2011, a "wine-grower’s vintage"

Early flowering and extreme weather conditions, alternating between heat-waves, heavy rain and cold weather, marked this 2011 vintage, making it difficult initially for the Brown team to get a handle on the harvests. And yet they waited until the last stage in ripening before starting the grape-picking, on 22 August for the whites and 12 September for the reds, in glorious sunshine. The vineyard needed to be prepared well (leaf stripping, green harvesting…) to achieve optimum grape quality, resulting in good concentration and healthy berries.

The end result: a dense colour (rich in polyphenols), exceptional, nicely ripe cabernets…A traditional Bordeaux vintage.

Exceptional vintages : 2005, 2009 and 2010

Ideal weather conditions, particularly favourable to the vine’s vegetation cycle and to the ripening of the grapes, 2005 produced many great wines in the Bordeaux region. It was also Jean Christophe Mau’s first vintage after the takeover of the vineyard and large-scale improvements to the vat house and winery. Brown 2005 has won numerous plaudits: score of 91/100 in the Wine Enthusiast, Gold Medal at the Paris Concours Général Agricole 2008, and 5 * in Decanter…

It was also from 2005 that Jean-Christophe turned to renowned consultant Stéphane Derenoncourt for his wise words of advice in the blending of his red wines.

Wine-tasters from all over the world acknowledge the quality of the 2009 vintage. With a majority of merlot rather than cabernet-sauvignon in this year of perfect ripeness, Brown Red 2009 boasts silky tannins and remarkably good balance, despite a high alcohol content – a gourmet, complex wine !

For both the red and the whites, 2010 turned out to be an outstanding year, with wines combining maturity and freshness. “I haven’t seen such good balance since my first ever vintage,” says JC Mau. Good acidity and generous substance are the features that best characterise the 2010: Brown white is an explosion of aromas coupled with finesse, while Brown red is rounded and mature, with lively tannins and ageing potential of over 15 years.