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A slightly complicated vintage, full of surprises, due to startling weather conditions! Off to a good start with a rather hot spring, the shooting and flowering occurred beautifully. But the July heat wave slightly scorched the young vines and halted the growth of the others. A few violent storms at the end of the month brought heavy rainfalls thus enabling some of the vines to continue to grow. Grape colour-change began at the end of July. August was very cool and damp causing great concern among the vintners. When came September, everyone had a different opinion as to what to do and when to harvest. Surprisingly though, the ripeness tests proved interesting and positive and revealed that, in fact, preconceived ideas were erroneous: the Merlots for instance showed high potential alcohol degrees, comparable to those of 2005.
Unfortunately, the level of malic acid was also quite high then. The summer resumed and lasted until September 11, giving the bunches a chance to ripen and refine themselves to reach fuller maturity faster than anticipated. The harvest of the great Merlots started on September 18 under the sun, after the rain of the previous week. A very light dilution was corrected by bleeding the vats 10 to 15% of their capacity. The Cabernets were brought in from September 25 to October 6: the great Cabernets were harvested at perfect ripeness during the weekend of October 1…before the rain! Ever eager to gain an even greater understanding of his vineyard, Henri Lurton took on a young agricultural engineer, who carried out an in-depth study of 10 plots of Cabernet Sauvignon throughout the estate. Numerous measures, observations and analyses have enabled him to better understand the subtle mechanisms which link the terroir to the quality of the grapes produced. These observations also enabled us to adapt in a much more specific way the plot by plot selection for vinification and pinpoint the perfect picking date for each parcel. Once again, the vines that are planted on outstanding terroirs have proven to have all the necessary resources to ripen their grapes and produce great wines.
“I can’t say enough about how beautifully classic, racy, and gracious the wines of Brane Cantenac have become over the last decade. The stunningly elegant 2006 exhibits a sweet, subtle smoke note intermixed with creme de cassis in its medium-bodied style with superb nobility, concentration, and sweet tannin. Possessing a complex, luscious personality with strikingly beautiful, velvety tannins, it should be at its finest between 2012-2025+”.
92 Points, The Wine Advocate #181 Feb 2009.
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American
