Learn everything about Chateau Pontet Canet, Pauillac, Fifth Growth with wine tasting notes and wine-with-food pairing tips. Learn about the best vintages, a history of the property, vineyards and winemaking. If you want to read about other important, Bordeaux Chateaux: Links to all Bordeaux Wine Producer Profiles
Chateau Pontet Canet History, Overview
Today, Chateau Pontet Canet produces what many people call the most popular and in-demand Bordeaux of the appellation. Pontet Canet is a powerful Bordeaux wine. It’s concentrated, balanced, tannic, and charming as well.
The recent success of Pontet Canet is due to the current management of the estate by Alfred Tesseron who is helped by the director, Jean-Michel Comme. Prior to Alfred Tesseron taking control, Chateau Pontet Canet was respected, but it was known equally for its history as well as for its wines.
As was the custom of the day, Chateau Pontet Canet found the inspiration for its name from its lineage. The estate took the first part of its name from a former owner, who was also the royal governor of the Medoc, Jean-François de Pontet.
Like many owners during the early 18th century, Pontet enlarged his Bordeaux vineyards with purchases of additional Pauillac vineyards.
Several years after Pontet’s death, his descendants continued to buy Pauillac vineyard land, including a famous section from the Canet area. Once the combination of his name and the land were put together, this was the birth of the name Chateau Pontet Canet.
Once the vineyard was fully established, Pontet Canet became and remained one of the largest Bordeaux wine-producing estates in the entire appellation.
Pontet Canet was granted Fifth Growth status in the 1855 classification. This did not go unnoticed by one of the most important Bordeaux negociants of the day, Herman Cruse,
Cruse purchased the estate in 1865. The Cruse family owned Pontet-Canet for 110 years, until another negociant, Guy Tesseron, acquired it in 1975.
Chateau Pontet Canet The Modern Age
At the time of the purchase in 1975 by the Tesseron family, the vineyard was in poor condition, needing a lot of replanting.
Guy Terrerson was more involved in Cognac, even though the Tesseron family was already experienced in Bordeaux, as they owned Chateau Lafon Rochet in St. Estephe. In fact, Chateau Pontet Canet has only belonged to three families in over two centuries. That is quite a rarity in Bordeaux!
Since Alfred Tesseron took over running the estate in 1994, the property has continued to improve year after year. Even though Pontet is only a Fifth Growth, they are producing wines at the level of the best Second Growths and in some vintages, as good as the Firsts. Based on the current prices for the wines of Pontet Canet, the market agrees.
Situated next to Mouton Rothschild, Tesseron has inspired others on both banks to work more organically as well as consider biodynamic farming. To illustrate this point, in 2010, Chateau Pontet Canet became the first major Bordeaux wine producer to earn the official Agence Bio (AB) organic certification.
While the label will not mention this achievement, according to Alfred Tesseron, it is a fact. Organic certification was awarded by Ecocert. The biodynamic certification comes from biodyvin.
Alfred Tesseron has an interesting, philosophical look at what they are doing at Chateau Pontet Canet today. In an interview we conducted, when asked how he saw himself, Tesseron responded, “I am not a winemaker. My team members are not winemakers either.
As most of the work is done in the vineyards, we are growers. Our success and achievements at Pontet Canet are due to our efforts in the vineyards, not the winemaking. At the end of the day, our goal is to produce unique vintages of Pontet Canet that are for drinking, not just for wine tasting”.
That is a very apt description for Alfred Tesseron who at one point, desired to be a farmer, even though he earned a degree in enology. When you think about it, Alfred Tesseron accomplished his goal, as he is a grape farmer.
In January 2016, Alfred Tesseron expanded their vineyard holdings with the purchase of the massive estate of the late comedian, Robin Williams in Napa Valley. Tesseron Family buys Napa Valley Vineyard The Tesseron officially renamed the property, Pym-Rae.
Once Alfred Tesseron began moving Chateau Pontet Canet to sustainable farming techniques, he also began to tend the vineyard and vinify the wines on a parcel-by-parcel basis. In 1999, they hired Michel Rolland as their consultant. The goal of Alfred Tesseron and Chateau Pontet Canet is to do as little intervention as possible.
In May 2020, after 31 years at Pontet Canet, Jean Michel Comme left the property.
Biodynamics at Pontet Canet
With that in mind, at Chateau Pontet Canet, they eventually shifted to biodynamic farming, a process Tesseron began to institute at Pontet Canet in 2004. At first, they started with just the Merlot on a trial basis. The results were so good, they went fully biodynamic in 2005! 2007 was the last vintage where chemicals were used.
Alfred Tesseron and Jean-Michel Comme, who started with Pontet Canet in 1989, are in many ways keepers of the non-interventionist flame. A walk through their vineyards shows vines looking a bit on the wild side. Instead of traditional green harvesting, hedging and leaf thinning, they prefer to reduce the number of buds per vine by pruning.
The thought process at Pontet Canet is, as the vineyard and soils are healthy, they can protect the vines against disease naturally. Yields are below average at Pontet Canet. Generally speaking the yields at Pontet Canet are less than 35 hectoliters per hectare in most vintages.
Horses at Pontet Canet
Alfred Tesseron uses horses in the vineyards of Pontet Canet. The horses walk in the vineyards turning over the soil. The logic is that the horses never step in the same place twice, they are always aerating the soils in different parts, which is the opposite of what takes place when using tractors, which only move in the same allotted spaces. This simple act adds additional much-needed oxygen to the soil.
According to Alfred Tesseron, horses are more gentle when they churn the soil, and because they are lighter than tractors, they also pose fewer problems for the vines as they are perforce, much gentler on the soil. Currently, the horses work 34 hectares of their vines. It is the goal of Pontet Canet to eventually work the entire vineyard with horses.
Part of the problem with going that route when they initially started using horses was the lack of enough room for more stables. With new stables being constructed, you can expect to see up to 20 horses at Pontet Canet, with the new stables. The horses are Postier Breton’s. The horses are actually gentle giants that enjoy eating the grapes when they work the soils.
The first five horses to work the vineyard at Pontet Canet were named; Reine, Surprise, Turbo, Ulysses and Universe. Pontet Canet continues to expand their use of horses, hoping to eventually farm the entire vineyard with horses. Not only do they have horses, but there are also 3 cows and donkeys that live on the estate and help create their unique microenvironment and terroir.
Since Chateau Pontet Canet began using horses in parts of their vineyards, other estates began following suit, including Chateau Latour in Pauillac, Chateau Margaux in the Left Bank, and across the river to the other side of Bordeaux at Chateau Clinet in Pomerol. There are of course more examples as well.
In keeping with this spirit, fertilizers are organic and only used on plots that require extra nutrition. Pruning is done in winter. Each individual vine is considered separately and treated accordingly. All these efforts result in grapes that are evenly distributed, with good ventilation, maximum sun exposure, and improved ripeness.
Starting with the 2017 vintage, all the grapes are now destemmed by hand. Doing this by hand meshes with Chateau Pontet Canets’ continued efforts to reduce its environmental footprint. To this effect, they continue striving to eliminate the need for electrical usage in their cellars. 2017 saw the addition of smaller 40-hectoliter vats for more precise parcel vinification.
Now, you find almost no wall sockets for electricity. This alters how the wine is vinified as they no longer do pump-overs because there is no machinery.
Lighting is now powered by geothermal energy that emanates from geothermal boreholes that were recently dug into their vineyards. The process works by using a polyethylene pipe to circulate water from and to geothermal heat pumps, simultaneously reducing their ecological thumbprint and removing any effects that electromagnetism might have on the wine.
Chateau Pontet Canet Vineyards, Terroir, Grapes, Winemaking
The 81-hectare vineyard of Pontet Canet is planted to 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. This represents a small shift in the vineyard to more Cabernet Sauvignon that took place in 2009. The vineyard has a terroir of deep gravel with clay and limestone soils.
