Château Cantemerle--Vintage 2000

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CHATEAU CANTEMERLE Château Cantemerle was the final château in the 1855 Classification, just sneaking in as the last of the Fifth Growths. In the original document drawn up by the Bordeaux brokers syndicate and sent to the Chamber of Commerce on 18 April 1855 the list of Châteaux began with Lafite and ended with Croizet-Bages as the last of the Fifth Growths. All these châteaux were written in the same script. However in different handwriting and squashed above the line drawn below Croizet Bages is written "Cantemerle, Mme de Villeneuve Durfort, Macau ". This was evidently written by someone else after the 18th May, and this original omission is further reinforced by the wine map that was displayed at the Paris Fair which has no mention of Cantemerle. It would appear that Mouton Rothschild is not the only château to have been promoted since the original classification was drawn up. The reason that Château Cantemerle was not in the original list was that traditionally the entire production had been sold to Dutch brokers, and as a result the French syndicate had little experience of selling the wines and therefore had not recorded the selling prices for previous vintages. This situation changed from the 1845 vintage as the owner, Caroline de Villeneuve-Durfort decided to sell Cantemerle on the French market. In that year, Cantemerle was recorded as selling for 2,100 Francs per tonneau, which was 100 Francs more than for Croizet-Bages. When Caroline de Villeneuve-Durfort realized that her Château had not been included on the original list, she demanded that her estate was included and approached the broker's syndicate with the evidence that her wines had been selling for more than Croizet-Bages and Château Cantemerle was duly added to the list. Today the property is owned by the SMABTP insurance company and has 90 hectares of vineyards planted with 50 Cabernet Sauvignon, 40 Merlot, 5 Cabernet Franc and 5 Petit Verdot. The average age of the vines is 30 years and planting density is 9,600 vines per hectare. The grapes and hand harvested and completely destemmed before vinification in a mix of wooden and stainless steel vats, and maceration lasts for about 30 days. The wine is then aged in oak for approximately 12 months in 40 new oak. Annual production is about 350,000 bottles a year, and the second wine is called Les Allées de Cantemerle.

24 bottles per lot

Details

Château Cantemerle--Vintage 2000
Macau (Haut-Médoc), 5me cru classé
Tasting Note: Medium- deep, maturing; pleasant, slightly spicy nose: chewy fruit, easy style but dry, tannic finish. July 2004 **(**) Now- 2016 M.B.
24 bottles per lot

Special notice

ParcelWineBuyers from within the EU: VAT payable at 17.5% on just the buyer's premium (NOT the hammer price) Buyers from outside the EU: VAT payable at 17.5% on hammer price and buyer's premium. If a buyer, having registered under a non-EU address, decides that an item is not to be exported from the EU, then he/she should advise Christie's to this effect immediately. Please note that all the lots in this Sale are offered in Bond Only. UK Excise duty, Clearance VAT and delivery charges will not be included on any Sale invoices. Should you require your purchases to be delivered to a UK mainland address duty paid, we can arrange for the applicable UK Customs and delivery charges to be invoiced to you separately. For more information please contact Shona McIntosh or Antonia Essex in the Wine dept. smcintosh@christies.com aessex@christies.com

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