I was not travelling to Bordeaux back when the 1996s were first displayed, and my
primary business at this time in the wine trade was not young claret, so I do not have anywhere
near as much tasting experience with the...
I was not travelling to Bordeaux back when the 1996s were first displayed, and my
primary business at this time in the wine trade was not young claret, so I do not have anywhere
near as much tasting experience with the young ‘96s as I do with the 1995 vintage.
Consequently, I am always happy to cross paths with wines from this year, which is clearly very,
very strong on the Left Bank. The 1996 Cantemerle is outstanding, offering up a deep and very
vibrant bouquet of cassis, dark berries, cigar ash, gravelly soil tones, incipient notes of chipotles
and a deft base of new vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and
classically balanced, with a rock solid core, fine focus and grip, blossoming refinement and
excellent length on the tangy and still fairly chewy finish. This wine is going to be excellent, but
it is still at least six or seven years away from primetime drinking. 2020-260+.