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The atmosphere is still as pleasant as the temperature outdoors…and the quality of the grapes… We've started on the Merlots!

What about the Cabernets?

certainement un peu trop chaude pour nos vendangeurs!

 

 

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is certainly a bit hotter than our harvesters would prefer!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tous les jours nous mettrons notre troupe à l'honneur!

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We’re planning to showcase our team every day!

 

Une troupe extraordinaire pour un millésime qui s'annonce superbe!

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An extraordinary team for a vintage that promises to be superb!

Here’s today’s photo album, packed with smiles, energy, cheer, a good ambiance and especially a lot of courage!

C'est avec grand plaisir de nous avons reçu, il y a une semaine, à la demande de Monsieur Yann Schÿler (Maison Schröder et Schÿler et château Kirwan),  les membres des corps consulaires du Danemark, du Mali, de Suisse et de Finlande et quelques uns de leurs amis.

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It was with great pleasure that we welcomed, one week ago, on the request of Mr. Yann Schÿler (Maison Schröder & Schÿler and Château Kirwan), members of the consular corps from Denmark, Mali, Switzerland and Finland and some of their friends.

After a visit of the vineyard where we were blessed with lovely weather, Maria Martinez organized a superb tasting where our guests could try several Brane vintages. We were thus honored to host the Consul of Denmark and his wife; Mr. Rolf Thomsen, Officier-Commandeur of La Chaîne des Rotisseurs; the Consul of Denmark in Liechtenstein, Doris Jäggi-Lind, her husband Mr. Jäggi and her brother; Dr. and Mrs. Peter Fünfschilling, Consul of Finland and Lions Club Officer; Mrs. Henriette Huber of Goldschmidt-Rothschild in Liechtenstein; and Dr. Christophe Noelpp and his wife, Consul of Mali and secretary general of Basel’s consular corps.

Visibly, we won over new fans thanks to Maria’s talent and smile! Here’s a short extract from their thank you letter as proof of their enthusiasm:

"Just  a  few  lines  with  a  couple  of  photos  to  thank  you

for  your  charming  welcome to  me  and  my  friends  at  the

Château Brane-Cantenac  last  week.

We  were  very  impressed  by  your  explanations  and  the

perfect  knowledge  of  the  wineproduction, the  beautiful

Château,  the  winefields and  the  winery.

Last  not  least  we  enjoyed  very  much  your  company  and

the  superb  wines  we  tasted.

We  will  all  praise  the  wines  from "Brane-Cantenac"  when

talking  to  our  friends  and  collegues  and  you  have  got  a

few  more  "fans of Brane" !

 

All  our  best  wishes  -  multisimas  gracias

 

Muchos  Abrazos"

 

Rolf  Thomsen

Mardi 8 septembre, la très célèbre cave Lavinia, Boulevard de la Madeleine à Paris, recevait ses meilleurs acheteurs pour une dégustation des primeurs 2008.

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On Tuesday, September 8, the renowned wine cellar Lavinia, on Boulevard de la Madeleine in Paris, welcomed its top buyers for a tasting of the 2008 primeurs.

It was a great success – more than 200 people showed up to taste the latest Bordeaux vintage. Loads of comments were made about the surprising quality of the 2008 and Lavinia's primeur prices, which are intentionally very reasonable. At around 8 pm, the tasting was followed by a cocktail that Challenge Magazine, Lavinia’s partner, organized for its customers. Several members of the press attended (Gérard Muteau, Vincent Beaufils, Laurent Joffrin and his wife and many others), and everyone enjoyed sharing their opinions on politics and wine. It was a lovely, pleasant evening in the courtyard of Lavinia’s private residence, and was topped off by a delectable buffet. Let’s do it again next year! In the meantime, don’t miss Challenge Magazine’s supplement this month, which describes the event and dedicates a special section to its partner châteaux.

A great turnout, with young enthusiasts and connoisseurs, eager not-so-young fans and regulars who return as friends every year…It was an opportunity to enjoy a fun, friendly moment together and discover a surprising, promising vintage!

Capsule et étiquette ont été entièrement repensées...qu'en pensez-vous?