The vineyard of Chateau Pontet Canet is almost one large block of vines that can be divided into two main parcels. Each of those parcels is quite different as you find more Cabernet Sauvignon planted closer to the chateau, not far from Mouton Rothschild. The other parcel features more Merlot and is located closer to the river.
Those 2 large vineyard parcels can be further subdivided into 92 separate blocks. Located just across the street and just slightly south from Chateau Mouton Rothschild, Chateau Lafite Rothschild, and Chateau dArmailhac, they have nice neighbors indeed!
On average, the vines are close to 45 years of age. The vineyard is planted to a vine density of 9,500 vines per hectare.
While many chateaux welcome new technology, at Pontet Canet, Alfred Tesseron moves in the opposite direction. His mantra remains firmly in the “everything is done by hand” department. Pontet Canet utilizes no computers to make harvesting or fermentation decisions.
Tesseron, along with the important help and advice of Jean-Michel Comme who has been a significant part of Chateau Pontet Canet since 1989. Jean Michel Comme knows every inch and vine in the vineyard.
It was Jean Michel Comme who helped bring Alfred Tesseron to see the value in biodynamic farming techniques at Pontet Canet. The first experiments with biodynamics at Chateau Pontet Canet began with 14 hectares of vines in 2004.
Alfred Tesseron wanted to be more cautious and start with just 2 hectares, but Jean Michel Comme convinced Tesseron to take a huge chance. Two years later, they were up to 24 hectares being farmed using biodynamic farming techniques. Today, they are 100% biodynamic at Pontet Canet.
Jean Michel Comme along with Alfred Tesseron discovered how to find the perfect moment to pick. A large part of that is due to how much time Jean Michel Comme spends walking in the vines. He looks for deeply colored skins, brown stems, and most importantly, no rot. Then if the fruit looks good, he tastes.
When the grapes are ripe, he picks. In some vintages, Tesseron explains, he looks at different parcels on a daily basis. “With 2009 as perfect as it was, we only looked things over a few times a week”.
Picking dates are not the only decisions being made without technology. Alfred Tesseron takes biodynamics and natural vineyard techniques seriously. In the vineyards, Alfred Tesseron continues to use horses instead of machinery for some of the blocks.
The reason is that horses are good for the soil. Tesseron laughed when asked if there were drawbacks and slyly responded, “Yes, the horses eat the grapes”. It’s a good thing they do not drink the wine as well!
Currently, Pontet Canet uses horses to plow 34 hectares out of the vineyards 81 hectares of vines. It is the goal of the estate that at some point in the future, the majority of Pontet Canet will be plowed by horses.
Chateau Pontet Canet Winemaking
While the original vat house was constructed in the 1800s, the facilities at Chateau Pontet Canet were completely renovated in 2005.
After harvesting, the grapes are sorted completely by hand. Destemming is also done manually. There is no electricity used in any part of the process.
The wine of Pontet Canet is vinified in a combination of 11, 80 hectoliter, conical-shaped wood vats and 37, 80 hectoliter, concrete tanks. All the fermentation tanks are situated just beneath the first floor, sorting tables, allowing for the completely destemmed berries to drop into the tanks using gravity. Malolactic fermentation takes place in vat.
According to Alfred, “Pontet Canet doesn’t perform any computer analysis until the wine is finished. That requires people to work at the cellars, watching the fermentation process, 24 hours a day”. Chateau Pontet experimented with the aging process.
For the aging of Pontet Canet, instead of using a combination of new and one-year-old, French oak barrels, Alfred Tesseron and the technical director, Jean-Michel Comme are aging up to 25% of the harvest in 900-liter amphorae jars along with an average of 50% new French oak barrels.
The amphorae jars used for aging were produced specifically for use by Chateau Pontet Canet. 25 amphorae jars are used to age Merlot and the remainder is used for Cabernet Sauvignon. The jars used for the Merlot are produced from a combination of limestone and cement.
25 additional jars will be used to age the Cabernet Sauvignon. Those amphorae jars are produced from gravel and cement. The gravel and limestone used to create the jars came from the soil of Pontet Canet.
It is thought that the jars add more minerality to the wines, along with additional soft textures, and of course less of an oak influence. Plus, as the amphorae jars are porous, they allow for more, limited contact with air, similar to what might occur during micro-oxygenation.
The best vintages of Chateau Pontet Canet are: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2012, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2006, 2005 and 2003. I have tasted older vintages of Pontet Canet back to the 1920s, and while they can be good, they are not at the same level of quality being produced at the estate today.
On average, the estate produces perhaps 25,000 cases of Pontet Canet per year.
There is a second wine, Les Hauts de Pontet, which made its debut in 1982. Although for a few vintages in the 1990s, the second wine was also sold under the name of Benjamin de Pontet. According to Alfred Tesseron, a smaller percentage of his harvest has been placed into second wine, Les Hauts de Pontet year, after year. Tesseron prefers to allow the vintage and vineyards to express themselves in their entirety.
According to Alfred Tesseron, his desire for consumers is to taste each vintage of Pontet Canet as nature intended it. “Because every vintage tells a different story, and we want the wines to taste like the vintage, we do not make a lot of our second wine.” Instead of making more of their second wine, today at Pontet Canet, yields are lower and more wine is simply declassified.
In shocking news, the 2012 Les Hauts de Pontet was refused its Pauillac classification and was forced to be labeled as a Vin de France. This ridiculous ruling came out of the yearly blind tasting that all wines sold as Pauillac submit to. While the wine Les Hauts de Pontet is an easy-drinking, pleasant experience, and as you would expect, the wine lacks the depth of Pontet Canet, it is a fine example of a light, early-drinking Pauillac.
Now, or all intents and purposes, there is no second wine being produced at Pontet Canet today.
When to Drink Chateau Pontet Canet, Anticipated Maturity, Decanting Time
Chateau Pontet Canet is not at its best in its youth, even with several hours of decanting. This is due to the high levels of tannins and intense concentration in the wine. The wine is usually better at 10-12-15 years of bottle age. Of course, that can vary slightly, depending on the vintage character.
In the best years, the wine will be at its best between 15 and 45 years of age after the vintage. Young vintages can be decanted for 2-4 hours. This allows the wine to soften and open its perfume. Older vintages might need very little decanting, just enough to remove the sediment.
Serving Chateau Pontet Canet, with Wine and Food Pairings
Chateau Pontet Canet is best served at 15.5 degrees Celsius, 60 degrees Fahrenheit. The cool, almost cellar temperature gives the wine more freshness and lift.
Chateau Pontet Canet 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 Canet is also good when matched with Asian dishes, rich fish courses like tuna, mushrooms, pasta and a myriad of hard and soft cheeses.
Jean Michel Comme also owns his own biodynamically farmed vineyard, Champ des Treilles in the Sainte Foy appellation.
