wine details
reviews
James Suckling 91-93/100Impressive precision to this, offering blackcurrants, blackberries and cherries, as well as hints of cedar and dark fruit. Medium to full body. Creamy and fine tannins. Better than 2022.
Antonio Galloni Vinous 93-96/100
The 2023 Valandraud is a full-throttle, opulent Saint-Émilion endowed with notable textural richness and tons of intensity. This really feels pushed to the edge, but it pulls back at the very last second. Inky dark fruit, chocolate, new leather, licorice and menthol saturate the palate. I imagine that the 2023 will require a number of years to shed some of its baby fat. Harvest took place from September 20 to October 10—on the later side.2033 - 2063
Neal Martin Vinous 91-93/100
The 2023 Cantenac Brown, now with its new eco-friendly winery under the helm of winemaker José Sanfins, has a lot of fruit intensity on the nose: blackberry and wild strawberry, with touches of melted tar and sous-bois. It's quite forward and more fruit-driven that expected. The palate is medium-bodied with rounded, very pliant tannins. It's impressively weighty and notably focused, though maybe not quite delivering the complexity and terroir expression on the finish as I found with the previous vintage.
The Wine Advocate 93-95/100
The first vintage produced in the estate's new state-of-the-art winery, the 2023 Cantenac Brown has turned out very well indeed, offering up aromas of dark berries, pencil shavings and violets, followed by a medium to full-bodied, rich and layered palate that's serious and precise, concluding with a long, resonant finish. This blend of 71.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot and 1.5% Cabernet Franc represents 52% of the estate's production; and it reflects both the new winery's enhanced capabilities, along with the presence of old-vine Cabernet Sauvignon derived from holdings recently acquired in the heart of the plateau of Margaux. A property in the midst of a notable renaissance, this 60-hectare estate boasts some prime terroirs on the plateau of Margaux. The 2023 vintage is the first to benefit from the new, state-of-the-art winery conceived under the auspices of long-time technical director José Sanfins. Harvest here lasted 24 days, the longest in Cantenac Brown's history, and the team has produced a superb vintage to fête the completion of their new facilities.