(NM92-94 points) Impressive out of barrel, though flirting with a certain "jamminess" when tasted again out of bottle. Then in November 2004: this has really improved over the last couple of years and is easily the best Cantenac Brown that I have tasted. A plummy, meaty, earthy nose wafts up from the glass. Good concentration on the palate. Firm tannins, soft red berried fruit mixed with tobacco and a touch of leather. Solid, yet still harmonious. Would make an astute purchase. Drink from 2010.

Still youthful and beautifully lush, with dark, velvety tannins that flow underneath, allowing the gorgeous plum sauce, blackberry reduction and anise notes to drape wonderfully before slowly giving way to a cast iron–edged finish.—2000 Bordeaux blind retrospective (December 2015). Drink now through 2023. 14,833 cases made. –JM

A hugely concentrated wine showing chewy, but ripe tannins. Smooth, polished fruit combines with well-balanced wood and suppressed power. This is certainly a wine that will develop well, making it drinkable in five years and mature in 10-15 years.

Among the finest Cantenac-Browns of the last three decades, the saturated purple-colored 2000 is a sleeper of the vintage. Loaded with chocolatey black currants intermixed with sweet earth, cedar, and spice box, it exhibits medium to full body, surprisingly ripe tannin for a wine from this estate, a multi-layered texture as well as mid-palate, and a finish that lasts 25-30 seconds. Anticipated maturity: 2006-2018.

The 2000 Cantenac Brown is a vintage that I last tasted just after bottling. It has a rather splendid bouquet that has matured beautifully with raspberry preserve, wild strawberry, dark chocolate and hints of rose petal, a touch of liquorice developing with aeration. The palate is perhaps showing its age a bit more with ferrous red fruit, grainy texture and a little sharpness towards the finish. But this is a typical, quite delicious mature Margaux that should give another 10-15 years’ drinking pleasure. Tasted at the Cantenac Brown vertical at the château. -- Neal Martin