Château Pontet-Canet Wine Tasting Notes
39 Vintages 1,605,126 Views Sort by Vintage-Rating
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2023
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
Flowers, cedar, tobacco leaf, black with red currants, and a hint of smoke create the perfume. The palate is full-bodied, ripe, round, and loaded with sweet, fresh, elegant, juicy, pure, black cherries, and blackberries. The wine is relaxed. Nothing is forced. Everything is in the right place. The tannins are long, there is sweetness, length, and nuances of black currants, chocolate, licorice, and mint that make an appearance in the lengthy finish. The wine blends 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot.13.8% ABV, pH 3.75. Harvesting took place September 7 - October 10. This is the earliest, as well as the longest harvest in the history of the estate. The success of the vintage is due to the ability to wait for maturity on a parcel-by-parcel basis. The wine is aging in a combination of 50% new, French oak barrels, and 35% Amphora. Drink from 2029-2060. 95-97 Pts. 14,720 Views Tasted May 4, 2024 |
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2022
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
Deep purple with a blue hue in color, the wine is almost opaque in color. Cassis, flowers, plums, licorice, and tobacco leaf aromas adorn the perfume. It is already clear that with this wine, it is the purity in the fruit that stands out. The palate is equally pure, with its layers of glycerin-filled blackberries, and plums. The wine is lush, as well as refined. The finish meshes concentration with elegance, power with purity, lift and length. The peppery, spicy note, along with the resounding minty-freshness, and a touch of anise in the long, finish is what stands out here. There is no sensation of heat or over ripeness in this wine in the mid-palate or in the finish. The wine blends 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, 4% Petit Verdot.14.7% ABV, pH 3.8. Harvesting took place September 8 - September 28. This is longest harvest and the earliest harvest in the history of the estate. The wine is aging in a combination of 50% new, French oak, and 35% Amphora. Pontet Canet is often a slow starter in barrel. My score could go higher when the wine is in bottle. Drink from 2028-2060. 96-98 Pts. 15,352 Views Tasted May 8, 2023 |
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2021
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
Blackberries, flowers, cigar box, herbs, espresso, and spearmint nuances pop from the glass with only a few swirls. On the palate, the wine is vibrant, fresh, and medium/full-bodied, with blackberries, chocolate, black currants, orange citrus, espresso, and spice. This is a forward-styled vintage that will be quite a treat to start drinking in its youth. Yet it will age for decades. The wine blends 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot. Drink from 2028-2055. 2,795 Views Tasted Jun 27, 2024The wine opens with flowers, tobacco leaf, currants, herbs, and a touch of spice. Medium/full-bodied, elegant, refined, fresh, and vibrant, there is a gorgeous sense of purity to the red fruits along with vivid freshness and a touch of spice in the endnote. The wine is aging in a combination of 50% new, French oak, and 35% Amphora. The wine is a blend of 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot and 4% Cabernet Franc. Drink from 2028-2055. Drink from 2028-2055. 94-96 Pts 8,368 Views Tasted May 20, 2022 |
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2020
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
With a nose that displays truffle, tobacco leaf, cedar, licorice, and black currants, the wine is soft, fresh, refined, and focuses you on its cassis, blackberry, earth, spice, and peppery herb character. There are no hard edges in the finish, just soft, vibrant currants, herbs, and spice. The wine is a blend of 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot, and 4% Cabernet Franc. 13% ABV, pH 3.8. The wine is aged in 45% new, French oak barrels and amphora. The harvest took place September 14, to September 30. Drink from 2026-2055. 9,139 Views Tasted Aug 21, 2023 |
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2019
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
It is the purity of the fruit, along with the soft, silky, polished layers of freshness that matter here. The wine kicks off with an array of flowers, plums, currants and blackberries along with spice, savory herbs, tobacco leaf and a touch of cherry. The wine exudes its red fruit quality with ease, leaving you with an elegant, refined, soft, polished, mid-palate and a long, vibrant, fresh finish that provides you with a gorgeous display of purity in the fruits. Please allow the wine some time for aging before pulling a cork. Drink from 2030-2060. 20,569 Views Tasted Mar 29, 2022 |
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2018
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
Inky in color, you have a hard time seeing into the glass. The wine opens with notes of wet clay, flowers, black plums, truffle, black currants, and blackberries. On the palate, the wine is intensely concentrated with seemingly endless layers of rich, deep, opulent, black, and red fruits. There is an opulence to the fruits, along with freshness and velvet-textured tannins that make you want to go back for sip after sip. The endnote with a refreshing touch of mint and spice is exactly the perfect touch. Give this another decade in the cellar to age and it will be incredible for at least another 2-3 decades after that. Not much of this gem is going to be available as yields were only 11 hectoliters per hectare due to outbreaks of mildew. This is a candidate for triple-digits when fully mature! The wine blends 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot. 14.5% ABV. Drink from 2032-2065. 11,048 Views Tasted Jul 8, 2022Completely opaque, with a dark, purple sheen, the wine pops with blackberry, crème de cassis, smoke, graphite, licorice, spice and just a tinge of vanilla in the background. Viscous, concentrated, fresh, round, lush and layered with crushed stones and fresh squeezed blackberries, the creamy, plush finish lingers, enticing you to take another sip. This sublime vintage of Pontet Canet needs at least 12 years or more in the cellar and it should deliver the goods for at least another 2-3 decades after that. Not much of this gem is going to be available as yields were close to 25% of their normal production due to extremely difficult climatic conditions. 8,676 Views Tasted Mar 9, 2021Opaque in color, the wine explodes from the glass with black fruit, tar, wet forest floor, currants and licorice. Full-bodied, intense and powerful, this wine is also graceful on your palate. There is an impressive amount of weight and yet the wine feels light. The fruit coats your mouth, teeth and gums for over 60 seconds, which is a good thing as you will not want this wine to end. Not much of this gem is going to be available due to climatic conditions keeping the yields under ten hectoliters per hectare and making it much harder to find than usual. 97-99 Pts 14,475 Views Tasted Apr 19, 2019 |
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2017
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
The first vintage with the new fermentation vats when the estate began destemming by hand. Bright, fresh, crisp, and crunchy, this is a return to classicism. Here, you find notes of spearmint, currants, crushed rocks, lead pencil, and red fruits. Medium/full-bodied, with a bite to the fruit on the palate and in the finish, give this a few more years in the cellar and it could soften and fill out as it develops additional complexities. One of the most successful wines of the vintage, the wine blends 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. 13% ABV. Drink from 2030-2055. 6,776 Views Tasted Jul 9, 2022Quite tight at the moment, and not showing much of its true potential, if you are sitting on any bottles, wait at least 6 -8 years. At that point, all the gorgeous, ripe, sweet, fresh cassis and floral character and lifted, red berry palate should be in top form. 6,901 Views Tasted Sep 18, 2021Dark ruby in color, there is a sensation of crushed rocks, lead pencil, flowers and deep, red fruits. The wine is medium/full bodied, soft, polished and stylish. Not the deepest vintage produced at Pontet Canet, though instead you'll enjoy a purity of fruit with elegance, lift, length and vibrancy. 8,032 Views Tasted Apr 26, 2018 |
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2016
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
