Château Cantenac Brown

John Lewis Brown of Colstun, then a Bordeaux wine merchant of Scottish origin, bought the estate at auction in 1806 and left his name to it. Financial difficulties forced the family to sell in 1843, to the banker Gromard, who sold the property in 1860 to Armand Lalande, deputy mayor of Bordeaux and president of the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce. Lalande gave the estate its definitive name, Cantenac Brown, and built the Tudor-style château; the cellar was built at the same time by the Bordeaux architect Ernest Minvielle, and the château's second wing followed in the next decade. In 1855 the estate was ranked a Third Growth in the Bordeaux classification. The property remained with the Lalande family and its heirs, the Lawton, until 1968. The Compagnie du Midi bought the château in 1987 and was absorbed two years later by the Axa group. Simon Halabi, a British businessman, bought the estate in 2006. The Le Lous family bought it in 2019, with Tristan Le Lous signing in December 2019. The founder's grandson, also named John Lewis Brown (1829-1890), was a painter who corresponded with Manet and Degas.

• 1806: John Lewis Brown of Colstun buys the estate at auction.
• 1843: the Brown family sells to the banker Gromard; 1860: Armand Lalande buys it and names it Cantenac Brown.
• 1855: ranked a Third Growth in the Bordeaux classification.
• 1987: the Compagnie du Midi buys the château, absorbed two years later by the Axa group; 2006: Simon Halabi buys the estate.
• 2019: the Le Lous family buys the estate.

The estate is managed by the Le Lous family; Tristan Le Lous, an agronomist with a passion for oenology, is closely involved in running it with José Sanfins. Tristan Le Lous bought the estate with his two brothers and his father, and is in charge of finance in the family's Urgo group. José Sanfins joined Cantenac Brown in 1989 and became technical director in 1990. As of February 2024, Sanfins was general manager, Gaël Crespy was technical director, and Hervé, who joined the vineyard team as an apprentice in 1983, had been Head of Viticulture since 1996. Eric Boissenot was the estate's oenologist as of July 2024. The team numbers 30 people.

• Owners: the Le Lous family, since 2019; Tristan Le Lous is closely involved in managing the estate.
• General manager (as of February 2024): José Sanfins, at the estate since 1989.
• Technical director (as of February 2024): Gaël Crespy; Head of Viticulture since 1996: Hervé.
• Oenologist (as of July 2024): Eric Boissenot.

The 75-hectare vineyard is spread over the Margaux and Cantenac plateaus, in the heart of the appellation. The vines grow on gravelly slopes of gravel mixed with fine clay particles. In March 2020 the estate added vines that had belonged to the Margaux estates Château Charmant and Château La Galiane: some 14 hectares of mostly old vine Cabernet Sauvignon, which contributed from the 2020 vintage, and four hectares of this acquisition were uprooted to be replanted only to Cabernet Sauvignon. The white wine comes from a plot of clay and calcareous soil, where 1.80 hectares are planted to Sauvignon Blanc (90%) and Semillon (10%). The château is surrounded by a garden descended from an arboretum first planted by John Lewis Brown, with rare trees including a two-hundred-year-old sequoia and Atlas cedars; most of its upkeep is done by eco-grazing. The estate has kept bees since 2008 and produces its own honey, L'Or de Cantenac Brown, and it applies a certified environmental approach.

• 75 hectares on the Margaux and Cantenac plateaus.
• Around 14 hectares of mostly old vine Cabernet Sauvignon added in March 2020, from vines of Château Charmant and Château La Galiane.
• 1.80 hectares of Sauvignon Blanc (90%) and Semillon (10%) on clay and calcareous soil.
• Beekeeping since 2008; garden upkeep mainly by eco-grazing.

In 2020 Tristan Le Lous and José Sanfins launched the construction of a new cellar, designed by the architect Philippe Madec; construction lasted from 2021 to 2023. The 5,000 m² building uses only raw earth and solid wood from the Aquitaine region, without cement, and its walls were built using rammed earth. The earth walls are one metre thick in total, and their thermal inertia keeps the barrels at a suitable temperature and humidity without air conditioning. The winery is entirely gravity-fed, with 68 tanks of 50 to 120 hectolitres for single-plot vinification, and 19 foudres of 25 and 30 hectolitres for ageing BriO. The 2023 vintage was the first vinified in the new cellar, which was inaugurated on April 23, 2024.

