Like many Bordeaux fine wines, Chateau Cantemerle’s story is a tale of two halves. Pre-19th century phylloxera crisis and the wine was doing splendidly. It had documentation to support its claim of being one of the oldest fine wine producers in France. It was one of only two changes to be allowed on the famous 1855 classification (having been left off in the original classification, the estate was added to the list shortly after publication after some vociferous complaints by the then-owner). Production was between 150-160 barrels annually. Awards were being won in Paris. It had vines planted on the best slopes of Macau, the terroir was rich, deep and gravelly, and the product could not have been any better. Suffice to say, pre-1860, things were looking good for Cantemerle.

Now comes the second half of the estate’s story. The worst hit left bank chateaux to be affected by the crisis in the 1860s, Cantermerle’s woes began with the dramatic phylloxera bug that all but wiped it out. After overcoming the attack of the deadly insect, production was decreased by a further 50% following a mildew attack on the remaining plants. By 1892 the estate was bankrupt and the Villeneuve-Durfort family, who had owned the estate since 1579, were forced to sell. The new owner, Theophile-Jean Dubois, kept painstaking records of the weather and this, along with Dubois’ great savoir faire of Bordeaux fine wines, was the beginning of Cantemerle 2.0.

However, family squabbles, complicated inheritance tax, two-world wars and general mis-management meant that by the late 20th-century Chateau Cantemerle has fallen into a state of ruin. The estate was still harvesting from the 49-hectares it had left, yet over half of these needed replanting. Help arrived in 1981 in the form of the French insurance giants SMABTP. The group purchased the estate for 25 million francs (almost €4,000,000), but spent a further €10,000,000 on restoration. This included replanting, new harvesting equipment and new oak aging barrels.

Today the estate owns 190-hectares, of which 90 are planted with vines. These average around 30-years. The blend, although varies, is typically a combination of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot. Annual production is around 25,000 cases of its fine wine, while its second wine, Les Allees de Cantemerle averages around 12,500 cases. Little market data is available for pre-SMABTP wines, the earliest on the current market (Q1 2020) being an Imperial (6-litre) from 1996. Selling price for this is €640 (€65 a bottle), compared to €26 for the 2018 offering. Investors should note that aggregate scoring is consistently in the 90/100 range.