Chateau Brane-Cantenac's secrets

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sun, 12/03/2006 1:04 PM  |  Life

Arif Suryobuwono, suryoarif@gmail.com, Contributor, Jakarta

Tasting a 21-year-old second-growth Bordeaux wine alongside its 11-year-old, 10-year-old, seven-year-old, six-year-old, five-year-old, and four-year-old successors is a rare experience, but last week's dinner at a French restaurant in South Jakarta provided just that treat.

The vertical tasting also offered a glimpse into how the wines of Chateau Brane-Cantenacone of five Margaux chateaux, which are classified as second growths in the 1855 classification of Bordeaux, underwent a change in style within a span of 17 years, from the classic to the modern with the latter being more accessible at a much earlier age and fruit-driven than the former.

The wines were served in progression from the youngest (2002 vintage) to the oldest (1985 vintage). Both were marked by freshness and good acidity. So, the youngest is indeed still young and the oldest somehow manages to retain its youthfulness.

The 2002 was a wine with tooth-coating tannins, smokiness, and an attack of astringency and a sort of resin taste to the mid-palate. It was pleasant enough to drink even though it is much less powerful than the 2001 and reeked of a strong barnyard smell that went away over time. The 1985 was a potpourri of fine grained tannins, complex aromas and flavors that reminded me of the smell of undergrowth during a walk in the forest after rain, jasmine kept between clothes for a long time, candied prunes, raisins, and even the fragrant smell of certain Chinese herbal medicine including licorice and anise.

Both 1996 and 1985 were excellent years but the 1985 was remarkably very tasty, savory, and vibrant while the 1996 was clean, streamlined, round, silky-textured and appeared more elegant, charming and refined with ripe tannins, a touch of spicy oak, and delicious fruit in the typical style of 1996 wines from Margaux. Apparently, one of the factors contributing to such differences was the higher percentage of Merlot (48 percent), responsible for the wine's succulence and smoothness, over Cabernet Sauvignon (35 percent) in the 1996 Brane-Cantenac wine.

Another important contributing factor was that 1996 was the year in which malolactic fermentation in barrels was first introduced. Malolactic fermentation is secondary fermentation whereby sharp, appley-tasting malic acid is converted into riper-tasting lactic acid and carbon dioxide. Such fermentation softens the red wine, reducing its acidity, bringing forth its flavors and making it tastier.

Like 1996 and 1985, 1995 was also an excellent vintage. But it did not seem to express itself impressively in the 1995 Brane-Cantenac wines, which were peppery and filled with unpleasant dry tannins.

Most of the diners that evening told the Chateau's marketing and communication manager Corinne Saussier Conroy who tutored the tasting that they liked the 2000 most. This was both expected and anticipated because 2000 was such an outstanding vintage that Wine Spectator editor James Suckling once dubbed it as ""the vintage of a lifetime"" and ""a benchmark for wine lovers.""

Indeed, the 2000 Barne-Cantenac was rounded, soft-textured, savory, smoky, solid, well structured, with delicious dark chocolate and earth flavors and a distinct, spicy aftertaste. But one particular factor as to why the 2000 was widely held in such a high esteem was because it was served right after the heavy and tight 2001 -- an excellent vintage that is often overlooked and overshadowed by the hype surrounding the 2000. Tasting the 2000 after the 2001 relaxed the palate and enlightened it because the 2001 had a rather unpleasant intense attack and aftertaste dominated by a measure of astringency and resin/endive-like tannic flavors, which indicated that it was not sufficiently aerated. Unlike the other diners, I hadn't finished drinking my 2001 and as time went by, about two and a half hours later, the richness of the 2001 started to reveal itself and I got the flavors of vanilla, black cherry, raspberry, mocca and concentrated milk.

The medium-bodied 1999, alive with a strong violet flavor, was more forward, more flavorful and more powerful and thus, more enjoyable than the 2000, leading to the assumption that the now less accessible 2000 will age longer than the more accessible 1999. Corinne said that the 1999 was the turning point for the chateau since Henri Lurton took over the estate from his father in 1992 during which he, like the other fellow winemakers of Bordeaux, started to put into practice all that he had learned from the new winemaking developments in the New World.

""It was in 1999 that our wines were referred to (by internationally acclaimed wine critic Robert Parker) as 'a rising star of the Medoc', thanks to the improvements in the winemaking methods,"" said Corinne. Key to the improvements in quality has been vineyard management, including better drainage and reduction of yields to about 45 hl/ha, and the building of a new, modern vat room.

Batches of grapes, plucked according to ripeness, undergo individual fermentations according to plot in which batches from small plots go to small vats and from large plots to large vats of corresponding size. ""Had this been applied in the 1970s-1980s, the 1985 might have tasted better,"" said Corinne when I told her that even without modern winemaking technology, the 1985 already tasted very good. But of course, vintage plays an important role in taste. And obviously, the wines need to be properly decanted for one to two hours in a proper decanter, which was unfortunately not the case in this tasting.

As a result, the full attack characteristic of these wines when young, that can leave an unpleasant, intense vegetal (resin and endive) tannic aftertaste and astringency, was apparent. Moreover, the restaurant was not able to provide the 54 diners with 6 glasses each so that not all the wines could be served together.

Chateau Brane-Cantenac wines have been around in Jakarta for decades. A former waiter manager of Mandarin Hotel Jakarta told me that in 1980s Brane-Cantenac wines were quite popular, even more popular than Chateau Palmer among his top-end customers who included prominent businessmen such as Johny Wijaya, Eka Tjipta and Piet Haryono. Internationally, however, they have often been eclipsed by another second growth, Chateau Rauzan Segla.

""But that was in the past. Since 1992 the quality has been improving,"" said Corrine. And this dinner seems to indicate that this is the point of no return.

Note: The Brane-Cantenac wines mentioned in this article are available at VIN+ in Kemang (Tel. 7179-25-77) except the 1985.

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