2006 Cantemerle, Haut-Médoc

This is a tremendous effort from this Chateau. Lovely coffee and caramel aromas are surrounded by flavors of cassis and black cherries. Great balance of acidity and refined tannins, this will make a good candidate for a few years of bottle age but there is something extremely appealing about this wine right now.

I have written a lot in these staff reviews about the virtues of wel-balanced claret, and if you have patience to wait 6 or 7 years, I believe this wine will come to epitomize that virtue. Anyone with a cellar and a love for Cabernet-based wines should strongly consider this wine for a case purchase. Clyde, Alex B, Alex P, Ralph, Joe Z, Steve and I tasted through an entire ballroom of 2006 Bordeaux at the UGC tasting this January and all of us agreed that the Cantemerle was one of the stars. I thought it was THE star, since the other wines in its class were all more than twice its price, and many wines three times its price could not even touch it! It is perfumed, layered, cassis-driven and framed (but in no way dominated) by oak on the nose and follows through with richness that is not at all overweight on the palate. It is great Bordeaux for a small price; all you have to do is cellar it!!