Château Cantemerle, Haut Médoc, 5ème Cru Classé 2004

The Chateau

A classed growth in 1855, the vineyard of Château Cantemerle lies across parcels of fine gravel along the Gironde estuary. At the gateway to the Médoc, in a bright glade, stand Château Cantemerle built on the site of a very ancient fortress which has managed to keep some vestiges of its one-time grandeur, in particular a very fine 16th century tower. During the 13th and 14th century the powerful Lords of Blanquefort brought it into their vast possessions. In 1579, a high magistrate, Jean de Villeneuve, acquired these seigniorial lands which remained in his family for three centuries. In 1892, it became the property of the Dubos family who sold it nearly a century later to the SMABTP, which announced the arrival of great institutional investors into the French winegrowing world.