Chateau Pontet Canet is a 5th growth wine in the 1855 Classification system situated in the Pauillac region. It is named after Jean Francois de Pontet, a former owner, who was also the royal governor of the Medoc. After his death, his descendants continued to buy vineyards including a section in the region of Canet. This is how the name of the winery was established.
After the vineyard was classified a 5th growth in 1855, an important negociant named Herman Cruse purchased the estate in 1865. The Cruse family owned Pontet-Canet until Guy Tesseron purchased the winery in 1975. The Terrerson family is famous for Cognac but also owned Chateau Lafon Rochet in St. Estephe at that time.
The Tesseron family replanted the vineyards and Alfred Tesseron took over management of the estate in 1994. In 2010, Chateau Pontet Canet became the first major Bordeaux wine producer to earn the official Agence Bio (AB) organic certification. Pontet Canet uses horses to walk in the vineyards to turn over the soil. Horses never step in the same place twice so different parts of the soil are aerated. Horses are also more gentle when they churn the soil compared to tractors. Starting with the 2017 vintage, all the grapes destemmed by hand. All grapes are hand sorted.
The vineyard is 81-hectares consisting of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. The soil is deep gravel with clay and limestone.
The wine is vinified in 11, 80 hectoliter, conical-shaped wood vats and 37, 80 hectoliter, concrete tanks. 25% of the harvest is aged in 900-liter amphorae jars and 50% of the harvest is aged in new French oak barrels.The amphorae jars used for aging are 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. The amphorae jars are said to add more minerality to the wines, along with additional soft textures.
On average, the estate produces about 25,000 cases of wine per year.
The 2016 vintage was a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc & 2% Petit Verdot.
For more information about the winery, please visit their website at https://www.pontet-canet.com/
9 Comments
had the 2020 was delicious , some of the best value out there IMO
BeUTIFUL glass. Is that riedel veritas grand cru?
A lovely wine for sure ! Had the chance to taste the 2016 PC with Justine Tesseron in 2023 in Geneva along with other bordeaux classés. It was for me the wine of the night by a large margin, followed by 2015 Rauzan-Ségla. This wine is now a staple in my cellar. Excellent review Tony, cheers !
Aside from the 2012, pontet canet has been performing exceptionally. Some mark it as a victim of parkerisation, but I found the vintages to perform well in blind tasting
Excited to hearing the glowing review about P-C, which is my first Trophy Wine from the Left Bank!
Hearing that it drinks well younger thanks to the amphora aging is very encouraging for me since I may not be patient to wait the prescribed number of 10-12 years!
I bough a case of 2016’s right before the pandemic. I then search prices recently and realized how much inflation increased prices. Crazy times
I plow my vineyard with horse for years and yet, I have not even posted an instagram story about this and these guys have a dedicated website for horse plowing and its amazing effects on wine. French are really the best, in marketing😅
Could I recommend a wine for you? The Leitz Riesling Trocken VDP 2023. It‘s an amazing Riesling for only 9€ in Germany, honestly, I can only recommend it!
Excellent video. Excellent wine.