Almost opaque in color, the wine kicks off with smoky blackberries, wet earth, underbrush, licorice, black cherry, and currants. Full-bodied, rich, and intense, the wine is incredibly concentrated. Think of placing a magnum of wine into a single bottle! And yet, somehow, everything here is in balance. There is a vibrancy to the fruit that you feel from start to finish. The depth of flavor holds your focus for close to 60 seconds as the wine builds, expands, and paints your palate with flavor. If you are a fan of Pontet Canet, you want this wine in your cellar. When fully mature, this is a candidate for perfection. The wine blends 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. 14.5% ABV. Drink from 2030-2065. 18,592 Views Tasted Jul 9, 2022Still holding on to the color of a barrel sample, the wine combines purity, elegance, power, freshness and complexity. The fruit builds and expands. Mouth coating and palate staining, it is hard to decide what I like more, the elegance, purity, silky texture or incredible length. Clearly, this is one of the great vintages for Pontet Canet! 19,127 Views Tasted Sep 21, 2019Power, elegance, refinement, depth, and length are like everything else with this wine in perfect harmony. Floral in nature, the dark cassis, blackberry, tobacco, and wet earth notes in the perfume stand out. But its the purity of the fruit and the elegance in the character that leaves you wanting another sniff, swirl and sip. The silky textured tannins and sweetness in the fruit in the fruit seals the deal! 18,331 Views Tasted May 13, 2018Cassis drenched flowers, lead pencil, clay, spice, blackberry and cigar box aromatics win you over immediately. Purity and freshness, balance and harmony with length and character, this wine sneaks up on you -- it tastes and feels wonderful. The finish keeps going, building in intensity and flavor, moving from red to black fruits, leaving you with red berries, spice and minerality. The tannins are silky, the fruit is sweet and there is more than ample lift here. The wine just does not quit. Produced from blending 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, the wine is aging in 55% new French oak barrels, 35% in amphora and the remainder of wine in one year old casks. The harvest took place September 28 to October 12. 31,325 Views Tasted Apr 29, 2017 |
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2015
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
Deeply colored, initially you notice Cuban cigars, eucalyptus, coffee bean, flowers, blackberries, and cassis. On the palate, the wine is rich, plush, and polished with an opulence to the texture. The fruit is packed and stacked with wave after wave of mouth-coating fruits that paint every nook and cranny of your palate. There is fabulous sweetness, lift, and depth. There is no touch of heat. Even with all of this power, the wine is balanced. Completely effortless to drink, this is already sublime in your glass. But, give it a few more years in the cellar and it is only going to get better and better. An interesting point, 2015 marks the first vintage without a second wine, allowing you to experience the totality of what the entire 81-hectare vineyard produced. The wine blends 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, 13.5% ABV. Drink from 2025-2060. 14,633 Views Tasted Jul 9, 2022A fabulous wine that has really developed well since it was first placed in barrel. Rich, dense and intense, the wine is deeply colored powerful and refined. The wine will hit the middle and probably the top of my initial score range with ease. 16,189 Views Tasted Jul 12, 2017Developing nicely, this is going to be a strong vintage for the chateau. The wine exchanges elegance with ripe, sensual, polished textured, freshness and purity of fruit. This should drink well relatively early for Pontet Canet. If the wine continues developing well, and it should, the wine should go up a Pt or so. 95-97 Pts 24,800 Views Tasted Jul 11, 2016With the color of ruby so intense it’s nigh on purple, this rich, luxurious, full-bodied wine is brimming with blackberries, cassis, licorice, and dark cherries with a hint of cocoa in the end note. This wine is all about the elegant, well-developed purity of fruit poised with the velvety tannins to produce a fresh, prolonged, fruit-filled, polished finish. The wine will be aged in a unique combination of 50% new, French oak barrels, 35% amphora and 15% in tank. Another wine in a great string of vintages for Pontet Canet, Alfred Tesseron and Melanie Tesseron are clearly on a roll here! 95-97 Pts 12,162 Views Tasted Apr 18, 2016 |
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2014
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
2014 marks the first vintage the estate was Demeter certified. Everything here is classic in style starting with the nose and all of its tobacco leaf, cigar box, herbs, smoke, currants, and peppery spices. There is freshness, as well as sweetness to the berries. The fruits are clean, earthy, bright, and chewy, leaving you with a healthy wave of currants, blackberries, salty rocks, and a touch of creaminess in the finish. The wine blends 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, 13.5% ABV. Drink from 2024-2045. 10,444 Views Tasted Jul 9, 2022Dark ruby in color, the nose offers truffle, tobacco, cassis and black fruits. Concentrated, tannic and full bodied, the wine has depth, tannins to spare, ripe dark fruits, plum, dark chocolate and cassis. Leave this in your cellar to rest for at least a decade before popping a cork, and you're in for a treat! 13,431 Views Tasted Jun 25, 2017Inky, dark in color with purple accents in its hue, this wine packs a punch with its full-bodied style. Surprisingly elegant for Pontet Canet, this wine is fresh with sweet, ripe fruits accented by chocolate and black cherry tones. The tannins are neat and refined, leaving you with the sensation of licorice, chocolate-infused cassis and black and blue fruits. 93-95 Pts 15,376 Views Tasted Apr 14, 2015 |
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2013
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
Just about fully developed, the wine is crisp, crunchy, strict, and on the lean, green side of the style range. The finish starts off fruity, finishing with a strong sense of greenness on the endnotes. The wine blends 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, 13.0% ABV. Drink from 2022-2032. 4,106 Views Tasted Jul 9, 2022Already showing its tobacco, forest floor and cassis filled charms, this elegantly styled, forward, already drinkable wine offers sweet, fresh, plums, cocoa and smooth textures in the finish. Give it 2-4 years and this should be even more charming. 6,365 Views Tasted May 25, 2016Showing more fruit character than most wines from this difficult vintage, the wine has a nose of blackberry, wet earth and cigar box. Medium/full bodied with plush textures, this balanced wine finishes with plum, licorice and ripe tannins. This would be a good wine in any year, but in 2013, it is remarkable. Interestingly, there is no second wine produced in this vintage. The low yields set a record for the estate as they were only 15% hectoliters per hectare. From a blend 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. The wine reached 13% ABV. 92-94 Pts. 15,997 Views Tasted Apr 20, 2014 |
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2012
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
2012 is the first vintage to use amphora during the aging process, the wine. The nose opens with cigar box, underbrush, leafy herbs, black currants, and tobacco wrapper. There is a nice creamy quality to the sweet, red fruits, with length, freshness, and loads of fruit on the backend. This is one of the top Left Bank wines of this mixed vintage. The wine blends 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, 13.5% ABV. Drink from 2025-2050. 7,338 Views Tasted Jul 9, 2022Produced from an assemblage of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, this is one of the darkest wines of the vintage. The nose offers ripe dark berries, licorice, clay, minerality and fresh dark berries. Polished tannins, plush textures and layers of sweet, ripe berries fill your mouth. The suave, fresh wine ends with an expansive, rich finish in the mouth. Very successful for the vintage. This is the first year where Pontet Canet began using a percentage of amphore for the vinification. Close to 35% of the wine was vinified in the amphore tanks. The wine will be aged in 50% new, French oak barrels. The Merlot was harvested October 4 and the Cabernet Sauvignon was picked from October 11 through October 17. Alfred Tesseron is clearly on a roll. 94-96 Pts 18,417 Views Tasted Apr 23, 2013 |
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2011
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
Thyme, spearmint, flowers, forest floor, and red fruits are found in the nose. Medium-bodied, with a strong tobacco edge to the fruits on the palate, the wine is a bit drying in the otherwise, sweet, red currant filled finish. The wine blends 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, 13.5% ABV. Drink from 2025-2055. Drink from 2022-2035. 6,595 Views Tasted Jul 9, 2022Garnet in color with bricking at the edges, the nose opens with savory herbs, tobacco, wet earth, and smoky red fruits. On the palate, the wine is fresh, soft, and focused on its spicy red currants, red plums, and sweet cherries. There is a savory quality to the fruits and a touch of cocoa on the palate and in the olive-tinged, spicy, polished finish. With a brief decanting, the wine is fully ready to drink. 6,258 Views Tasted Feb 16, 2022Medium bodied, forward, early drinking style with a focus on dark red fruits and freshness which makes this great for tasting, while waiting for vintages like 2005, 2009 and 2010 to come around. 9,055 Views Tasted Aug 21, 2016Dark ruby in hue, primary as you would expect, with a boatload of fresh, ripe blackberries, dark cherries, tobacco, fennel and stone aromas in the nose. The wine is balanced, soft and round, with freshness, slightly powdery tannins and a clean, concentrated, sweet, fresh boysenberry finish. This is already drinkable. 12,477 Views Tasted May 21, 2014Produced from an assemblage of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. Deep ruby in color with scents of coffee, licorice, truffle, smoke and blackberry. The wine is fresh, pure, clean and filled with spicy cassis. Compared to recent vintages, this is a round, approachable, refined style of Pontet Canet finishing with silky cassis and spice. 93-95 Pts 12,129 Views Tasted Apr 10, 2012 |
