Château Cantemerle 2004

The 2004 vintage in Haut-Médoc

Vintage benchmark: 88/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: High yields and a dry September gave a classic, unexaggerated vintage, straightforward, now at its peak.

Overall reading of the year’s season across Haut-Médoc. An estate can depart from it sharply, in frost or hail years, where two neighbours did not make the same vintage. What this particular wine actually gave is on its technical sheet and in the scores above.

Tasting

The wine opens with a highly floral bouquet in which scents of rose emerge. The palate is much fruitier, with meaty notes that lend strong aromatic substance. This is a generous, ready-to-drink wine that pairs well with soft cheeses and roasted meats. It appears to be at its peak today and is unlikely to gain from extended ageing.

Blend of the 2004 vintage

Figures from the 2004 sheet

• 13 % vol.Alcohol
• 30 yrsVine age
• 400,000 bottlesProduction

Winemaking

The production of each plot is vinified separately in large oak vats favoring a slow and gentle extraction of tannins.

Ageing

The wines are then aged in barrels for twelve months, then lightly clarified before being bottled at the château.

Terroir

The soil at Cantemerle is siliceous gravel. This gravel, the product of the ancient erosion of the Pyrenees by the Garonne, is one of the essential elements of a quality terroir. It makes for poor soils, and the vine must struggle if it is to produce concentrated grapes. These soils of sand and pebbles are also very free-draining and play an active part in ripening the grapes, since they reflect the sun's rays and retain at night the heat accumulated during the day. As they age, the vines send their roots deeper into the soil and express more fully the typicity of the terroir that carries them.