Château Cantemerle, 5eme Cru Classé, Haut Medoc, 2019
One of the features of the 2019 tastings has been the quality of some of the smaller chateaux. Okay, Cantemerle is a 5th growth and is capable of producing excellent wines, but their recent run of vintages hasn't really got us excited. The 2019 is a return to form. In fact, we can't recall a young vintage of Cantemerle we have enjoyed so much. Dark and intense, the nose is packed with sweet black fruit and incense. There's a gorgeous leafy cassis character, which leads to a palate packed with precise cool berry fruit: sweet blackcurrant, griotte and sloes. It's a very plush and impressive Cantemerle with a long, pure, mineral finish. It should be one of the best value buys of the campaign.
critic reviews
The 2019 Cantemerle is deep garnet-purple in color. Perfumed notes of rose petal and cinnamon stick lead to a core of warm plums and boysenberry preserves, with a waft of sandalwood. The mediuml-bodied palate is soft and juicy, with firm, grainy tannins and lovely freshness, finishing long and lifted.
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.
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.
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.