Château Cantenac Brown

The estate

John Lewis Brown, a Bordeaux merchant of Scottish descent and a painter of animals, began the Tudor manor early in the 19th century and went under; the Paris bankers Fruitier and Gromard took the estate in 1843, and in 1855 it was classified as Château Boyd. Louis Armand Lalande restored the name Cantenac Brown in 1860 and extended the building. The owners since read like a map of where money has come from in Bordeaux: the Lawton and du Vivier families, then Rémy Martin, then AXA Millésimes from 1989, then Simon Halabi from 2006, and in December 2019 Tristan Le Lous and his brothers Briac and Guirec, of the family behind the Urgo laboratories. José Sanfins directed the estate and made the wine from 1989; Romain Courtier, who came from Château Lafleur and Château Nénin, joined in June 2025 and took the direction in 2026.

The new cellar, designed by Philippe Madec, was finished in the summer of 2023, in time for that harvest. Its outer wall is rammed earth, 50 centimeters thick and 20 meters long, banded with 3 colors of earth brought from a quarry at Montpon-Ménestrol, about 100 kilometers away; inside are walls of compressed earth brick, cork and wood wool for insulation, a vault of local timber and paint made from wheat, with low carbon concrete only in the foundations. A geothermal well holds the barrel hall between 13 and 14 degrees with no air conditioning. 70 stainless steel vats of 50 to 120 hectoliters replaced 33 older ones, and the wine moves by gravity.

The vineyard is 75 hectares of red and 5 of white on Garonne gravel, planted 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, and 30 Scottish sheep graze a park that holds a sequoia 200 years old. Éric Boissenot consults. BriO de Cantenac Brown has been the second wine since 2001, and AltO the white since 2011. The 2019, which I tasted in September 2025, came from a near ideal year and showed it: fragrant and floral, the fruit layered, the structure polished and built to last. The white AltO 2019, which I tasted in May 2024, was fruit-forward and mineral, with elegant aromas of green apple and lemon.

At a glance

Appellation

Margaux

Commune

Cantenac

Classification

Troisième Cru Classé 1855, under the name Château Boyd

Owners

The Le Lous family, since December 2019

Direction

Romain Courtier, since 2026; José Sanfins, from 1989 to 2025

Consultant

Éric Boissenot

Vineyard

75 hectares of red and 5 of white

Ground

Garonne gravel

Grapes

Cabernet Sauvignon 65%, Merlot 33%, the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot

Cellar

Raw earth, by Philippe Madec, finished in the summer of 2023; 70 stainless steel vats of 50 to 120 hectoliters; gravity fed

Wines

Château Cantenac Brown; BriO de Cantenac Brown, since 2001; AltO, white, since 2011

The park

30 Scottish sheep and a sequoia 200 years old

Sources: Château Cantenac Brown, the estate · Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, Château Cantenac Brown · amàco, the raw earth cellar of Château Cantenac Brown · Decanter, Château Cantenac Brown sold · Guto Assumpção on Instagram, Château Cantenac Brown 2019, September 26, 2025 · Guto Assumpção on Instagram, AltO de Cantenac Brown 2019, May 18, 2024