Château Cantemerle is a winery in the Haut-Médoc appellation of the Bordeaux wine region of France, in the commune of Macau. The wine produced here was the final estate to be classified as one of eighteen Cinquièmes Crus (Fifth Growths) in the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855. Its absence from the classification map featured at the 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris created some controversy, even though it has been listed on all maps published after 1855. Some sources will include an asterisk next to Château Cantemerle listing in reference to this controversy. The estate has a long history in the Haut-Médoc with records detailing its existence since at least the 12th century and wine production since at least the 14th century. In the 19th century, the estate was hard hit by the phylloxera epidemic as well as grapevine attacks of downy mildew, after which production dropped nearly 50%. Towards the end of the 20th century, the estate was sold to French insurance group Les Mutuelles d'Assurance du Bâtiment et des Travaux Public who have contributed significant investment in the estate's vineyards and winemaking facilities.
Listing controversy
In the past, the status of Château Cantemerle as an original 1855 classification wine had been erroneously questioned since it was not included in the first publication of the classification, nor was it shown on the map that was displayed at the 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris. It has in fact been included in all listings dated after 16 September 1855. This was the result of an intense lobbying effort by Caroline de Villeneuve-Durfort who had supplied documentation to the brokers originally responsible for the price-based 1855 classification. Hence, its entry in the classification today is often accompanied by an asterisk denoting the only change in the classification that had occurred in more than 110 years. The second, and so far only other change, occurred in 1973 with the elevation of Château Mouton Rothschild from Second Growth to First Growth status.
History
The property has a long pedigree, with the first mention as early as 1147, of the Pons de Cantemerle. In the Middle Ages, the original chateau was part of a line of fortifications defending the banks of the left side of the river Gironde. Later, with Aquitaine ruled by the English, the Lord of Cantemerle fought on the side of the English Henry III against the King of France. In 1241 he fought and lost the Battle of Taillebourg. His domain remained under his rule and his descendant, Ponset de Cantemerle was Lord of the seigneury in 1340.
Mention of viticulture dates back to 1354 with the Ponset de Cantemerle recorded as paying debt in wine, a tonneau of clairet.
In the fifteenth century, the feudal domain of Cantemerle belonged to the Caupène family, originally from the Landes region. According to a title deed of 1422, the squire Jean de Caupène was described as Lord of Cantemerle. His son, Médard de Caupène, later became Lord until the end of the fifteenth century.
In 1579 it was purchased by Jean de Villeneuve, second president of the parliament of Bordeaux, who married into the Durfort Family. The Durforts controlled this and other châteaux for many centuries, increasingly focusing on wine, rather than the polycultural agriculture of old.
Later history
On 19 September 1855, the chamber of commerce classed it as a fifth growth. A. d'Armailhacq recounts in his work Vines in the Médoc that, in 1858, the estate of Cantemerle covered . Some of the vines were planted in Ludon, next to those of la Château La Lagune, while the remainder were situated on the best slopes of Macau. Annual production was 160 tons or tonneaux of principal wine and 30 of second wine, representing a yield of approximately 1900 litres per , relatively low in comparison with today's production.
In 1866, the surface area given over to vines was a tenure of just over 270 acres (of the property's total of 1000 acres ), producing an average 150 to 160 tonneaux, or Bordeaux casks, of principal wine and 50 to 60 of second wine – that is, a yield of 1800 litres per and, thus, slightly less than that of 1858.
In 1867, the château Cantemerle received a silver medal at the World Fair in Paris as a reward for the quality of its wine.