Château Cantemerle, 2025 - Magnum
Château Cantemerle, 2025 - Magnum
- 150cl
- 13.5%
- Red Still
- Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc
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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."
The 87-hectare vineyard sits on deep Günzian gravel beds over clay and limestone subsoils, typical of the best Médoc sites but with a crucial difference: proximity to the Landes forest. This woodland creates a unique microclimate that moderates temperatures and provides natural humidity, contributing to the wine's characteristic elegance. The gravelly topsoil provides excellent drainage whilst the clay beneath retains moisture during dry spells, allowing for consistent ripening even in challenging vintages.
Haut-Médoc represents the southern extension of the Médoc peninsula, stretching from the suburbs of Bordeaux northward. Unlike the four famous communal appellations within it, Haut-Médoc wines must rely more on individual château reputation than appellation prestige. The regulations require the same noble grape varieties as the great communes but generally allow slightly higher yields. Cantemerle benefits from being the only classified growth in this appellation, standing as proof that great terroir transcends administrative boundaries.
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
