Description
The 108 hectare vineyard of Cantemerle has 92 hectares under vine, planted to 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot.
On average, the vines are close to 30 years of age. They have old Cabernet vines, which are close to 70 years of age.
The terroir is mostly sand and gravel soils. The vineyard can be divided into 3 sections. Close to the chateau, you find soils with pebbles, small rocks, and dark, or black sand. To the east, close to the water tower, you find larger stones and gravel with sand.
As you head south, on the way to the city of Bordeaux, there you find more small rocks with white sand. All 4 grape varieties are planted in each vineyard. The estate’s best terroir is located close to chateau, in the northwest direction where you find Cabernet Sauvignon.
The average annual production of Chateau Cantemerle is about 25,000 cases per year.
Tasting Notes
Readers looking for the more ethereal, elegant side of Bordeaux need search no further than Cantemerle, one of the estates in the very southern end of the Medoc. Dense ruby/purple (nearly opaque), this wine offers up notes of lead pencil shavings, spring flowers, raspberries and black cherries. The wine is ethereal, medium-bodied, and by no means a blockbuster, but long and intellectual. However, the tannins are present, and the wine is certainly capable of putting on weight with time in the bottle. Give it 3-4 years of bottle age and drink it over the following 25+ years. [91+ Points, Robert Parker Jr. – December 2011, robertparker.com]
