Cantemerle 1999

Plum and coffee character follows through to a medium bodied palate, with light tannins and a firm finish. Best after 2003.

Although classified in the fifth rank, Château Cantemerle is till one of only 61 Médoc Châteaux out of 8,000-odd in Bordeaux whose classification dates way back to 1855, and this wine shows its class, a classically proportioned Médoc claret with liquorice and vanilla oak spice and juicy, supple-textured cassis fruit that's just about ready to drink, although it's still full of running.