Let’s keep this simple: today we’ve got stunning 10-year-old Bordeaux, from a famous classified growth estate, for $40 a bottle. Château Cantemerle’s “Les Allées des Cantemerle” 2015 is the sort of wine that, were we still working restaurant floors, we could drop on every table and know every guest would be happy. This is stunning stuff, laden with sultry purple fruit and rumbling spice tones, its warm-vintage palate now a masterclass in silken, polished structure. It could easily go another 5-10 years in your cellar, and it comes from perhaps the most famous name in the entire Haut-Médoc. The fact that such a delicious wine, with such a pedigree, comes in at such a price is, frankly, insane. We regularly taste Bordeaux that costs twice as much which doesn’t compete with today’s wine. We’ve got no doubt that this offer is going to sell out very quickly, so we highly recommend you act fast and load up!
Even in Bordeaux, where it seems every address has been around for centuries, Château Cantemerle stands out for its pedigree. It’s one of the oldest estates in the region, with written records of it dating back to 12th century. Originally a polycultural farm, by the 16th century, the focus had shifted entirely to grape growing. When the 1855 classifications were established, though, Cantemerle was left out. This was thanks to the odd fact that the then-owner, Madame Villeneuve-Durfort, sold all of her wine to private clients rather than the negociants who developed the list. But once she demonstrated to them that for 40 years, her wines had commanded higher prices than every 5th growth, she was allowed in. The ensuing years weren’t kind to Cantemerle though: it was devastated by phylloxera, then downy mildew, then frost. By the time the current proprietors took over in 1981, over 50% of the property had to be replanted.
Over the past four decades, Château Cantemerle has become synonymous with overachievement and value. The wines have remained fairly priced, but as a result of brand-new cellar equipment and new plantings, the quality has skyrocketed. The vineyard plantings originally included a very high proportion of Cabernet Franc, but that’s shifted to Cabernet Sauvignon. This has brought the plantings in line with the terroir, which is primarily gravel, the soil type in which Left Bank Cabernet Sauvignon thrives. Cantemerle now uses their second label, “Les Allées des Cantemerle,” as essentially an outlet for their younger plantings. The 2015 blend is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot, and it’s been fermented in a mixture of tronconic vats and stainless steel. It aged in barrel, only a small proportion of which was new, as well as stainless for 12 months before being bottled. Then it rested nine long years to get to your glass.
The 2015 Château Cantemerle “Les Allées des Cantemerle” will really strut its stuff if given a decant, but it’s perfectly fine with a pop-and-pour too. 2015 was an exceptional vintage that balanced very ripe fruit with classic structure, and that comes through on the nose. It leads with rumbling crushed black raspberries, purple plums, cassis, violets, and black pepper. Signature Left Bank cedar, sandalwood, pencil lead, pipe tobacco, and gravelly earth come through with more air. On the palate it’s medium-full bodied, succulent in its depth of dark fruits, mouthcoating but still very fresh. Tannins have softened into a finely polished veil, but there’s still enough to promise a few more years of positive aging. This is a remarkably complete and complex wine, especially for the price. It’s as good as sub-$50 Bordeaux gets!