• Architect: Philippe Madec; construction 2021 to 2023.
• Raw earth and solid wood from the Aquitaine region, no cement; 5,000 m².
• 100% gravity-fed, 68 tanks of 50 to 120 hl, 19 foudres for BriO.
• First vintage: 2023; inaugurated April 23, 2024.

The estate produces three wines. Château Cantenac Brown is the grand vin; the 2023 is 71.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot and 1.5% Cabernet Franc, aged in French oak (60% new barrels, 40% one-use barrels), and took 52% of the harvest. The 2025, offered en primeur, is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, aged 15 months in French oak, from 65% of the harvest. The second wine, BriO de Cantenac Brown, was created in 2001 and is made from a selection of parcels before vinification; the 2023 is 53% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Cabernet Franc, aged in large wooden vats. The white AltO de Cantenac Brown was added in 2011 and is made at 7,000 to 8,000 bottles a year. José Sanfins says that from the 2012 vintage the share of the harvest going into the first wine was cut from around 60% to 50%. As of January 2022 the estate made more than 150,000 bottles of first wine and 300,000 bottles in total. In its Time & Earth collection the estate released its 2015 vintage in a limited edition of 100 numbered, screen-printed double magnums.

• Château Cantenac Brown 2023: 71.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 1.5% Cabernet Franc; 60% new barrels.
• BriO de Cantenac Brown: second wine, created in 2001, from parcels selected before vinification.
• AltO de Cantenac Brown: white wine, first made in 2011; 90% Sauvignon Blanc, 10% Semillon.
• More than 150,000 bottles of first wine and 300,000 bottles in total (as of January 2022).

The estate describes the grand vin as 'a radiant, full-bodied, velvety wine for keeping' that 'stands out by its fresh fruit flavours, its density and its very fine tannins', BriO as 'Charming, delicate and brilliant, a pleasurable wine for sharing', and AltO as 'A suave and vibrant mineral wine with flinty and white fruit notes.' Tristan Le Lous credits José Sanfins with turning Cantenac Brown into 'the wine we enjoy between flesh and tension: fleshy and velvety with a taut final note.' Writing in Decanter in November 2024, Panos Kakaviatos counted Cantenac Brown among the formerly underperforming Margaux estates that have come 'on in leaps and bounds.'

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.cantenacbrown.com/en/, https://www.cantenacbrown.com/en/scottish-roots/, https://www.cantenacbrown.com/en/pursuing-a-legacy/, https://www.cantenacbrown.com/en/a-friendly-approachable-and-proud-clan/, https://www.cantenacbrown.com/en/an-unrivalled-raw-earth-cellar/, https://www.cantenacbrown.com/en/one-process-3-wines/, https://www.cantenacbrown.com/en/chateau-cantenac-brown/, https://www.cantenacbrown.com/en/brio-de-cantenac-brown/, https://www.cantenacbrown.com/en/alto-de-cantenac-brown/, https://www.cantenacbrown.com/en/time-earth-collection/, https://www.cantenacbrown.com/en/2021/02/01/the-history-of-chateau-cantenac-brown/, https://www.cantenacbrown.com/en/2021/01/18/john-lewis-brown-lhistoire-au-coeur-du-chateau/, https://www.cantenacbrown.com/en/2024/07/15/inauguration-of-the-new-cellar-of-chateau-cantenac-brown/, https://www.cantenacbrown.com/en/2024/05/22/the-2023-vintage-a-landmark-in-the-history-of-cantenac-brown/, https://www.cantenacbrown.com/en/2024/02/08/the-tale-of-a-vineyard-manager-rooted-at-cantenac-brown/, https://www.cantenacbrown.com/en/2022/01/31/interview-of-jose-sanfins-director-of-cantenac-brown/, https://www.cantenacbrown.com/en/2021/06/01/interview-of-tristan-le-lous/, https://www.cantenacbrown.com/en/primeurs/primeurs-2025/cantenac-brown/, https://www.cantenacbrown.com/la-fierte-du-terroir/, https://www.cantenacbrown.com/en/2022/06/27/second-wine/. Secondary sources: Decanter (Chris Mercer, 13 December 2019; Panos Kakaviatos, 22 November 2024) and Wine Spectator (Suzanne Mustacich, December 17, 2019; Jo Cooke, March 21, 2006). Last verified 2026-10-14. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.