026-2045. (11/10/20)"