Chateau Cantemerle 5eme Cru Classe, Haut-Medoc 2015

Impressive richness and clarity of red and dark berries. Lightly spiced-pastry aromas, too. The palate has a very crisp, polished and groomed tannin texture, as well as super fresh flavors that carry long. Great wine.

Drink from 2022 onward.

Deep and bright with a good attack of brambles, gooseberry and raspberry. It just doesn't quite deliver the suave tannins that you look for in such a brilliant vintage, although the relatively high 6% of Petit Verdot alongside the classic Cabernets and Merlot blend often gives a slight rusticity to them in the early years. One of the few wines in the Margaux region where I prefer the 2016, but this is still a lovely wine.

Drink 2023 – 2040

One of the sleepers of the vintage, the 2015 Cantemerle is even better from bottle than it was from barrel. Dark cherry, plum, licorice, new leather and tobacco all flesh out in this inviting, resonant Haut-Médoc. A wine with gorgeous presence and no hard edges, Cantemerle captures all the sheer early appeal of the vintage. Cantemerle is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Merlot, with dollops of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.

Drink 2018 - 2023