Château Brane-Cantenac

The prestigious history of Brane-Cantenac is not linked to a personality or a family but to the estate?s incomparable soil, which has been carefully studied over the years by the top specialists. Recognised throughout the estate?s history as one of the finest in the Médoc, Brane?s terroir long gave the estate its unofficial ranking as ?first of the seconds?. The heart of the estate is an unbroken block of 45 hectares, which has remained unchanged for three centuries. Henri Lurton chose to centre the First Wine of Brane-Cantenac on the original 45 hectare terroir. The expansion of the vineyard during the 19th and 20th centuries, however, was effected especially through purchasing new plots from classed growth neighbours (Margaux, Kirwan, Issan and Cantenac-Brown), which ensured that the whole of the production of Brane?s 1st and 2nd wines would be of very high quality.The famous gravel outcrop of Brane stands in front of the château. At the top of the Margaux-Cantenac plateau (some 22 metres above sea-level) thirty hectares or so belong to the estate and stretch out over the finest parts of this strip of deep gravel soil dating back to the quaternary era. Thanks to the fine quality of the soil, the degree of water supplied to the vine roots is excellent. The 12 metre deep gravel layer contains large quantities of clay and provides adequate moisture all year round and, through its compact nature, limits any excess water reaching the vines. The water table here is very low (at 5 or 6 metres) allowing the roots to delve down deep. The upper layers of the soil are sandier and tend to saturate quickly after heavy rain. Most of the water then runs off the surface thanks to the topography. The soil drains more quickly over the following days. As rooting near the surface is limited through ploughing, the vines are less affected by heavy downpours than those in other terroirs. In these plots, the vigour of the vines is restrained, vegetation growth stops early ?even in wet years- and the vineyard suffers less from summer storms or September rains than in more classic gravel terroirs.