Château Brane-Cantenac

The estate

The estate goes back to the early 18th century, when Guilhem Hosten held it. The Gorse family bought it after 1757, and from 1760 it was Château Gorse, for a while Gorse-Guy after a marriage between the Gorse and Guy families. It was already known for quality. André Jullien, the Paris wine merchant whose Topographie de tous les vignobles connus of 1816 surveyed the vineyards of the world, wrote that the wines of the clos de Gorce resembled those of the clos Latour and sold for 1 eighth less, though William Franck, whose Traité sur les vins du Médoc first appeared in 1824, made Gorse only a third growth that year.

Then the Baron de Brane arrived. Jullien’s edition of 1832 lists Gorse at Cantenac and Branne-Mouton at Pauillac as 2 separate second growths, the baron’s new estate and his old one side by side, and Franck’s edition of 1845 is where the change reaches print, with Branne Cantenac heading the commune under the Baron de Branne at 50 to 60 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels). Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, explained in 1868 what the baron had done: he chose every variety himself and, after selling Brane-Mouton, gave himself to this growth alone, and its 50 hectares of vines yielded only 80 to 100 tonneaux because everything here was sacrificed to quality. His name joined to the commune’s is the name the estate carries.

Léonce Récapet, Henri Lurton’s great-grandfather, bought Brane-Cantenac in 1925. Henri took the keys from his father Lucien in 1992, and in 2022 he passed ownership to his children while staying on to run the estate. Christophe Capdeville, the cellar master when Henri arrived, is now the director.

Brane sits on a single gravel plateau, terrace 4 of the Quaternary: sandy at the surface, large stones below, and a subsoil 10% to 20% clay, with Cabernet Sauvignon vines past 60 years old. The property comes to 75 hectares, planted 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 4.5% Cabernet Franc and 0.5% Carmenère, a variety rarely found in the Médoc. The vineyard is being converted to organic farming. The estate makes about 150,000 bottles, aged 18 months; Baron de Brane is the second wine and Margaux de Brane the third.

At a glance

Appellation

Margaux

Commune

Cantenac

Classification

Deuxième Cru Classé 1855; MICHELIN Guide, 1 grape (2026)

Owners

The Lurton family, since 1925; Henri Lurton’s children since 2022

Direction

Henri Lurton; Christophe Capdeville, director

Vineyard

75 hectares on terrace 4 of the Quaternary; Cabernet Sauvignon vines past 60 years old

Ground

Sandy gravel over large stones and a subsoil 10% to 20% clay

Grapes

Cabernet Sauvignon 55%, Merlot 40%, Cabernet Franc 4.5%, Carmenère 0.5%

Farming

Conversion to organic farming under way

Production

About 150,000 bottles, aged 18 months

Wines

Château Brane-Cantenac; Baron de Brane; Margaux de Brane

In history

The clos de Gorce compared with Latour in 1816, at 1 eighth less

Sources: Château Brane-Cantenac, the estate · Château Brane-Cantenac, the plateau · Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, Brane-Cantenac · CIVB, the classifications of 1855 · The Wine Doctor, Brane-Cantenac · Château Brane-Cantenac, the wines