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2010
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
The first vintage the estate was certified Biodynamic shows only a minor touch of lightning at the edges. The wine opens with cedar, smoke, tobacco leaf, black currants, blackberries, and wet forest aromatics. Full-bodied, powerful, intense, concentrated, and rich, texturally, the wine is opulent, full, and deep, with a long, palate-coating layer of dark, black and red fruits. There is a touch of heat in the long, fruit-filled finish. While still youthful, the wine is already approachable with 2 hours or so of air. The wine blends 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, 14.5% ABV. Drink from 2025-2055. 11,228 Views Tasted Jul 9, 2022So young, but there is so much potential for greatness, you'd have to be blind to miss it! Layer after layer of rich, deep, ripe, plush, round, polished fruits, perfectly ripe tannins and a finish that does not want to quit. The wine is holding back more in reserve than with previous tastings and is probably going to shut down for a bit. When it opens again, this will be a stunner! 23,061 Views Tasted Aug 5, 2015Deep, dark ruby in color, packed with blackberry, black cherry, vanilla, tobacco, espresso bean, truffle and wet earth aromas, the wine is dense, balanced, rich, ripe, tannic, thick and mouth filling. There are no hard edges and everything is in all the right places. Give this time to develop, soften and add even more weight and complexity and you’ll be happy you waited. 19,412 Views Tasted May 17, 2014Floral, boysenberry, licorice, leaves, cassis, cedar and tobacco scents are in your face. This is powerful, dense and intense. The wine fills your mouth, coats your palate and continues to expand in the finish delivering an amazing tasting experience that you cannot put down without taking another sip. Before you know it, the bottle is empty, which is the true mark of all great wines. 26,271 Views Tasted Oct 11, 2013Inky in color with deep, purple accents, tobacco, blackberry, licorice, crème de cassis, stone and smoke create the potent aromatics. Powerful, dense, mouth filling, fresh and concentrated, the wine builds in intensity, expands and moves from flavor to flavor in the long finish. This is the mark of all great wines. The wine demands at least a decade or possibly two before everything truly comes into its own. There is nothing out of place. Everything is in all the right places. For my palate and money, this is the best wine made by Alfred Tesseron at Pontet Canet yet. WOW! 23,612 Views Tasted May 8, 2013Inky, opaque with deep purple accents in the color, this stunning Pauillac offers strong aromas of blackberry, blueberry, pepper, truffle, caramel, stone, vanilla, smoke and forest floor. This concentrated, rich, packed and stacked wine, coats your mouth with intense flavors. Long, round, powerful, polished and tannic, the finish ends with dark chocolate covered blackberries, boysenberries and spice. The flavors remain etched in your mouth for more than one full minute! This stunning wine has gained in texture and complexity since tasted in April. The wine was released at 100 Euros, a large jump from 2009. The price did not deter consumers. 2010 Pontet Canet is one of the best selling Bordeaux wines of the vintage. 97-98 Pts 25,198 Views Tasted Jul 30, 2012Pontet Canet Produced from an assemblage of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, yields were down 10% from 2009. Inky black in color, the wine stains the sides of the glass. Cassis, stone, forest floor, tobacco and cedar aromas effortlessly pop from the glass. This fills your mouth with flavor. Packed and stacked with layers of ripe, fat, plump fruit, voluptuous in style, with freshness and ripe tannins, the blackberry, blue fruit, cassis, licorice and spice filled finish grows in your mouth. 96-97 Pts 25,136 Views Tasted Apr 20, 2011 |
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2009
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
I really like this wine. It is generous, powerful, concentrated, and mouth-filling with all of its waves of black and dark red fruits. There is balance, richness, length, and a sense of depth that your palate can dig into. While still young, it is a pleasure in your glass today, though its best days are yet to come. Drink from 2023-2050. 10,114 Views Tasted Nov 25, 2023Everything about this wine is great. It is rich, concentrated, ripe, opulent, pure, fresh, balanced and interesting. The fruit, and its beautiful sense of purity is all there. Texturally, it is power and silk, giving you length, breadth and reason after reason to take another sniff and sip. 18,198 Views Tasted Jul 27, 2020What makes this all work, is the perfectly ripe fruit that shows off its purity with ease. Supple textured, multi-layered and with a finish that seems to never leave, the wine is rich, luscious, opulent and mouth-coating. Intense, yet not heavy, everything is in balance. The mouth-coating finish hangs with you for close to 60 seconds. Not quite primary, but still obviously young, if you like wines with sweet, exuberant fruit, why not pop a cork and check it out? Else wait another decade for its real character to kick in. 16,515 Views Tasted Sep 20, 2019Just a beauty filled with potential here. Rich, powerful, concentrated, opulent, deep and with freshness, the wine covers your palate. There are no hard edges, just layers of ripe, juicy, sweet, dense berries that layer your palate with flavor and intensity. This is still quite primary, so give it 6-8 more years in the bottle at the minimum. Or 2-3 hours air. 16,445 Views Tasted Jul 17, 2019There is much purity here, this is like eating, perfectly ripe fruit off the tree. The supple-textured berries with their luscious flavors coat your palate with flavor. Yet, the wine is not heavy. Everything is in perfect balance, due to the lift and acidity. Full-bodied, concentrated and with a serious depth of flavor, this is still young, but on the other hand, it is so good, it is not a bad idea to pop a cork in its youth, just to see what all the fuss is about. Else, wait another decade. Either way, this wine rocks! 18,212 Views Tasted Nov 2, 2018Starting to close down and tighten up, the fruit was less expressive than in previous tastings. There is no doubt about the quality, ripeness, concentration or purity of the fruit. But it's not as much fun to taste today as it was 6 months ago. Pop a cork soon, or wait 5-10 years for the full experience. I am quite positive my score will jump a few points as the wine matures. 25,334 Views Tasted May 26, 2014Closing down, if you want to taste a bottle, I'd pop one sooner than later, else you should wait 7-10 years before it's really showing its stuff. This stunning wine is packed with layer after layer of ripe, mineral driven, fresh, boysenberries, cocoa, earth and black cherries. The tannins are ripe, silky and soft. This is dense, pure, clean, long and intense with a finish that builds in your mouth. 30,941 Views Tasted Oct 10, 2013Inky in color, coffee, truffle, blackberry jam, cassis, smoke, tobacco and earth make up the perfume. In the mouth, every nook and cranny is coated with fresh, pure, blackberry, cassis, burning mesquite wood and dark berry jam. Thick, rich, intense and powerful, there is not a hard edge to this stunning vintage of Chateau Pontet Canet. Aged in 60% new oak, from a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, the unctuous, velvety, intense, pure, finish is expansive and seamless, lasting close to sixty seconds. 31,750 Views Tasted May 8, 20122009 Pontet Canet is midnight black with blue and purple accents. The aromas of berries, licorice, cassis, spice, and oak explode from the glass. I almost needed a napkin to wipe off the residue because there was so much going on. This packed and stacked, full bodied and concentrated wine is no wall flower. It grabs your attention and keeps it: power, balance, and harmony, with a long intense finish filled with perfectly ripe black and blue fruit, juicy plums, and a liqueur of jammy berries. The flavors go on for more than 60 seconds. This is the best wine Tesseron has ever produced. While expensive for people used to paying $25, it is a wine I will buy. This wine cannot be compared to Tesseron’s earlier efforts. The 2009 Pontet Canet is stunning! It's a wine Pauillac lovers should have in their cellars. 97/98 Pts 40,096 Views Tasted Aug 26, 2010 |
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2008
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
