Chateau Pontet Labrie St. Emilion Bordeaux, Complete Guide

Learn everything about Pontet Labrie St. Emilion, Bordeaux with wine tasting notes, wine, and food pairing tips, best vintages, a history of the property, information on the vineyards, and winemaking. If you want to read about other important, Bordeaux Chateaux: Links to all Bordeaux Wine Producer Profiles

Pontet Labrie is another wine in the increasingly large stable of single-vineyard Bordeaux wines from Jonathan Maltus. Chateau Pontet Labrie made its debut with the 2015 vintage. The vines used here were previously allocated for Chateau Laforge, another wine from Jonathan Maltus.

Pontet Labrie Vineyards, Terroir, Grapes, Winemaking

The vineyard of Pontet Labrie is planted to 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc. Pontet Labrie comes from a small, 1-hectare parcel of vines close to Chateau Grand Pontet and not too far from Chateau Fonroque.

The vineyard is just due west of the Saint Emilion village. It can be seen off the main road that depending on the direction you are driving, brings you either to the Saint Emilion village or to Pomerol and Libourne. The terroir is sand and clay over limestone soils.

Because no actual cellars or chateau for Chateau Pontet Labrie exists, the wine of Chateau Le Pontet is made at their well-known and much larger property, Chateau Teyssier. The vinification takes place in temperature-controlled wood vats. Malolactic fermentation takes place in French oak barrels.

The best vintages of Pontet Labrie are: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018 and 2016.

Not much wine is made from the tiny Right Bank vineyard. On average, the production is limited to about 400 cases per vintage. However, at least at this point, the wine is not commercially available to the public, except through one merchant that purchased the entire production.

When to Drink Pontet Labrie, Anticipated Maturity, Decanting Time

Pontet Labrie needs some time before it can be enjoyed. Young vintages can be decanted for an average of 1 hour or more. This allows the wine to soften and open its perfume. Older vintages might need very little decanting, just enough to remove the sediment.

Pontet Labrie is usually better with at least 4-6 years of bottle age. Of course, that can vary slightly, depending on the vintage character. Pontet Labrie offers its best drinking and should reach peak maturity between 4-15 years of age after the vintage.

Serving Pontet Labrie with Wine, Food, Pairing Tips

Pontet Labrie is best served at 15.5 degrees Celsius, 60 degrees Fahrenheit. The cool, almost cellar temperature gives the wine more freshness and lift. Pontet Labrie is best paired with all types of classic meat dishes, veal, pork, beef, lamb, duck, game, roast chicken, roasted braised, and grilled dishes.

Chateau Pontet Labrie is also good when matched with Asian dishes, hearty fish courses like tuna, mushrooms, and pasta.

Jonathan Maltus owns several other estates in Saint Emilion including Le Dome, Le Carre. Laforge, Vieux Chateau Mazerat, Chateau Teyssier and Les Asteries.

www.maltus.com