TN: 2016 Château Cantemerle (France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc)

2016 Château Cantemerle - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc (4/10/2020)
– cork pulled 30 min. before initial taste –
– tasted non-blind over a couple hours –

NOSE: initially tight; oak (slightly sweet); boysenberry; loganberry; hint of spearmint; “clean.”

BODY: medium-light to medium bodied.

TASTE: good freshness; blackberry with a hint of non-descript red berry; young, but approachable; not super-structured; not big, overtly tannic, thick, or oaky; 13% alc. not noticeable; there are some very fine tannins, and there is light to medium-light oak, but neither of these dominate the wine’s current expression; “juicy” for a L Bank Bdx; I bet this is awfully tasty through 2030, and I won’t venture a guess beyond that at this time. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see it drink well beyond 2030, but I’ll re-assess once or twice in the coming decade to get a better read. Gut impression score: 91 – 92.

cool I just picked one (the last!) up at my local Trader Joes.

The estate keeps well; we had the 83 a year or two ago and it was floral / fine.

I very rarely ever do this, but I opened one of these 2016s early for a look this week.

Because I so rarely burn Bordeaux and Barolo in their youth, I’m not very experienced in what they should be like. Overall, it lacks any notable flaws or excesses, but it was big and clumsy on night one, then I revisited the second half on night three and it was just okay and on the lighter side as far as fruit and concentration.

I really like Cantemerle, and vintages like 2009-2012 drink well right now, so this will probably be good with the right amount of age, but I don’t really recommend planning to drink this soon.

Interesting experience you had, Chris. Sounds like our bottles or impressions (or both) differed from each other. Mmmmm.

Like you, I’m also typically not a fan of young Bdx., but I’ll sacrifice one early if I’m considering buying a few more. That’s what I did here. The '14 and '15 are pretty good, too. It was the '14 that really drew my attention to this producer; I’ll likely stick with them until they hit the $40 or $45 mark, unless the whole tide has risen, in which case I might be back out of the Bdx game, just like I was for the 8 years, or so, prior to the 2014 vintage release.

Cantemerle is solid, consistent, with a history for maturing quite elegantly. Like Arv, I recent had an 83 that was really lovely, and then two 78s out of 375. I have not touched my 2014s, but have zero concern that they will be anything but excellent. I will likely buy the 2016 as well given the vintage quality.

Brian,
I find you to be a pretty stingy scorer, so your gut impression impressed my gut. Looking forward to start popping these in 6 or 7 years.

I’ve had several bottles each of 09-12 vintages in the last few years, and they’re all doing really well. Including the “lesser” vintages of 11 and 12, which aren’t straight up as good as the 09 and 10, but are good value and good for those vintages.

I think this is a great producer for us non ballas to buy from Bordeaux. I’m comfortable that this 16 will be a good wine in 5+ years, but I did think that if I had it to do over again, I wouldn’t have opened one this week, either for the enjoyment of drinking it this age, or for the sake of really learning anything helpful about the wine and the vintage. As noted previously, though, that’s just sort of how I’m wired, and not meant as any judgment on others who go about it differently

Chris,
As a pretty tannic vintage, how do you think the '10 doing right now? I have one and am wondering if it is doing well right now or needs more time.

Cool beans. Particularly nice to hear of the strong performances in '11 and '12. My experience with the '14-'15-'16 trio leads me to believe I like Cantemerle best in “big” vintages, as I thought the '15 was the best at this infantile stage of its life. But the '14 and '16 are no slouches, and an initial sample bottle of each inspired me to go buy more of both of them, too. At the right price, I’ll give the '11 and/or '12 a shot, too.

Cheers, Paul! I hope you enjoy them whenever it is you start pulling corks.

Brian, I agree with you here. 15 is the best Cantemerle for me of the trio, kind of like ‘09 but with a bit more flair. ‘11 is pretty good if you don’t mind a bit of green. ‘13 is the one vintage I’d steer clear of since ‘08 - thin and watery.

It drinks well now with a little air. It probably has room to improve with a few more years, but that’s just a guess.

If I had one and wanted to give it the best chance to shine, I’d guess maybe 2-5 more years?

I drank a 2010 in February and came to the conclusion that 2-3 more years should be helpful. Other peoples’ notes posted on CT in 2019 suggest a similar waiting time.

I stocked up on 2010, this is a serious wine. It’s in the dark recesses of my storage for a minimum of 15 years. If you are itching, drink the 2009 now.

The 2009 is very tasty. I wish I had more of those, I only have one left.

You’re probably right that the 2010 can go a long way. I’d say the early window is coming soon, but you could probably go a long time as well, depending on how mature of flavors you hope to achieve.

Thanks for the note on this youngster. Haven’t tasted it since the UGC EP tasting. Popped an '83 last night and it was great. Some fruit and tannin still present surprisingly. I would probably have enjoyed it more five years ago with a little more fruit personally. I’m thinking I’ll start drinking my '16 Cantemerle stash around the ten year mark for educational purposes.