Château Cantemerle 2016

Special Price $39.95 Average US Price $50.00
Out of stock
SKU
0805-2016

Other Vintages We Offer:

• Domaine: Château Cantemerle
• Appellation: Haut Médoc
• Classification: Fifth Growth, 5ème Grand Cru Classé
• Origin: Left Bank, Bordeaux, France

Château Cantemerle produces a wine perfectly tailored to the modern drinker.  This Fifth Growth Haut Médoc estate yields age worthy wines featuring the traditional Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, yet the wines are significantly softer and less aggressive than some of the more sturdy, tannic, and almost port-like wines of the Médoc.  For drinkers who enjoy luscious fruit, silkier tannins, and great value wines, Château Cantemerle is definitely a producer worth paying attention to.

Château Cantemerle is one of the first famous estates any individual fortunate enough to travel to Bordeaux will see when driving along the famous route D2.  The Fifth Growth Haut Médoc estate also happens to be one of the oldest properties in the Bordeaux wine region boasting a rich and colorful history.  Historic documents date the property all the way back to the 12th Century.  On the grounds of the estate, one will find hundreds of blackbirds crowing among the vines, and this is how the Château Cantemerle receives its namesake.  The word, “merle” is French for blackbird and, “canta,” derives from the French word, “chantar,” meaning, “to sing.”  This interesting name for the estate led to one of the most famous, talked-about legal cases in Bordeaux in the 19th Century. 

The property was owned by the shrewd businesswoman Madame Villenueve Durfort and was already a well-known winemaking estate at the time.  The owner of the neighboring property, Château Pibran, renamed his property, Chadeuil Cantemerle Château Pibran.  This naturally led to confusion among the two estates, and Madame Villenueve was a woman who suffered no fools.  Eventually, she took the owner – a man named Pierre Chadeuil - to court and though he argued, “Cantemerle,” was a region and not a name he lost and was forced to pay damages.  But this wouldn’t be the first time Madame Villenueve fought hard for her estate.  During the 1855 Classification, when Château Cantemerle was initially left out of the document, Madame Villenueve marched over to the négociants, bringing 40 years of books that proved her wine was selling for as much or more than the other Classified Growths.  She won, and Château Cantemerle received its well-deserved ranking as a Fifth Growth estate within a year.  

Any property with a legacy spanning as long as that of Château Cantemerle is bound to have its fortunes rise and fall.  The property was pummeled by phylloxera at the turn of the century and a particularly nasty bout of downy mildew for almost a decade.  In the modern era, Château Cantemerle is owned by the SMATB group who continues to put investments into the estate and improve it. Everything is harvested, sorted, and destemmed by hand at Château Cantemerle.  They view their winemaking as a sort of, “soft infusion process,” and there is very little pressing involved.  The goal is to produce age worthy wines with supple, airy tannins featuring refined fruit.  Without a doubt, the property’s journey is an exciting one and we look forward to what the future holds.   

Tasting Notes

"The 2016 Cantemerle has a tightly wound bouquet and it never quite delivers the detail and mineralité that some of its peers have produced in this vintage. There are attractive undergrowth scents and a touch of tobacco, but it does not leap from the glass with joy. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, good depth of fruit, blackberry laced with cedar and graphite. One sample was missed a little precision, however, a second and third demonstrated much more precision and tension. My score reflects this." - Neal Martin, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (4/28/2017, Issue 230), Ratings: 90-92, Drink: 2020-2030


More Information
Stock Status Out of Stock
Appellation Haut-Médoc
Vintage 2016
Brand Chateau Cantemerle
Shipping Weight 3.000000

Footnotes on Futures, Pre-Arrivals, and potential US Tariffs: 

1. As of June 15, 2021, the US and the EU agreed to suspend tariffs resulting from the Boeing-Airbus aircraft trade disputes. Accordingly, such import taxes are now suspended for the next five years.

2. Futures are expected to be available for delivery two years after the sales (e.g., the 2022 vintage, sold in 2023, will be delivered in 2025 mostly, or 2026 if the producer ages the wine longer).

3. Pre-Arrivals are items currently stored in our Bordeaux cellar or in transit from France to the US. It usually takes 1-6 months for Pre-Arrivals to become available for delivery, depending on the stage of the import process.

4. Regarding futures and pre-arrivals, we cannot guarantee specific delivery dates, which factors beyond our control may impact. However, we will notify you once your wine arrives in our cellar.

5. While a buyer of Bordeaux wine futures locks in an allocation of the specified items, the final delivery of the purchased items from France to the US may be impacted by intervening and unforeseeable events. Despite our due diligence, additional costs or delays may be caused by such intervening and unforeseen events and "an irresistible, superhuman cause, or by the act of public enemies of the state of California or the United States."  In such circumstances, if a buyer does not accept unforeseeable costs or delays, the sole and exclusive remedy is a cancellation of the futures order concerned and a refund of the original purchase price. We are NOT liable for any lost profits on a canceled order.

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