Chateau Pontet Canet is a large Pauillac estate that can trace its origins back to 1725, when Jean-François Pontet gave his name to the estate he had acquired. The wine was not château-bottled until 1972 and in 1975 the property was sold to Guy Tesseron, who also owns Château Lafon-Rochet in St-Estephe. Today it is owned and run by Alfred and Michel Tesseron. Pontet-Canet's 78 hectares of vineyards adjoin those of Mouton Rothschild and are planted with Cabernet Sauvignon (63%), Merlot (32%) and Cabernet Franc (5%). The Tesserons have vastly improved the quality of the Pontet-Canet wines which are now full-bodied and packed with ripe, chewy, black fruits and finely integrated tannins. The wines have great ageing potential. Pontet-Canet is classified as a 5ème Cru Classé..
It was the first major Bordeaux wine producer to earn official organic certification, and its biodynamic production is a hallmark of its current operations.
Medium deep colour. Dark cherry, chinotto, cassis, ginger notes. Lovely supple and fleshy wine with cassis cola, fine sinewy touch grippy tannins bit lovely buoyancy and weight. Underlying ginger, savoury nutty notes. Lovely mineral length.
97 points, Langton's
This is very fine and silky with a beautiful vivid blackberry and blueberry character. Super polished tannins. Refined and very, very long. Fabulous harmony... Very classic Bordeaux. Superb depth and length. Real Bordeaux.
97-98 points, jamessuckling.com, March 2016
So much floral and dark-fruit character with almonds and walnut shell. Full body and ultra-fine tannins. Powerful. Classic style with a harmony and energy. Goes on for minutes. A superb wine with great fruit. Real Bordeaux. Try in 2025.
98 points, jamessuckling.com, Feb 2018
One of the wines of the vintage, the 2015 Pontet- Canet oozes class, finesse and pure pedigree. A hypothetical combination of the 2010 (for its dark fruit and tannic structure) and the 2009 (for its voluptuous fruit), the 2015 offers remarkable intensity, power and grace. A host of exotic floral and spice notes wrap around the dark, racy finish. In a word: magnificent! The 2015 is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot, aged 50% in new oak, 35% in terra cotta amphora and 15% in one year-old barrels.
95-98 points, Vinous, April 2016
Proprietor Alfred Tesseron and winemaker Jean-Michel Comme produced an absolutely stellar Pontet-Canet in 2015. Sumptuous, racy and totally inviting, the 2015 is all class. Super-ripe dark cherry, plum, spice and exotic floral notes build as the 2015 shows off its alluring personality. Even with all of its raciness, the 2015 speaks with authority and power. Fine tannins extend the persistent, highly nuanced finish. The 2015 is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot aged 50% new oak, 4% in terra cotta and 15% in neutral oak. Tasted three times. Drink 2023-2040
97+ points, Vinous, Feb 2018
This year is a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot... matured in 50% new oak, 35% concrete and 15% one-year-old barrels. It has a pure and perfumed bouquet with small dark cherries, red plum and subtle violet scents, perhaps a little Margaux-like in style... The palate is medium-bodied with a slightly grainy texture on the entry. There is nicely judged acidity here, moderate depth, very supple tannin that lend this a silky texture. There is modest weight towards the second half, perhaps spicier than some of its Pauillac peers with an edgy, lightly peppered finish. It is an intriguing and complex, almost mercurial Pontet-Canet...
94-96 points, Wine Advocate, April 2016
The 2015 Pontet-Canet has an intense, crushed violet-scented bouquet that... imparts a Margaux-like personality. It is quite high-toned and exuberant at this early juncture and will clearly require several years to calm down. The palate is medium-bodied with succulent black fruit on the entry, quite spicy with notes of black pepper and sage, perhaps just a little fiery in personality. However, counterbalancing this is a sense of harmony and focus. It is just a bit boisterous at this early stage, then the finish is tightly wound albeit well defined, leaving that spiciness as its calling card on the aftertaste. Anticipated maturity: 2022 - 2045.
94 points, March 2018
The 2015 Pontet Canet is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot brought up in 50% new oak, and 35% in amphora. With textbook Pauillac notes of lead pencil shavings, tobacco leaf, smoke, and licorice, as well as a core of pure crème de cassis fruit, this beautiful, full-bodied, impeccably balanced wine is one of the few 2015s that’s going to demand cellaring. The tannins are high, yet sweet, and like its bright acidity, nicely integrated into the wine. Forget bottles for 5-7 years and enjoy over the following three decades. I don’t put this at the level of the 2009 and 2010, but it’s still a beautiful wine. Tasted three times. Drink 2023-2053.
95+ points, jebdunnuck.com, November 2017
This is a dark and intense Pontet-Canet with brooding power on the nose and exceptional intensity. There was very little
second label made and so the cépage reflects basically the balance of vines planted on the property. 95% of the wine
made here with Pontet-Canet on the label is Grand Vin and this is remarkable. The energy and vitality is sensational in
this imposing wine and there is already immediate harmony in this blend. The power and innate resonance here is to be
admired. The silkiness and texture here is unlike other wines with superb harmony which makes it all the more fascinating
because of the counterpoint between the darker hue in the centre and its bright red rim. It opened up beautifully in
the glass and showed spectacular grainy tannins marked by spicy oak. The spice must come from the hot period in the
summer and I noticed this in increasing numbers to top wines as my tour progressed. This is also a very long wine on
the finish.
19+ points, matthewjukes.com, April 2016
Pauillac is Bordeaux’s most acclaimed appellation, the only one with three Premier Cru properties: Château Lafite-Rothschild, Château Mouton-Rothschild and Château Latour. These and other Pauillac chateaux produce robust, full-flavored and long-lived red wines made from Cabernet-based blends. Though winemaking techniques and microclimates vary throughout Pauillac, producing some variations in style, classic Pauillac wines have juicy flavours of blackcurrant and cedar, often with coffee, chocolate and graphite notes. Pauillac, part of the Médoc region on Bordeaux’s Left Bank, has gravelly and well-drained soils that force vines to grow long and strong roots. Struggling a bit for water, the vines produce grapes with high tannins and concentrated juices. Nearby rivers and the Atlantic Ocean modulate temperatures, preventing the grapes from ripening too quickly. Such grapes make powerful wines that may age and improve for decades. However, in Pauillac, as in other old-world wine regions, some winemakers are working to develop softer red wines that maintain the local wines’ traditional substance and flavours, but are more approachable immediately upon release.
