page_title: Château Cantemerle
section_title: Later history
hierarchical_section_title: Château Cantemerle / History / Later history
caption_attribution_description: Photograph from http://www.corkr.com, released into the public domain worlwide by the author (as stated on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Cantemerle.jpg)
context_page_description: Château Cantemerle is a winery in the Haut-Médoc appellation of the Bordeaux wine region of France, in the commune of Macau. The wine produced here was the final estate to be classified as one of eighteen Cinquièmes Crus in the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855. Its absence from the classification map featured at the 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris created some controversy, even though it has been listed on all maps published after 1855. Some sources will include an asterisk next to Château Cantemerle listing in reference to this controversy. The estate has a long history in the Haut-Médoc with records detailing its existence since at least the 12th century and wine production since at least the 14th century. In the 19th century, the estate was hard hit by the phylloxera epidemic as well as grapevine attacks of downy mildew, after which production dropped nearly 50%. Towards the end of the 20th century, the estate was sold to French insurance group Les Mutuelles d'Assurance du Bâtiment et des Travaux Public who have contributed significant investment in the estate's vineyards and winemaking facilities.
context_section_description: On 19 September 1855, the chamber of commerce classed it as a fifth growth. A. d'Armailhacq recounts in his work Vines in the Médoc that, in 1858, the estate of Cantemerle covered 225 acres (0.91 km²). Some of the vines were planted in Ludon, next to those of la Château La Lagune, while the remainder were situated on the best slopes of Macau. Annual production was 160 tons or tonneaux of principal wine and 30 of second wine, representing a yield of approximately 1900 litres per 2.47 acres (10,000 m²), relatively low in comparison with today's production.
  In 1866, the surface area given over to vines was a tenure of just over 270 acres (of the property's total of 1000 acres ), producing an average 150 to 160 tonneaux, or Bordeaux casks, of principal wine and 50 to 60 of second wine – that is, a yield of 1800 litres per 2.47 acres (10,000 m²) and, thus, slightly less than that of 1858.
  In 1867, the château Cantemerle received a silver medal at the World Fair in Paris as a reward for the quality of its wine.
  Cantemerle was not only the worst hit of the Médoc classified growths during the phylloxera crisis, but the vines were also attacked by downy mildew between 1879 and 1887. Consequently, potential average annual production dropped by 50% (in comparison with the bench mark period of 1864 to 1878). In 1884, mildew was responsible for a complete upheaval in the usual hierarchy of the great growths. The wines of Margaux, Cantenac, Ludon and Macau fared better than those of Saint-Julien Pauillac and Saint-Estèphe. Consequently, the price obtained for 1884 Lafite fell to 1400 francs per tonneau (compared with 5000 francs for Margaux) and Cantemerle was one of two fifth growths, the other being Dauzac, to fetch 200 francs more per tonneau than the Lafite wines.
  In 1892, the Villeneuve-Durfort family sold the property to Théophile-Jean Dubos, and the estate was passed on to his son Pierre J. Dubos who was considered one of the great proprietors of his generation, and a keeper of meticulous weather records. After his death, he was succeeded by his son-in-law, Henri Binaud, but with ownership split between several heirs, there became a shortage of funds for investment.
caption: Bottle of Château Cantemerle.
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