I have always liked the 1989 Château Cantemerle since its very earliest days, and at age
twenty-five, the wine is really starting to drink at its apogee. The bouquet is pure, complex and
classy, offering up scents of...
I have always liked the 1989 Château Cantemerle since its very earliest days, and at age
twenty-five, the wine is really starting to drink at its apogee. The bouquet is pure, complex and
classy, offering up scents of cassis, cigar smoke, a bit of charred wood, dark soil tones, exotic
spice overtones (curry?) and cedar. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and still shows off
a bit of tannin, with fine mid-palate concentration, excellent focus and grip and a very long,
complex and generous finish. This was still in the era where the Cordier team was in charge of
the winemaking at Cantemerle, and the style is a bit more extracted during this epoch and the
1989 does not possess quite the same refinement as is found in the excellent 1996 version. But,
this is still a very well-made wine and a strong vintage for Cantemerle. 2014-2040+.