Château Cantemerle, 2025
Château Cantemerle, 2025
- 75cl
- 13%
- Red Still
- Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot
Please note, en primeur wines are not available for delivery until they arrive in the UK
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Est. delivery in 2028.
Château Cantemerle sits in Macau at the southern tip of the Haut-Médoc, a Fifth Growth that's been quietly making some of Bordeaux's most elegant and undervalued wines for decades.
What the critics say:
"Deep dark ruby garnet, opaque core, violet reflections, delicate rim brightening. Delicate floral notes of black forest berries, a hint of cassis, delicately underlaid with mandarin zest. Medium body, fine plum fruit, delicate, ripe tannins, balanced, a fine, uncomplicated food companion."
Cantemerle's 87 hectares spread across deep Günzian gravel beds mixed with sand and clay, giving the wines their characteristic elegance and mineral precision. The vineyards benefit from proximity to the Gironde estuary, which moderates temperatures and extends the growing season. This cooler microclimate allows for slower ripening, preserving the natural acidity that gives Cantemerle wines their remarkable aging potential and trademark finesse.
Haut-Médoc encompasses the southern portion of the Médoc peninsula, stretching from Blanquefort to Saint-Julien. Unlike the more famous communal appellations, Haut-Médoc covers diverse terroirs and microclimates, producing wines that range from powerful to elegant. The appellation's rules require a minimum of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot combined, with aging requirements that ensure structure and longevity. Cantemerle represents the appellation's most refined expression.
The 2025 Bordeaux vintage emerged from one of the most demanding growing seasons in recent memory — the earliest budbreak since 1989, June temperatures second only to 2003 since records began, and an unusually early harvest beginning in August for the whites. Conditions that should have produced heavy, overripe wines. They didn't. Decanter's Georgie Hindle, who tasted close to 200 wines ahead of the formal campaign, describes "exceptional concentration, aromatic purity and a freshness that contradicts the record-breaking heat.
The early critical consensus places 2025 stylistically between the precision of 2020 and the structure of 2016, with the brightness of 2023 — a combination that suggests a very serious vintage indeed. Yields are dramatically low, the smallest crop since 1991, with production across the Gironde running around 15% below the five-year average. The quality is here. There simply isn't very much of it.
OUR GROWERS
Château Cantemerle