Rich, full-bodied, deep, intense and loaded to the brim with crème de cassis, tobacco, smoke, wet forest floor and cherry pipe tobacco elements, the wine is mouth-filling, tannic, long, deep and complex. Everything about this is just great. But patience is going to be needed, as this will probably not hit its peak for at least another 5-8 years. 10,709 Views Tasted Sep 17, 2018Still holding much of what this has to offer in reserve, the wine is tight at the moment. With air and effort, the concentrated waves of ripe, fresh, juicy, blackberry, tobacco and earth make their way to the surface. This is quite nice, with ripe, soft tannins, but it is still primary. Another 7-10 years will add a lot to the wine, and it could deserve a higher score. The wine was made from a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. 11,932 Views Tasted Nov 14, 2017This is not the best time to be popping a cork on this future beauty. It's tight and hard to a lot of pleasure from at the moment. Yet, with that in mind, it's easy to see the high quality of ripe fruit, soft tannins, concentration and intensity. I'd give this at least 6 to 10 years from today before popping a cork. 13,291 Views Tasted Nov 21, 2015Young, still primary, but delicious, the tannins are polished, the fruit is concentrated, the wine is complex, deep and fresh. This is probably still quite well priced and is worth taking a look at. 14,866 Views Tasted Oct 5, 2014If this is a precursor to how the 2012 Pontet Canet is going to develop, perhaps 2012 is a vintage worth looking at, as this big, concentrated, full bodied, cassis, blackberry, earth, truffle, smoke and tobacco filled wine is fresh, polished, balanced, rich, long and still quite young. 15,682 Views Tasted May 19, 2013Still deep in color, with an explosion of black and blue fruit, cassis, cedar, coffee, stone, earth, smoke and cigar box aromatics. Powerful, rich, tannic and structured to age, from a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and a drop of Petit Verdot, this luscious and lusty Pauillac demands at least another decade in the cellar. 20,437 Views Tasted May 7, 20122008 Pontet Canet is another winner from Alfred Tesseron, who has been making better wine every year since the 1994 vintage. Black fruit paired with spice, licorice, earth and toasty oak introduce your senses to the wine. This powerful, full bodied, cassis and blackberry jam filled wine is fresh, fat and concentrated, ending in a wave in chocolate covered, dark berries. 95 Pts 20,876 Views Tasted Jul 20, 201008 Château Pontet Canet is deep, dark ruby. The nose expresses sweet black fruit, cassis, and fresh earthy notes. “Wow” is the first descriptor I used to describe what the wine feels like on your palate. This wine is incredibly concentrated with dense, ripe, rich, almost flamboyant fruit. The texture is fresh, fat, rich, juicy and opulent. Everything is in balance in this packed and stacked wine which finishes with intense purity. 94-97 Pts 21,288 Views Tasted Aug 31, 2009 |
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2007
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
Medium/full bodied, showing age in its color, the wine has entered its secondary stage, with its tobacco, cassis, forest floor and cherry pipe tobacco aromatics. There is fruit in the finish, which has a bit of rusticity in the finish. Drinking well today, you can age it for a few more years if you like, or pop a cork to check it out 6,172 Views Tasted Jun 24, 2017Chateau Pontet Canet produced a stunning achievement for this difficult Bordeaux vintage. Its spicy cassis, black fruit, oak, earth and tobacco aromatics were a pleasure to smell. Full bodied and filled with ripe cassis and round tannins , the wine ends with a soft, clean finish. This is a better wine than Tesseron produced at Pontet Canet in 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 00, 01 & 02. 13,940 Views Tasted Aug 30, 2011 |
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2006
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
Still dark, the color has barely moved from its youthful inky hue. Licorice, espresso, smoke, tobacco, truffle, plums, cocoa, and blackberry aromas resonate. Full bodied and packed with deep, ripe, fruit, the tannins still need time to soften and resolve. Yet, it's hard not to like the layers of fleshy, ripe fruit on the palate and in the finish. 10,747 Views Tasted May 25, 2016Powerful, tannic and long, this textbook Pauillac is packed with layers of creme de cassis, tobacco, blackberry, earth and wet forest characteristics. Young, fresh and full bodied, this requires another 5-10 more years before it really begins to sing. But, if you cannot keep your hands of it, I understand. 11,929 Views Tasted Oct 5, 2014Broad shouldered, big, concentrated, tannic, ripe, black, purple and ruby in color and obviously very young, this fabulous vintage of Pontet Canet is well worth buying as it can be found for about $90. That's a lot of money, but for a wine of this quality, it's fair. Cassis, blackberry, truffle, tobacco, cedar, coffee and spice scents with air and swirling. Mouth filling, fresh, lively and structgured to age, this voluptuous Pauillac demands at least decade to mature. But if you own a case and want to try a bottle, it's well worth popping a bottle to see and enjoy how this keeps filling out and developing. 16,178 Views Tasted Jul 10, 2012Deeply colored, the nose was slightly muted, but with coaxing scents of cassis, oak and chocolate could be discovered. In the mouth, you get a big juicy bite of ripe, fresh Cabernet. The wine offers good length with ample tannin and structure to age. 9,769 Views Tasted Jun 12, 2009 |
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2005
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
The wine kicks off with its cherry, leaf, and floral perfume before you dig into a big juicy mouthful of black, and red fruits, spice, cedar, and tobacco. The wine borders the corners of robust and regal in style. 1 hour of decanting is all that's needed. Drink from 2024-2045. 7,245 Views Tasted Mar 20, 2024Firm, stoic, crisp, tannic, and more interesting on the nose with its flowers, tobacco, currant, forest leaf, and cigar-filled nose, than on the full-bodied, bright, crunchy palate. This is an old-school-styled Pontet Canet that needs at least another 5 years in the cellar. 13,343 Views Tasted May 30, 2022Still young, tannic and working its way through to adulthood, the wine is full-bodied, concentrated and structured. The big, fresh, juicy bite of cassis comes through loud and clear. But, the tannins remain powerful. The cedar, tobacco leaf, cigar box and minty herb nuances add a lot to the wine. This is probably going to end up being more about power and fruit, over refinement and elegance. With 2 hours of air, the wine began filling out. At the 3 hour mark, it was even better. The wine should be showing a cut above starting in 2025. 13,160 Views Tasted Jun 12, 2021Not fully mature, but if you like your Pauillac on the young side, working its way over to mature, this is in a good place. With an hour in the decanter, the wine serves up a blast of cassis, blackberry, tobacco and wet earth. Full-bodied, concentrated and filled with fruit and freshness, in the finish the wine is just a bit shorter than I would have liked. Another 3-5 years in the cellar should be about right, else 2 hours in the decanter will work nicely. 14,499 Views Tasted Sep 30, 20192005 Pontet Canet is rich and remains deeply colored. The tannins are soft and the firmness if youth is being replaced with more elegance. Notes of tobacco leaf, cigar box, earth and dark chocolate ride along with the fresh, blackberry and cassis. 2 hours of decanting worked its magic. But if you can wait until 2025, you’re going to have an even better experience. 16,262 Views Tasted Aug 8, 2018Full bodied and intense, this mouth filling, luscious treat is packed with layer after layer of rich, dark, dense, perfectly ripe fruits, soft, refined tannins and the stuffing and structure to age and evolve for decades. You can drink it now, but I’m waiting another 5 years before I start popping corks. 16,935 Views Tasted Jun 28, 2015The first of the great vintages for Alfred Tesseron at Pontet Canet is starting to show its stuff. Great concentration, soft, refined tannins, a long finish with soft, sweet, lush fruits. As good as this is now, and it is good, it's only going to get better with more time in the bottle... 16,704 Views Tasted Oct 5, 2014Truly a blockbuster wine. This is equal parts concentration and personality in this beauty. The cassis, coffee and chocolate scented perfume get your attention. The mountain of black fruit sliding from the glass over your palate is a treat. There is a lot to like about this wine and while prices have risen, for a wine this good, it's still a bargain. 15,197 Views Tasted Nov 20, 2012Opaque in color with an intoxicating perfume of spicy, black fruit, cassis and oak. Dense and full bodied. Stunning levels of concentration which lead to a great mouthfeel that fills and excites all your taste buds! There is a great freshness and balance to the wine with a finish that lasts close to forty seconds... This is truly a wow wine that is Second Growth in quality! 21,710 Views Tasted Jun 16, 2009With coaxing, this extremely concentrated, Bordeaux wine started to strut its stuff. Black, purple in color. Very dense and mouthfilling. Huge levels of fruit and body with enough tannin and structure to age for decades. The impressive finish lasted at least fifty seconds! 14,858 Views Tasted Jun 22, 2007 |
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2004
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
Fresh herbs, cedar, cassis and oak in the nose, the wine is medium bodied, open and finishes with a cassis and olive note in the red berry finish. 13,720 Views Tasted Jan 4, 2015Still young, tannic and demanding more time in the bottle, I’d wait another 3—5 years before popping a bottle. 90 14,371 Views Tasted May 19, 2013This was decanted 8 hours prior to dinner. Black fruit with red accents, licorice and coffee notes pleased the nose, while on the mouth, you were treated to a bright blast of fruit. A little more acidic than I was expecting, the wine was helped with the food 10,662 Views Tasted Jun 16, 2009Deeply colored but without as much concentration as the following vintages. More elegant in style, with a clean black cherry finish. This is the vintage to drink while waiting for the 03, 05 & 06 to come around. 10,584 Views Tasted Jun 22, 2007 |
