CHATEAU CANTENAC BROWN

Farmed sustainably since 1996 and sited in Margaux, this Troisièmes Cru (Third Growth) estate occupies a terroir of gravel and sand. Cabernet Sauvignon accounts for 65% of the 48 hectares under vine, with the remainder 30% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc.

With a somewhat chequered career in its past, Cantenac Brown is, these days, one of the rising stars of the appellation, producing a silky, feminine claret that epitomises Margaux. The château building itself is somewhat unique in the Bordeaux hood, designed at the start of the 19th Century as a traditional Tudor estate by then owner, the Scottish animal painter, John Lewis Brown.