Château Cantemerle

Château Cantemerle has a long history, it was first recognised in 1147. In the Middle Ages, the it bordered the Garonne River and made up part of the line of fortifications, that defended the banks of the Médoc region. In 1579, it was purchased by Jean de Villeneuve, who married into the Durfort Family, and being the second president of the parliament of Bordeaux.

 

This led to a new kind of exploitation of the land, "the Bourdieu", which had begun to develop in the wine-producing Médoc area. The Bourdieu is a farm whose main focus is wine production. The wine produced here was classified as one of eighteen Cinquièmes Crus (Fifth Growths) in the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855.

 

The property experienced a change of ownership for a few times. In 1892, it was sold to Théophile-Jean Dubos, later to le Groupe SMABTP (Les Mutuelles d'Assurance du Bâtiment et des Travaux Public) In 1981. Following the acquisition, the entire cellar was rebuilt and the vineyards was replant. Today the Château owns 190 hectares (470 acres) of land, and 90 (222 acres) of those are planted with vines. After two decades of focus on oenological progress, winemakers’ attention shifted back to the vineyard with greater respect for the environment and the use of “green” techniques, aimed at achieving optimum quality of the grapes.