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Cantemerle 2009

RegionBordeaux
Subregion France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > Haut Médoc
ColourRed
TypeStill
Grape VarietyCabernet Sauvignon/Merlot

View all vintages of this wine | View all wines by Château Cantemerle

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Tasting Notes

The 2009 Cantemerle finally shows the potential that it displayed out of barrel. It has a delightful, well-defined bouquet with blackberry, cedar and tobacco aromas, vigorous with impressive delineation and class. The palate is medium-bodied with fine grain tannin, and a taut line of acidity. Fresh and vibrant with a poised and quite tensile finish. This is a wonderfully crafted 2009 Left Bank. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting. 2021 - 2038.

93
Neal Martin, vinous.com, March 2019

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+
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate, March 2012

Gorgeous ripe fruit character, with loads of blueberries, blackberries and flowers. Full body, with velvety tannins and a fruity, fresh, grapefruit aftertaste. Really beautiful. Best ever from here. Best after 2018

95
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, February 2012

Very dark. Polished nose. But then pretty green on the finish. Nice attempt but just not quite ripe enough. Just a bit too austere. Date tasted 1st April 2010. Drink 2015-2021.

15.5
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, April 2010

A popular Classed Growth Château from the southern Médoc, situated just below the village of Margaux, near to La Lagune. Cantemerle always provides reliable quality and value for money. The wines are never heavy or jammy. Good traditional claret that is always sold at a modest price. This is the darkest cask sample of Cantemerle that we have ever seen! Full of ripe black fruit, rich, smooth and supple. Not hugely complex but the tannins are soft and smooth - this will give great early-drinking pleasure. Nicely done.

90+
Farr Vintners, November 2009

Blackcurrant and black cherry gives richness on the nose and a nice depth of flavour on the palate. Bright bilberry is there behind giving the finish a fresher lighter feel. Drink 2018-2030.

88/91
Derek Smedley MW, April 2010

An impressive showing from this Macau fifth growth, glowing with ambition and sense of purpose. Deeply coloured and dense, with lots of new oak (50%) and smoky black fruits and black olive flavours. Nice underlying minerality and good ageing potential. 10+ years.

91
Tim Atkin MW, April 2010

Deep purple red, very attractive nose of fragrant black fruits with elegant intensity, slightly smoky oak, finely textured, lovely classy southern Médoc. Drink 2014-22.

17
Steven Spurrier, Decanter.com, April 2010
Read more tasting notes...

This blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, with the Cabernet dominating, looks to be the best they have ever produced, even eclipsing the 2005. Dense purple in color, with extraordinarily elegant floral notes intermixed with raspberry, black currant, cherry, and spice box, it is medium to full-bodied, not massive, but again, very seamless, with beautiful precision, sweet tannins, and an endearing fleshiness and depth of flavor that are neither heavy nor fatiguing. This wine will be relatively approachable in 3-5 years and drink well for 25-30. (Tasted two times.) Drink 2010-2040.

Robert Parker added an asterisk to this wine score to signify that it is a wine he considers has the finest potential of all the offerings he has ever tasted from this estate in nearly 32 years of barrel tasting samples in Bordeaux.

92/94
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (188), April 2010

Tasted at a negociant. The Cantemerle '09 has a well defined, quite pure nose that shows more precision and essence of terroir than the Camensac sampled alongside. A very nice marriage between exuberant ripe, rounded fruit and Bordeaux austerity. The palate is medium-bodied, quite smoky and meaty on the entry, just a hint of leafiness that here lends the wine freshness and vitality. Unashamedly classic in style, but I think they pulled off a lovely, traditional Haut-Médoc here. Excellent. Tasted March 2010

91/93
Neal Martin, RobertParker.com, April 2010

Very pretty and aromatic on the nose, with currant and flowers. Medium-bodied, with fine tannins and a clean finish.

88/91
James Suckling, WineSpectator.com, April 2010
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.