2020 Clos Cantenac, St Emilion, Bordeaux
Critics reviews
40% new oak
Winemaker Charlotte Krajewski delivers an enjoyably sappy, bright Clos Cantenac here, with vivid blueberry and raspberry fruits. Firm tannins, still a little austere at this early stage, are softened by grilled sandalwood oak and bitter chocolate—deep plum in colour. This is an excellent wine in the vintage, one to look out for.
Drink 2024 - 2038
Jane Anson, JaneAnson.com (February 2023)
The 2020 Clos Cantenac has an intense nose with blackberry and blueberry notes, and that camphor scent remains tangible. The palate is simple but offers attractive pencil lead touches that impart complexity and personality. One could argue that it's a bit dishevelled on the finish, where you would seek more precision. Otherwise, this is a commendable Saint-Émilion that should be granted three to four years in bottle. It punches just a notch above expectations.
Drink 2025 - 2035
Neal Martin, Vinous.com (February 2023)
8,000 bottles are due to be made.
The 2020 Clos Cantenac is made from 100% Merlot. It has 14.5% alcohol and is aging in barriques, 40% new, for 12 months. Deep garnet-purple colored, it opens with compelling notes of plum preserves, boysenberries and blueberry compote, plus wafts of underbrush, red roses and Sichuan pepper. The medium to full-bodied palate is laden with juicy black fruits, supported by soft tannins and just enough freshness, finishing with a peppery lift.
Drink 2024 - 2038
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (May 2021)
100% Merlot. One-day cold soak. Part fermented in oak (Intégrale barrels). Aged in 40% new oak.
Black with a purple rim. Intense, spiced, rich black fruits, cassis, and the more typically sweeter plum of Merlot. A hint of torrefaction, presumably from the oak. Dry, dark, and savoury on the palate, and even with this level of alcohol, there’s a lovely dark, savoury restraint to compensate for the lack of fruit sweetness—but not a lack of fruit. Long, with fine-boned but still slightly thick tannins. A bit of heat at the back of the throat.
Drink 2027 - 2037
Julia Harding MW, JancisRobinson.com (May 2021)
Deep plum in colour, concentrated fruit as with so many this vintage. An excellently consistent St-Emilion that is now in the skilled winemaking hands of Charlotte Krajewski. This puts the emphasis clearly on coffee grounds, lightly grilled oak and bitter chocolate that is well balanced by intense cassis and blueberry fruits. Compact tannins, a little more austere than you will find in this winemaker's Pomerol Château Seraphine. This is concentrated, with a stretched out lingering finish. 40% new oak. Could go up in score during the in-bottle tasting.
Drink 2025 - 2038
Jane Anson, Decanter.com (May 2021)
About this WINE
Clos Cantenac
Clos Cantenac is a 3 hectares wine property with vines planted on a combination of deep gravel, sand and clay over limestone soils.
It is situated close to the pre-historic "Megalith de Pierrefitte" in the Saint Emilion wine appellation and it was purchased in 2007 by Martin Krajewski, the owner of Chateau de Sours. The property is is run by Krajewski on the helm along with wine enthusiast Marcus Le Grice from New Zealand and Sebastien Lamothe, Oenologist and Technical Director of Chateau de Sours.
St Émilion
St Émilion is one of Bordeaux's largest producing appellations, producing more wine than Listrac, Moulis, St Estèphe, Pauillac, St Julien and Margaux put together. St Emilion has been producing wine for longer than the Médoc but its lack of accessibility to Bordeaux's port and market-restricted exports to mainland Europe meant the region initially did not enjoy the commercial success that funded the great châteaux of the Left Bank.
St Émilion itself is the prettiest of Bordeaux's wine towns, perched on top of the steep limestone slopes upon which many of the region's finest vineyards are situated. However, more than half of the appellation's vineyards lie on the plain between the town and the Dordogne River on sandy, alluvial soils with a sprinkling of gravel.
Further diversity is added by a small, complex gravel bed to the north-east of the region on the border with Pomerol. Atypically for St Émilion, this allows Cabernet Franc and, to a lesser extent, Cabernet Sauvignon to prosper and defines the personality of the great wines such as Ch. Cheval Blanc.
In the early 1990s there was an explosion of experimentation and evolution, leading to the rise of the garagistes, producers of deeply-concentrated wines made in very small quantities and offered at high prices. The appellation is also surrounded by four satellite appellations, Montagne, Lussac, Puisseguin and St. Georges, which enjoy a family similarity but not the complexity of the best wines.
St Émilion was first officially classified in 1954, and is the most meritocratic classification system in Bordeaux, as it is regularly amended. The most recent revision of the classification was in 2012
Cabernet Sauvignon blend
Cabernet Sauvignon lends itself particularly well in blends with Merlot. This is actually the archetypal Bordeaux blend, though in different proportions in the sub-regions and sometimes topped up with Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot.
In the Médoc and Graves the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend can range from 95% (Mouton-Rothschild) to as low as 40%. It is particularly suited to the dry, warm, free- draining, gravel-rich soils and is responsible for the redolent cassis characteristics as well as the depth of colour, tannic structure and pronounced acidity of Médoc wines. However 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wines can be slightly hollow-tasting in the middle palate and Merlot with its generous, fleshy fruit flavours acts as a perfect foil by filling in this cavity.
In St-Emilion and Pomerol, the blends are Merlot dominated as Cabernet Sauvignon can struggle to ripen there - when it is included, it adds structure and body to the wine. Sassicaia is the most famous Bordeaux blend in Italy and has spawned many imitations, whereby the blend is now firmly established in the New World and particularly in California and Australia.
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Description
100% Merlot
Martin Krajewski has been here since 2006. As at sister property Ch. Séraphine, there has been a serious level of well-targeted investment. Although on the lower regions of St Emilion, there is a gentle north/south slope to the vineyard, and some interesting components to the soil: both clay and limestone in different sections, as well as gravels and sand. The ’20 is intense, delivered by a bouquet that is initially shy before wisps of raspberry and rich earth escape. The wine is not afraid to show its oak influence either, although this will also be affected by how the sample was prepared. Nevertheless, this is a wine that is maximising all its assets and doing so with considerable skill.
Drink 2024 - 2035
Mark Pardoe MW, Wine Director, Berry Bros. & Rudd
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