 

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Our cap and label have been totally redesigned. What do you think?!

 

 

Accompagnés de deux amies et d'Aline Baly du château Coutet à Barsac, Monsieur et Madame Humbrecht de Zind-Humbrecht, l'emblématique maison d'Alsace, ont été reçus par Christophe Capdeville pour une visite détaillée du vignoble et du chai.

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Along with two friends and Aline Baly from Château Coutet in Barsac, Mr. and Mrs. Humbrecht from Zind-Humbrecht, Alsace's emblematic winery, were welcomed by Christophe Capdeville for a detailed visit of the vineyard and cellar.

On a radiant, sunny day, they got to discover Brane’s hilltop (which is much less steep than their vineyards!), vat-room and cellars, which impressed them. A tasting of several superior vintages ensued, followed by a friendly lunch at the Brasserie du Golf de Margaux. We all enjoyed this excellent moment together and greatly appreciated their kindness and humility.

Samedi matin, par un temps idéal...- et après un dîner de pâtes à Brane la veille au soir - toute notre équipe a pris le départ en grande forme. Sur les starting blocks, nous avions déjà quelques champions...A l'arrivée, 13 coureurs de Brane étaient dans les 100 premiers... Et grâce à eux, nous remportions une fois encore le Challenge des Châteaux...

 

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On Saturday morning, with ideal weather – and after a pasta dinner at Brane the night before – our entire team was raring and ready to start the race. On the starting blocks, we already had a few champions. At the finish line, 13 Brane racers came in among the first 100. And thanks to them, we once again once the Château Challenge!

 

Mathieu Davion (6th place last year) finished third and second place in the women’s race went to our ever-loyal Alice (Reynier). Note that Ronan Laborde, from Château Clinet in Pomerol, brilliantly defended our gold and black colors, finishing 13th. And Niko Dukan, our journalist friend, joined our team once again, straight from Zagreb!

Alice Reynier in action!

Christophe Capdeville nous parle des conditions climatiques et de l'état du vignoble. Un beau millésime 2009, ce serait formidable. Gardons les doigts croisés pour que la pluie ne vienne tout gâcher au dernier moment...

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Christophe Capdeville speaks about the weather and the state of the vineyard. A nice 2009 vintage would be just wonderful. Let’s keep our fingers crossed so the rain doesn’t spoil it all at the last minute…

 

 "After a dry sunny early spring, we experienced several violent streaks of weather in May, with hailstorms on the 11^th and 14^th in particular. In the Margaux region, for the second year in a row, local damage was significant and resulted in crop losses. Fortunately, the Brane-Cantenac vineyard was damaged less than in 2008, and the vines recovered quickly from the storms. Sprouting was healthy and the first blossoms seemed abundant.

 

Flowering started at the very beginning of June, under ideal conditions, and was short and homogeneous. Veraison began on July 16^th, and could be seen on all the grapes a few days later. The process was fast and steady, which is an encouraging sign of a homogenous harvest. Plant growth began to top off in the beginning of August, which is also a good indicator of optimal ripening conditions.

 

Over the summer, vineyard management was primarily focused on reducing the number of bunches per vine, to limit yield, on careful leaf thinning, which promoted sun exposure, and on the elimination of unripe clusters, which were abundant.

 

Moreover, since mid-June, weather conditions have been ideal:

- rainfall has systematically been meagre with the exception of the first ten days in July

- in June and August, temperatures were 2 to 3°C higher than the averages from the past thirty years (the summer of 2009 was one of the hottest since 1950).

- early September has been very sunny with warm daytime temperatures, which promote ripening, and cool night-time temperatures, which foster the synthesis of phenolic compounds.

To date, grape samples have shown that sugar levels are very high (potential alcohol contents of 13.5% Vol. and more on Merlots), acidity is low and phenolic content is increasing steadily. As for the health of the foliage and the harvest, it is exemplary. Only the very youngest vines, planted on sandy soils, are suffering from a lack of water.