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2003
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
Take a good cigar, dip it in dark chocolate, add a bushel of red and black currants, blackberries, cedar and lead pencil, and you have the perfume. Full-bodied, ripe, round and lush, with layers of fruit on the palate, this is fully ready-to-go. Drink from 2022-2032. 6,643 Views Tasted Nov 8, 2022With a smoky tint, licorice, mint, burnt embers, cassis and a touch of oak to open the nose, the wine gets started. Full-bodied, round, fat and rich, with a blast of sweet, ripe, cocoa and dark chocolate dusted, crisp dark red and black fruits with a hint of dried herbs in the finish. With time, the texture became even more opulent. This is drinking great today. There is no touch of heat, jam or overripe ripe characteristics in the wine. Decanted for an hour, (which is all it needs) this is fully ready to go. 8,106 Views Tasted Apr 10, 2020I love the early accessibility of the vintage. The wine already shows notes of tobacco, dark, red fruits, forest floor, cigar box and a dab of truffle. The tannins are soft, smooth and feel great, as the ripe, berries lubricate your palate. The blackberry and cassis finish sticks with you adding more earth, smoke and tobacco along the way. The wine was decanted about 45 minutes to 1 hour before serving, which was just fine. 2003 is not the vintage of the century. I am not sure who claimed it was. But whoever uttered those words was wrong. But there are several truly great wines from the vintage, most of which come from the Northern Medoc. 2003 is the first vintage in the modern, Tesseron era where the vineyard started to shine. 11,115 Views Tasted Jul 22, 2017I love this wine. It's a Pauillac of pure pleasure. With a potent nose of cassis, tobacco, boysenberry, hints of blue fruit and a shot of truffle, the wine wants you to get to know it. And you do as soon as it hits your palate with its luxurious textures and sweet, ripe cassis, spice and blackberry. I really like how this is developing. And it should only get better from here. The wine was decanted about 45 minutes to 1 hour before serving. It shows best with some cellar chill left in it. 13,269 Views Tasted Oct 12, 2016This is really nice juice! With just 30 minutes of air, the wine softened, opened up its earthy, black cherry, cassis and cigar box charms, leaving you with a soft, silky finish. 12,761 Views Tasted Feb 3, 2015With an hour in the decanter, the wine popped with all its chocolate covered fruits, earth, black cherry, cassis, and cigar box. The wine is lush, full bodied and concentrated. The tannins are soft. Complexity and character are in full force in this one, young Skywalker. 13,625 Views Tasted Sep 18, 2014The best showing ever for this wine. I am not sure of it was the perfect bottle, flawless cork, or the right amount of decanting, about an hour, but this bottle rocked me! Ruby in color, with blackberry liqueur, cassis, earth, stone, burnt wood and barbecue aromatics never let up. The palate was bathed in luxurious, plush blackberries, boysenberry and dark chocolate, which moves to fresh cassis flavors in the finish. This note is being written after close to 5 hours in the glass and it's still as good or better than the first sip. For a Pauillac of this quality, this is a steal in the marketplace. 14,978 Views Tasted Mar 17, 2014The first truly outstanding wine produced since Alfred Tesseron took over managing the estate. Soft, smooth tannins pair perfectly with the tobacco, cassis, earth, smoke and blackberry profile, leaving the tasters with the desire for sip after sip of this beauty. 13,993 Views Tasted Dec 18, 2013Tobacco, earth, smoke, cassis, fennel and blackberry aromas pop with little effort. On the palate, the wine is rich, concentrated, powerful and balanced. There is a softness and polish to the tannins. Unlike many wines from this unique vintage, the wine is maturing at a reasonable pace, which should allow for years of positive evolution. 13,542 Views Tasted Jun 11, 2013Beautiful, deep ruby in color, 60 minutes in the decanter brought out the tobacco, cassis, chocolate, blackberry, cigar box and earthy, aromatic bouquet display. Concentrated, full bodied, deep and round in the mouth, the long finish is packed with juicy ripe, cassis and mocha. There is little bit of roughness to the otherwise, polished tannins. This is drinking in its adolescent stage on its 10th birthday. Another 3-5 years will add a lot more nuance and complexity. Give it a few more after that and it should reach full maturity. The first great vintage from Alfred Tesseron is the precursor to 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010! They are on a roll! 14,652 Views Tasted Mar 9, 2013With an hour of decanting, tobacco, earth, cassis, blackberries and spice scents were all over the place. Soft, refined and polished tannins and a lush, cassis filled finish can be enjoyed today, or aged for another decade or two. 14,736 Views Tasted Nov 24, 2012Popped and poured, which was fine. But 30 minutes of air would probably have allowed the wine to open a bit more. Still, there was no denying the beautiful, ripe, clean blast of cassis and blackberries, with earth, tobacco, cigar box and gravel aromatics. Full bodied, rich, ripe, round and concentrated, the wine ends with a long wave of sweet blackberries, cocoa and cassis. You can drink this now, or in 5, 10 or 25 years. It's a delicious expression of 2003 Pauillac. 16,357 Views Tasted Oct 10, 2012Lush, opulent and already expressive, this forward styled Pontet Canet is filled with tobacco, cassis, earth, forest floor, cedar wood and fresh blackberries. The tannins are ripe and round. With so much glycerin and sweet, ripe, lush fruit, each sip feels great as it crosses your palate. Due to the open style, you can drink this now. However, additional time will add a lot to the experience... that is, if you can keep your hands off this delicious Pauillac for that long! 17,509 Views Tasted May 7, 2012Decanted for two hours and tasted over the next two hours, the perfume offered cassis, licorice, earth, truffle, smoke, black plums, earth, cedar wood and green peppers. Full bodied with voluptuous textures, the wine finishes with a rich, refined, cassis, chocolate and juicy black plum finish. While not mature, this beautiful Pauillac is delivering a lot of pleasure and will only get better over the next several decades. If you have a case and want to see where the first outstanding vintage from Alfred Tesseron is at, you will not be disappointed. This is my best score for this wine yet. Over the next decade, it might even go higher! 17,904 Views Tasted Sep 9, 2011This vintage from Alfred Tesseron that put Pontet Canet back on the map. Spice, cassis, stone, earth, tobacco, chocolate and truffle scents open to a generous serving of ripe, juicy, blackberry and cassis. Soft tannins and layers of cassis with a touch of olive make this a very enjoyable Pauillac. At 8 years old, this is already starting to drink well. 18,707 Views Tasted May 15, 2011With decanting and coaxing, this full bodied, lush, opulent Bordeaux wine started opening revealing light cassis, blackberry and earthy notes. The palate showed more life with multiple waves of blackberries and cassis. The finish must last at least 40 seconds and every sip keeps you involved. 10 years will add a lot of complexity to this wine... if you can keep your hands off it. 12,482 Views Tasted Jun 10, 2009Perfectly combining elegance and power with a fleshy exotic, ripe, dark fruit filled personality. 12,463 Views Tasted Jun 22, 2007 |
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2002
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
Cassis, earth, blackberry, pepper, blue fruit, hints of floral, tobacco and pepper notes make up the perfume. This full bodied wine shows some rustic sensations in mouth as the tannins are not fully ripe. The wine finishes with a big mouthful of cassis. 12,844 Views Tasted Jun 30, 2010 |
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2001
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
Cedar wood, forest floor, tobacco, blackberry and cassis, this medium/full bodied wine is already close to mature. Slightly rustic in style, there is a hint of cranberry in the cassis filled finish. 8,209 Views Tasted May 15, 2011 |
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2000
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
Solid example of classic Pauillac, focusing on the cedarwood, tobacco, ash, cigar box and bright red fruits with a blast of cassis in the finish. There is a touch of dryness in the endnote. Give it an hour or 2 in the decanter. 7,795 Views Tasted May 10, 2020Perhaps this needs another decade to come around, but in a blind tasting, the wine was tannic, austere and tight. With time and effort, cassis, cigar box and spicy tobacco notes popped into place. But it's not a lot of fun to drink today. If it was my money, skip it and buy the 2003. 12,525 Views Tasted Dec 14, 2014Ruby with lightening at the edge, truffle, smoke, tobacco and cassis, full bodied, still tannic, with some dryness in the tannins, this classic, structured style of Pontet Canet ends with cassis, fennel and a touch of fresh herbs with blackberry. 15,548 Views Tasted May 7, 2012Showing black fruit, tobacco, cherry and herbs in the nose. Full bodied and concentrated, with slightly rustic tannins, the wine ends with ample black fruit in the finish. This needs another 5 years 12,687 Views Tasted Mar 5, 2010 |
