June 20, 2025
Outscoring 2010 - Cantenac Brown 2020 scores 97-Points at only €39.50 IB
2020 Cantenac Brown
We love finding wines that over-deliver, and Cantenac Brown does exactly that. With a 97-point score from Vinous, the 2020 vintage marks the estate’s highest-rated release to date.
With its striking Tudor-style château and a history dating back to 1806, Cantenac Brown stands out in Margaux for both style and substance. Now led by a new generation and backed by sustainable practices and precision viticulture, the estate is in top form. The wines are bold yet refined, a true reflection of its terroir. Recent vintages show remarkable depth and finesse, marking Cantenac Brown as one of Margaux’s most dynamic rising stars.
The 2020 Cantenac Brown is a thrilling Margaux, praised across the board for its power, precision and ageing potential. It’s a deeply structured wine with layers of dark cherry, cassis, graphite and spice, all wrapped in silky tannins. Sourced partly from newly acquired plateau parcels, it shows both richness and classical restraint.
With major score upgrades from barrel to bottle, this might be a wine that slipped under your radar. Jeb Dunnuck raised his score from 92–94 to 96 points, while Antonio Galloni upgraded it from 94–97 to a full 97 points—making the 2020 Cantenac Brown Vinous’ highest-rated vintage to date, outscoring even the highly regarded 2010 (94 points, now selling for €55+ IB).
“it has terrific purity, and it’s just a brilliant Margaux. I followed this bottle for multiple days, and it never put a foot wrong” - Jeb Dunnuck
With critical acclaim pouring in and pricing that still sits well below its top-tier peers, the 2020 Cantenac Brown offers serious pedigree at a smart price. At €39.50 IB per bottle, this is your chance to secure the château’s best-ever release before the rest of the market catches up.
Cantenac Brown 2020
€39.50* In Bond per bottle
97 Points | Vinous - Antonio Galloni
The 2020 Cantenac Brown is a knock-out. A Margaux of towering intensity, the 2020 is dense and vertical at the same time. It’s a combination that works so well. Dark cherry, plum, chocolate, new leather, licorice and cloves all saturate the palate. There's real depth and concentration here from the summer heat and small size of the berries, but at the same time the 2020 has more freshness and energy than some recent years. There have been quite a few changes here in recent years, starting with a new parcel on the Margaux plateau that entered the blend in 2019 and move towards lower toast levels in the barrels. Cantenac Brown remains a potent, opulent Margaux, but 2020 has a measure of classicism as well. Superb. Drinking Window: 2026 - 2040
96 Points | Jeb Dunnuck
The 2020 Château Cantenac Brown showed beautifully and is a serious, concentrated, powerful Margaux that's going to need bottle age. Ripe blackcurrants, toasty oak, ripe tobacco, and dried flower notes all define the aromatics, and it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, a layered, balanced mouthfeel, beautiful tannins, and a great finish. It shows the more focused, slightly understated style of the vintage, yet everything is in the right place, it has terrific purity, and it’s just a brilliant Margaux. I followed this bottle for multiple days, and it never put a foot wrong. It will hit its prime drinking window in 7-8 years and evolve for two decades.
96 Points | The Wine Cellar Insider, Jeff Leve
Deep, dark and rich, the wine is packed from start to finish with layers of lush, polished, ripe, sweet, pure, black and dark red fruits, flowers, espresso, hints of chocolate and oceanic influences. There is a beautiful sense of symmetry, purity, freshness, length and lift that already expresses its essence. The finish continues with its layers of ripe, opulent, yet refined fruits. This is a top vintage for Cantenac Brown that will age gracefully for 2-3 decades. Drink from 2026-2055.
94+ Points | Wine Advocate, William Kelley
A fine follow-up to the excellent 2019, the 2020 Cantenac Brown incorporates newly acquired holdings of Cabernet Sauvignon from the plateau of Margaux. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of cherries, cassis, burning embers and pencil shavings, it's medium to full-bodied, layered and concentrated, with good depth at the core, supple tannins and terrific purity of fruit. Concluding with a long, penetrating finish, it underlines the fact that this is the appellation's fastest-improving estate.
*Prices are accurate as of the blog publication date and may be subject to change.