A gorgeous nose of blackberry and plum jam, with a vanilla bean hint. Full-bodied and soft-textured, with round, chewy tannins and lots of fruit. A little loosely knit now, but will come together beautifully with age. Best after 2012.

Tasted blind at Farr Vintners' horizontal, the 2006 Cantenac Brown offers a pleasant cranberry and raspberry coulis-scented bouquet with nicely integrated oak. The palate is medium-bodied with quite high acidity, fresh in the mouth, but rather steely and it seems to miss some depth on the otherwise elegant finish. The intentions are good here, but it does not quite pull it off. Tasted April 2016.

Bright ruby-red. Vibrant aromas of blackberry, licorice pastille and fresh herbs. Moderately dense and juicy, with menthol and herbal nuances giving the black fruit flavors a slightly weedy aspect. But this rather fim-edged wine shows good intensity. Finishes with dusty, slightly dry tannins.