2004 Chateau Cantenac Brown Margaux 750 ml

Finding perfectly cellared 2004 Grand Cru Classé Bordeaux is a challenge these days. Most bottles have left the market and are not coming back, since they’re buried in restaurants’ or collectors’ cellars. So when we visited Cantenac Brown on our last trip to Bordeaux and found they had a small tranche of library vintages available, we dropped everything so we could direct-import this impeccably stored Third Growth Margaux for our members.

The timing is ideal: Bordeaux expert Jane Anson says Château Cantenac Brown “produces beautiful bottles that begin to open at 10 to 20 years old, opening up to show a wonderfully rich, warming character that showcases classically balanced Bordeaux flavours."

The 2004 is drinking beautifully, with a mesmerizing aromatic mélange of cedar, dried violets, ripe blackberries, and strawberry compote. The tannins, which have mellowed with the years, are silky and gorgeously smooth, and they carry a wave of flavor into a long, luxurious finish. 

Cantenac Brown stands out in Bordeaux’s Left Bank not just for its Tudor architecture—the château was originally designed and built by Scottish painter John Lewis Brown—but for what’s in the ground and in the bottle. It’s a true-blue classic.

Blessed with fruit from old vines in the famous Margaux hamlet of Cantenac, the wine is a blend of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon and 38% Merlot. In 2004, those vines underwent a long, somewhat damp growing season that was saved by the warmth of September.

When it was young, the 2004 Cantenac Brown displayed evidence of being built for the long haul—and that’s showing right now. You won’t find better-cared-for bottles than these. Tap them when nothing but an impeccably aged, drink-now Bordeaux will do.