A Visit to Brane-Cantenac, 2011: The Cellars, and the 2011 Vintage
Christophe Capdeville arrived at Brane-Cantenac in 1990, Henri Lurton two years later, and once the two had the vineyard developments underway – the aforementioned mapping, extensive retrellising, replanting as required – their attentions were turned towards the cellars. New fermentation vessels more suited to the newly defined vineyard plots were installed, and in 1994 they shifted the malolactic fermentation into barrel. This is continued today, with about half of the annual production undergoing malolactic in barrel, usually between 500 and 600 barrels. In 1997 new oak fermentation vats were installed, and in 1999 the buildings were updated, with new greener technologies and materials introduced where possible.
At harvest time the fruit is picked by hand and then transported in from the vines using the Air Tec system which cushions the fruit, protecting it from damage with its pneumatic suspension. Once in the reception area the fruit is emptied by gentle vibration, further protecting it from damage. It also sees a double sorting, once in the vineyard on a Viniclean table, and a second time upon arrival in the cellar. Here the fruit is mechanically destemmed and then sorted using optical technology, in this case a Delta Vistalys machine by Bucher Vaslin. Clearly there is no shying away from new technologies at Brane-Cantenac; indeed, the Air Tec system was developed and modified principally by Henri Lurton. Today it can be found not just here but also at Léoville-Las-Cases, Calon-Ségur and Pichon-Lalande.
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