2016 Château Cantemerle
Community Tasting Note
Alexander Tronstad Likes this wine:
Tuesday, May 17, 2022 - I love this Chateau. And this wine in this vintage is by far my most drunk wine of the left bank classed growths. Just good easy drinking, yet has enough complexity and depth to satisfy the craving for some gravity and seriously made wine.. So be it that it may be lacking a bit on concentration as Konstantin Baum pointed out recently, but... at the price it is a big winner. It is a classed growth, and it tastes like a class growth, unmistakably.
With the other classed growths - too often I find myself trembling before opening one, "I spent so much money, what if it is not good enough?? What a waste! Why spend so much!?" I get nervous and over-analytical, I can't really relax, and wine isn't supposed to feel like that. Well... I am not so worried about that with Cantemerle.
This 2016 is around 45 $.. It's no everyday wine, it's still priced above that, but I can let my guard down, I don't need to worry when I find the occasion - opened too early? Who cares... Have a bit in the sauce for your meal? Sure, why not! Have half a bottle left over in the fridge that you drink at the wrong temperature the day after? Well, it is not optimal but again, who cares? You can afford it and it is YOUR wine, and this wine is robust; It takes a beating and is enjoyable throughout. It works with you, you don't have to tiptoe around and micro-manage it, I let my shoulders down, relax and enjoy. This is not a high maintenance visitor, this is home on a sunday.
It is delicious and I am not ruined, it reaches quite high, has great manners, it's well made... at the price it is punching well above its weight, it is balanced well between structure and fruit, not too sweet. What I find I need to dig for in a lean chianti, Cantemerle showers you with - the quality comes out quite eagerly without going into a too sun-sweet plummy cabernet - it carries itself better than that. It hits the right spots and my red fine wine-thirst is quenched. If I were richer I'd probably find better, but for a normal worker, this hits me right at my level. As Peter Koff said comparing a higher quality wine to one he liked better regardless: "Another wine is my favourite, but this wine is my friend."
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7 comments have been posted
23 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue (7,748 views)
Comment posted by epiphany:
5/23/2022 4:54:00 PM - Wow, you said everything I have felt in my gut for a long time about Cantemerle. Thank you.
Comment posted by Alexander Tronstad:
5/23/2022 5:57:00 PM - Nice to know there are like-minded people out there!
Comment posted by roljui:
5/31/2022 5:30:00 PM - Loved the review! Am a fan of Cantemerle and this says it better than I could.
Comment posted by Piffpaff:
6/8/2022 11:54:00 PM - Absolutely true what you say. I also have this experience, going over 40€ always seems to stress me somehow, so i analyse to much, try to find somethig special and do not relax and simply enjoy. Just yesterday i compared 3 different wines, which disappointed me, so I took out a 0,375 bottle of capbern 2016, which is one of my favorites for around 15€ and this saved me the evening. Cheers👋
Comment posted by mysterycooper:
9/12/2022 1:50:00 PM - HA! Great notes. You really went for it. Thanks.
Comment posted by Jonnhy99:
10/5/2022 4:42:00 PM - Well I was on the fence until this review , cheers.
Comment posted by Jake Barnes:
7/11/2023 2:21:00 PM - I’m a year late to this party, but that was very well said! And let’s not forget that for all of the knocks people seem to like to give Cantemerle, it is very consistent and consistently age worthy in the better years. I had an ‘83 the other night. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t dead or the worst thing I’ve ever had, either.
Cheers!