Cantemerle, 2011

In the Middle Ages, the Château of Cantemerle, which still border the Garonne River, made up part of the line of fortifications that defended the banks of the Médoc region. The first traces of the Lords of Cantemerle’s name dates to the 12th century and the viticultural production on the property from 1354; the Lord of Cantemerle paid his tithes with a cask of clairet wine. During the 16th century wine became the main industry of Cantemerle. In 1855, Château Cantemerle was classified as a fifth growth. In 1892, the descendants of the last of the Villeneuve family, the Baroness d’Abbadie, sold Cantemerle to the Dubos family, thus ending the Villeneuve de Durfort family’s “reign” of over three hundred years. Pierre Dubos, died in 1967; his great-nephew Bertrand Clauzel took it over until it was sold in 1981 to the SMABTP group