Wine: Another 2nd Growth Grand Cru Bordeaux

[Mike Buckley]

Not too long ago I established a goal of drinking all of the Second Growth Grand Cru Bordeaux wines. If I drink just one each year, that part of my wine hobby will take me through the next 14 years. To get a very brief introduction about what a Second Growth Bordeaux wine is and to see my photo of my first wine classified that way, see this thread.

It's easy for me to confuse this winery, Chateau Brane-Cantenac, with a Third Growth winery of a similar name, Chateau Cantenac Brown. Both wineries share the name, Cantenac, because that's the name of their commune. Indeed, the wineries' properties are adjacent to each other. Brane and Brown are the names of owners of the wineries a couple centuries ago.

This particular wine is from the fabulous 2009 vintage, so I will most definitely save it for a special occasion. That would be true, though, for any Second Growth Bordeaux. One could justifiably argue that I should hold all of my Second Growth wines for at least another ten years before drinking any of them. If I do that and only drink one each year, I may not live long enough to drink all of them. So...that is my rationale for drinking them sooner rather than later!

Setup
The background is a draped fabric with a gold pattern on a field of black, though the pattern is not discernible because the fabric is so out of focus. A small continuous-light lamp above the scene on the right side was fitted with a flag to prevent a rim of white light from appearing on the left side of the bottle. A gold reflector on the left side of the scene added the reflection to that side of the bottle to add interest and to help define the shape of the bottle.

[Wavelength]

Excellent golden hue mixed with darkness in a captive way....

[Rita]

The gold tones add a richness to this one. Very nice.

[Shadowman]

Nicely done.

[John 2]

That is very effective Mike. Your having opting for a gold finish, has given this a really classic look that compliments both the bottle and the provenance of its contents.

[Rainforest]

You have taken your collection to a new level with these photos Mike. I wonder if looking at them will bring back the flavors in your mouth? Wouldn't that be grand? This one looks classic and and full bodied right in the bottle :-). Very nice.

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, everyone! Several of you mentioned the gold look and John mentioned the following:

Your having opting for a gold finish, has given this a really classic look that compliments both the bottle and the provenance of its contents.

This winery makes only three red wines (not at all unusual in Bordeaux where some only make two). Their first and second wines have gold labels with black lettering yet their other wine surprisingly at least to me has a silver label with red lettering.