All of these indicators show that the 2009 harvest should be excellent. The current weather conditions, which are perfect to ensure berry ripening, are expected to continue. The grape-harvesting period is scheduled to start on around September 21^st for the earliest Merlots. The plants will undoubtedly need to be attended to a few days in advance”

Une grande admiratrice de Brane en Hollande a recherché les étiquettes historiques de Brane, y compris les 'fausses'!

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A big fan of Brane in Holland has gathered together all of Brane’s historic labels, including ‘imitation’ labels!

We’re sending her the latest addition to finish off her impressive collection…You can view them by clicking the following link: www.bonum-vinum.nl/deuxiemes-crus/Brane Cantenac/brane-cantenac.html

Aujourd'hui, c'est avec grand plaisir que nous avons accueilli Allan Liska, supporter inconditionnel de Brane, qui pendant ses vacances privées a choisi de visiter les grands vignobles de Bordeaux et de faire une longue halte à Brane!

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Today we had the honor of hosting Allan Liska, a loyal Brane fan, who took a personal vacation to visit Bordeaux’s finest vineyards and take a long tour of Brane!

After a wine tasting that included vintages he didn’t have the chance to try with Henri in Washington, Allan toured the vineyards with him by car and was then invited to lunch on the property. A menu, which was invented and made by Thibault Servas, was served with some of Brane’s oldest vintages. We all had an excellent timet and finally had the pleasure of meeting one of our loyal readers and enthusiasts who was very impressed!

 

ALLAN WINE TASTING WITH HENRI LURTON

ALLAN SURROUNDED BY MARIA, CORINNE AND HENRI IN BRANE’S GUEST HOUSE

Avides de découvrir notre région , trois managers de Stacole, société d'importation de vins fins en Floride (USA), ont remporté le concours des meilleures ventes de Bordeaux et sont venus visiter nos châteaux pour la première fois. Brane les a reçus avec plaisir pour un tour du vignoble, des chais et un déjeuner en présence de Dewey Markham qui pour l'occasion leur servait de guide et de professeur.

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Eager to discover our region, three managers from Stacole, a fine wine importer in Florida, USA, won the ‘top selling Bordeaux’ contest and came to visit our châteaux for the first time. Brane was pleased to welcome them for a tour of the vineyard and the cellars and a luncheon in the presence of Dewey Markham who served as their guide and teacher.

Henri Lurton surrounded by Dewey Markham, Bonita Wilson, Richard Verity and Barry Noll, all Fine Wine Specialists at Stacole.

Bonjour à toutes et à tous! Nous espérons que vous avez passé un excellent été et que les vacances vous ont permis de vous reposer et de faire de superbes découvertes ... culturelles ou gustatives!

 

 

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Hello everyone! We hope you had an excellent summer and took time to relax and try out new cultural or gustatory experiences!

We have some news to share with you!

The vineyards are looking excellent: the harvest is superb and should be abundant if the weather keeps being cooperative. Christophe Capdeville and Maria Martinez will soon be posting a detailed report of what’s happening in the vineyard.
In the office, the fall is already packed with activities: preparation of the 2007 wines that will soon be shipped from our Benqueyre warehouse to our partner merchants, organization of trips for Henri and Corinne, finalization of the first quarter’s schedule, preparation of the harvest dinner – and much more!

In the spotlight this fall: Brane's look has changed! Its label and cap have been modified for a more minimalist, elegant overall look. For our blog readers, here’s an advance look at a packshot of the 2007 Brane Cantenac bottle! We’re interested in your opinion…feel free to write to us!

And here are a few events you won’t want to miss this fall… The Médoc Marathon, on September 12^th. For our team, it will start with a pasta dinner on Friday, September 11^th and will end with a dinner at the home of the team captain, Tony Rey, Saturday evening after the event! Brane's title of team and individual champion is at stake…suspense is in the air and we’re up to the challenge!

Our team at the Marathon’s starting line last year.

This article in the newspaper Sud Ouest describes how our team is actively training to defend its titles.

And on October 18^th, don't miss our golf scramble at Relais de Margaux’s golf course! Sign up with the golf course directly by calling 05 57 88 87 40. Don't forget to tell them you want to participate in the Brane Cantenac competition. The organizers will provide you with your starting time and your team.