Cantillon Saint Lamvinus

Description

Cantillon Saint Lamvinus is a grape lambic produced yearly from Merlot and Cabernet-Franc grapes, though it depends on the harvest. Most recent vintages only note the use of Merlot grapes. The grapes used for Saint Lamvinus are not classified organic as the grower does not have the certificate but does grow organically according to Jean Van Roy.^[1] It is bottled in 75cl bottles and is generally bottled sometime between mid-October and late-November. Though the brewery states that it is only available in 75cl bottles, Saint Lamvinus was also available in 37.5cl bottles on at least one occasion in 2005. The fruiting process for Saint Lamvinus consists of taking fresh grapes and placing them whole (without stems) into stainless steel tanks with two to three year old lambic for a saturation period of 1-2 months. It is then transferred to a stainless steel bottling tank until it is ready to be bottled.

History / Other Notes

A bottle of 1994 Saint Lamvinus after having been poured

The first known bottling of Saint Lamvinus occurred in 1994 at La tour du Roy with grapes form Château Belair in Saint Emilion. This particular bottling was a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc grapes. Lambic was sent to the wine producer in Saint-Émilion, France and placed in wine barrels with the grapes added. The barrels used for this batch were then burned after bottling. According to Jean-Pierre Van Roy, two bottlings of 1994 Saint Lamvinus exist; one for which he was present at bottling and one for which he was not.

Saint Lamvinus began being imported into the United States around 2001. That year's vintage consisted of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot grapes from Château Belair in the Bordeaux wine region. In 2002, Cantillon again sourced two types of Cabernet grapes along with Merlot grapes for the vintage.

Cork from 1994 Saint Lamvinus which was bottled at the Chateau in France

The 2003 vintage used only Cabernet Sauvignon grapes and was fermented in 11 Port casks each with a 265 liter capacity.^[2] Since the 2003 vintage, there are no consistent notes on the grape varietals used in Saint Lamvinus.

In 2004, a special bottling of unblended Saint Lamvinus was released to Akkurat. The 2005 vintage of Saint Lamvinus was released in both 75cl bottles and 37.5cl bottles. The 37.5cl bottles were available for a short time at Ølbutikken in Denmark.

Labeling for Saint Lamvinus has remained fairly consistent since its introduction into the regular production line in 1997 (stating 1995 vintage on the label). The United States import uses a larger yellow label (though white ones of the same design show up occasionally), while the rest of the world sees a thinner white label.

Bottle Log

Bottle date (mm/dd/yyyy)	Cork Date	Bottle Size	Label / Notes	Image Link
N/A	1995	750mL	White label	N/A
N/A	2003	750mL	Only vintage aged in Port barrels
N/A	2004	750mL	White Label, Shelton Brothers	N/A
N/A	2005	375mL	Smaller white label, sold in Denmark	N/A
N/A	2005	750mL	White label	N/A
10/25/2006	2006	750mL	White label, gold cap	N/A
11/08/2007	2007	750mL	White label	N/A
11/22/2007	2007	750mL	White label
11/18/2008	2008	750mL	White label	N/A
10/27/2009	2009	750mL	White label	N/A
10/12/2010	2010	750mL	White label	N/A
11/21/2010	2010	750mL	Yellow label, Shelton Brothers	N/A
10/12/2011	2011	750mL	White label	N/A
10/18/2011	2011	750mL	White label	N/A
11/21/2012	2012	750mL	White label	N/A
10/30/2013	2013	750mL	White label	N/A
10/31/2013	2013	750mL		N/A
11/21/2013	2013	750mL		N/A
10/21/2014	2014	750ml
10/22/2014	2014	750ml		N/A
10/26/2015	2015	750ml	European labeling	N/A
10/28/2015	2015	750ml	U.S. labeling	N/A
11/14/2016	Season 16/17	750ml	European labeling, 5% ABV label
11/14/2016	Season 16/17	750mL	European labeling, 7.5% ABV label
11/22/2017	Season 17/18	750mL	European labeling
11/05/2018	Season 18/19	750ml	European labeling	N/A
11/07/2018	Season 18/19	750mL	European labeling
12/05/2019	Season 19/20	750ml	European labeling
12/16/2019	Season 19/20	750mL	European labeling