WINE OF THE MONTH
2019 Château Cantemerle, Haut-Médoc 5ème Cru Classé
A popular Classed Growth Château from the southern Médoc, situated just below the village of Margaux, Cantemerle always provides reliable quality and value for money. This is a prime example of textbook Medoc that doesn’t require decades to drink well and at under £20 a bottle in bond, as Neal Martin states, there’s “no excuse not to have this in your cellar”.
Cantemerle has a long history dating back as far as 1579, when the Villeneuve family first ran the estate and was classified a fifth growth in the September 1855 classifications. Since being acquired in 1981 by Groupe SMA, after a long 88-year tenure from the Dubos family, the quality is on a continuous rise, with a new winery and cellar on the horizon. Cantemerle has 94 hectares of vineyards, planted with Cabernet Sauvignon (60%), Merlot (30%), Cabernet Franc (6%) and Petit Verdot (4%). The wines are made under the guidance of world-famous consultant oenologist, Eric Boissenot whose other contracts include Latour, Lafite-Rothschild, Margaux, Mouton-Rothschild. Clearly this is paying off!
The deep gravel soils at Cantemerle help in producing a well-balanced, complex and refined wine that is a really shrewd buy for fans of left bank Bordeaux. It’s aromas jump out of the glass with notes of blue and red fruits, in combination with soft hints of spice and subtle notes of herbs. For those patient enough, it will only improve with age, developing further complexity and nuance in bottle, if you can wait that long!
93 Points – Neal Martin
“The 2019 Cantemerle has a fruit-driven bouquet with opulent blackberry and blueberry fruit, certainly one of the most floral in the flight with pressed violets developing in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with very supple tannins, fleshy and rounded, though I am looking for more tension and precision on the finish. This is a really fabulous Cantemerle that surely represents outstanding value. No excuse not to have this in your cellar. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting.”
92 Points – William Kelley
“Opening in the glass with notions of rich berry fruit, licorice, cedar, violets and loamy soil, the 2019 Cantemerle is medium to full-bodied, with a fleshy core of fruit, lively acids and powdery tannins that gently assert themselves on the finish. This shut down a little after bottling (some 11 months ago at the time of writing), but it is beginning to bounce back to reveal a wine of real charm and character.”
92 Points – Jane Anson
“Plenty of smoked cedar oak on the opening beats, this is full-throated in its extraction, but comes across as confident rather than too much, and as it softens the damson and black cherry fruits are attractive. A healthy 55hl/h yield, with 40% new oak.”
2019 Château Cantemerle, Haut-Médoc 5ème Cru Classé
Bordeaux
Vintage: 2019
Case Format: 6x75cl
Tax Status: IN-BOND