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1999
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
Tobacco, herbs. cassis, earth and spicy cherry aromas mesh well with the medium bodied, soft textured palate. Slightly on the lean side, with some green in the finish, produced from a blend of 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc, this is close to fully mature and should be enjoyed sooner than later. 6,156 Views Tasted Feb 28, 2012 |
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1998
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
Medium-bodied, old school styled wine with rustic tannins on the palate, coupled with alternating sweet and tart, cranberries, tobacco, cedar and forest notes. At 20 years of age, this is, what it is. Future vintages as you know provide much better tasting experiences. 4,438 Views Tasted Sep 23, 2018 |
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1996
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
Firm, old-school, classic-styled Pauillac with loads of cedar, tobacco leaf, herbs, mint, cigar box and red currants. There is a rustic edge to the tannins in the chewy, spicy, currant finish. Drink from 2022-2028. 3,703 Views Tasted Oct 4, 2022Tobacco, earth, smoke and dark berries make up the perfume. The third vintage produced under the supervision of Alfred Tesserson is full bodied and filled with crunchy, chewy Cabernet Sauvignon. In a slightly firm style, this chunky wine ends with cassis and a hint of greenness. The wines being made by Tesseron today bear no resemblance to the earlier, pre 2003 vintages. 12,691 Views Tasted Jul 21, 2011Cassis, iron, spicy vanilla and blackberry on the nose. Thick palate entry. Powerful. Still some a lot of tannin to resolve. Not very complex, but offering a lot of pleasure for the dollar. In time, this should improve. 7,139 Views Tasted Nov 24, 2006 |
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1995
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
Ruby with some bricking in color, tobacco, smoke, cassis, coffee and gravel make up the perfume. Structured, traditional, tannic and a on the stern side of the style range, the rustic tannins are a little drying. Time could help soften the wine, but it will always be austere. 8,250 Views Tasted May 7, 2012Inky, purple, ruby with no lightening at the edges. Black currant, coffee, forest aromas. Huge, masculine, tannic, beefy, concentrated, structured wine. Thick, dense, chewy and demands time. At least another 5-10 years. 5,143 Views Tasted Nov 10, 2004 |
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1994
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
Hard styled, lean and not perfectly ripe, this mightl not improve. If you like this wine, and many people do, it has the stuffing to continue at this level for 15 or more years. Pontet Canet made a huge step up in quality the following year and really turned up the heat starting with 2003! 4,633 Views Tasted Jun 15, 2007 |
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1990
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
Leather, soy and truffles with dark berries made the perfume. Fully mature, on the palate this rustic, old school styled wine showed a hint of green in the finish. Drink up. 5,548 Views Tasted Jun 16, 2009 |
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1989
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
The wine starts off with tobacco, stewed fruit, and tea notes. The fruit is not fully ripe and the finish has drying sensations. The wines being produced today at the chateau do not resemble this wine, for they are sublime. 5,148 Views Tasted Jun 19, 2009 |
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1982
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
Rustic, lean, medium-bodied and four-square, the wine is taking on an acidic, hard, angular character and will continue in that direction, losing more fruit as time marches on. This does not resemble the stunning wines made at the property today. 6,087 Views Tasted Oct 5, 2018 |
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1961
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
A superb example of an old-school, aged Bordeaux. The tobacco, cedar, cigar wrapper, red currant, herb, and forest floor nose pops as soon as the wine hits your glass. Rustically charming in nature, the chewy cassis, pepper, and herb infused palate serves up a ballast of flavor in every sip. If you see a well-stored example at auction, it’s with taking a chance on. Drink from 2023-2030. 2,034 Views Tasted Sep 5, 2023The nose was a bit peculiar as its primary note was cedar, followed by green pepper, more cedar, forest floor, leaf, herbs and a hint of red fruit. Very little tobacco or smoke. The palate started off a bit rough, but with time in the glass, the wine softened and filled out, becoming a better drinking experience. The fruit is light on the palate, focusing more on its texture, cedar and green pepper. Still, it was quite a charmer, in its old school, rustic way as it approaches 60 years of age. 4,952 Views Tasted Aug 30, 20171961 Pontet Canet opens with tobacco, truffle, earth, cassis, gravel, iron and spice box and cedar aromas. With a rustic, but charming personality, the wine finishes with spicy cassis flavors. I with I was young enough to know how the current vintages of Pontet Canet made by Alfred Tesseron will taste when they hit 50 years of age. I imagine they will be stunning! 5,751 Views Tasted Oct 7, 2011The nose was all spice, leather, earth and truffles. The palate enjoyed a good dose of ripe fruit which had that wonderful old wine texture. Slightly austere in nature, it was a treat to taste this fully mature Pauillac. 3,857 Views Tasted Nov 15, 2007 |
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1959
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
Truly, a truffle lovers delight. Truffles, earth and more truffles. Did I say truffles yet? Tart, black cherry in the mouth. The style of the wine was a bit austere. Very old school in style abd probably slightly past its prime. Still, the honor of tasting this wine at the Chateau was not lost on me. 6,720 Views Tasted Jun 16, 2009 |
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1945
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
Ruby with brick tints, this wine did not look 63 years old. Its held up better than Raquel Welch. The perfume as a complicated melange of coconut, smoke, caramel, coffee and tobacco with hints of earth. Very concentrated and still young. Your palated was soothed with a gentle bath of fresh strawberry, cassis, and ripe, black cherry. The sublime wine finished with a compelling sweet, syrupy texture that seemed to remain in your taste receptors for ages. The wine continued improving in the glass for over two hours. This is what great wines are all about. Now, if only I can find some of this magic elixir when I get home. I imagine 05, with its selection and better wine making skills will be this good or better at 60 years of age. I wonder if anyone reading this will be around to find out? 6,222 Views Tasted Jun 16, 2009 |
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1934
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
Tasted double blind, from a perfectly stored bottle that has not been moved from the chateau since bottling, I was sure this was from the 1950's, because it tasted so young and fresh for its age. Medium bodied, soft and dsplaying the patina of age, the essence of tobacco, cedar, cigar box and fresh cherries, with that beautiful, earthy, wet forest aroma that only comes from serious aging were what this wine is all about. I will probably never see another bottle of this beauty. But I can assure you, I will never forget tasting it! 6,446 Views Tasted Oct 5, 2014 |
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1929
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
From an original bottle and original cork, this wine was in perfect shape for an 80 year old bottle. Dust red in color, your nose is greeted by light aromas of black fruit, tobacco, earth, forest, spice and leather aromas. Light on the palate, with very soft, black fruit and spice flavors, the wine does not offer a long finish. It trails off a little too quick. The mouth feel is round and opulent, but a little small. Still, it was an honor tasting this wine with my father and so many friends from Bordeaux. 5,697 Views Tasted Nov 1, 2009 |
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1928
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
The color of bricks and tea, the wine mixed 5 spice, cloves, cedar, tobacco, bright red fruits and leafy notes in the nose palate. There was volume, freshness and vibrancy, along with rustic tannins in the finish. 7,447 Views Tasted Oct 16, 2018 |
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1924
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
Stunning, especially when you consider it's 100 years of age. Cherries, strawberries, tobacco, red currants, spice, and leafy herbs were all over the nose, and the soft, energetic palate, finishing with a refreshing, orange rind complexity in the endnote. Drink from 2024-2024. 6,027 Views Tasted Jun 22, 2024 |
