Here are Brane's technical data for its 2010...
The weather:
- An exceptionally rainy fall of 2009 which refilled the water tables and allowed the vines to toler-ate an extremely dry summer.
- A cold winter that delayed bud break.
- A cool episode during blossoming which resulted in grape shatter (coulure) and shot berries (millerandage) on the early Merlots.
- A moderately hot but particularly dry summer (30 mm rain between June 20th and September 6th, or 100 mm less than usual).
- A period favourable to the synthesis of phenolic compounds alternating between hot days and cool nights as maturity was approaching.
In the vineyards:
- A somewhat late bud break (very first days of April).
- Start of flowering on May 25th.
- Early plots of Merlot that suffered from cool weather during blossoming and significant miller-andage on a limited number of stocks.
- No diseases or pests.
- Rapid and even veraison.
- Green harvest, considerably limiting the yield of Cabernet Sauvignon.
- 10 hectares of vineyards farmed organically, i.e. 15% of the surface (20% in 2011).

Harvesting:
- Excellent weather conditions during harvesting.
- The Merlots were harvested between September 27th (5 days later than in 2009) and October 5th. The berries had very high sugar levels. Optical sorting performed miracles, removing shot and dried berries.
- Harvesting of Cabernet Sauvignons started on October 6th and ended on October 14th. The level of phenolic compounds in the grapes was greater than in 2009. It is undoubtedly the prized grape in 2010.
- Exceptionally, the Cabernet Francs had to wait until the end of harvest. They produced wines that were surprisingly rich in aromas.
- The health status was just as exceptional as in 2009.
- In spite of a high alcohol level, the wines' acidity made them well-balanced and fresh.


New at Brane-Cantenac in 2010:
Transfer of grapes to the cellar and receiving of the harvest were completely modified, in order to achieve irreproachable quality objectives. The systems that were chosen limit berry crushing and optimize harvest sorting.
The Air Tec Wine system (small transfer units with air suspension and gradual empty-ing through vibration) preserves the berries' integrity and significantly limits oxidation through fast handling of the grapes within half an hour of picking (less handling compared with the crate system).
The Vistalys optical sorting after de-stemming process, which is combined with man-ual sorting of whole clusters on a table, attains a sorting quality that had never before been achieved. It was a tremendous asset for the sorting of Merlots this year.
Henri Lurton’s analysis of the 2010 vintage:
The 2010 vintage is uncannily similar to the previous vintage: a dry year but with wa-ter reserves that had been replenished the previous fall. The cool nights of a pleasant summer imparted full aromatic expression and unusually high levels of phenolic compounds. The cli-mate in 2010 corresponded marvellously to Brane's terroir. The plateau’s clay-like gravel subsoil can give the vines the humidity the grapes need to mature in conditions of extreme dryness. Aromatic expression also being a major quality of this terroir, it was particularly rich at Brane this year. The severity of the blend may seem surprising but it was the key to a perfect
balance
Yield: 41 hl/ha

Blend: Merlot: 30%, cab Franc 8% cab Sauv 62%
33% grand vin only