2014 Ch Pontet-Canet, Pauillac, 5ème Cru
A$291.90
Chateau Pontet-Canet produces what many people call the most popular and in-demand Bordeaux wine of the appellation.
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PONCAN14
Chateau Pontet-Canet produces what many people call the most popular and in-demand Bordeaux wine of the appellation.
Pontet-Canet is a Bordeaux powerful wine. It’s concentrated, balanced, tannic and charming as well.The recent success is due to the current management of the estate by Alfred Tesseron who is helped by the director, Jean-Michel Comme.
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 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. The most important Bordeaux negociants of the day, Herman Cruse, purchased the estate in 1865. The Cruse family owned Pontet-Canet for 110 years, until another negociant, Guy Tesseron, acquired it in 1975. 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.
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 are 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.
The 2014 Pontet-Canet is dark 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! It is made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petiot Verdot.
Chateau Comments:
The colour is a steady purple. The nose is composed of forest fruit and spices with a continuous graphite line. The attack is flavourful. The evolution on the palate is dense and rich carried by a comforting freshness. One has the impression of biting into a cluster of grapes with gusto. A real Pauillac of intense pleasure.
A stunning wine for this vintage although it’s still a bit shy on the nose (more spice than fruit showing than now). There’s wet earth, too, but on the palate it’s bursting with ripe yet subtle flavors. Very long and complex finish that goes on and on.
98 points James Suckling
A final blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot, the 2014 Pontet-Canet is brilliant stuff, and I was able to taste this wine from barrel as well as multiple times from bottle, both at the estate and from a bottle purchased in the United States. It offers a sensational bouquet of crème de cassis, black raspberries, tobacco leaf, and minerals, as well as an unmistakable Pauillac lead pencil characteristics that I just adore. Possessing full-bodied richness, a rounded, surprisingly opulent, sexy texture, awesome purity, and sweet, succulent tannin, it’s a sensational 2014 that might just surpass what they accomplished in 2015.
This is a 2014 you won’t regret buying in bulk as it’s going to keep for 2-3 decades and be drinkable for the vast majority of it. Bravo to Alfred Tesseron and his team! This is a finely structured wine with dark tannins and intense black fruits. The estate, with its biodynamically grown fruit, has given an impressively pure wine, packed with tight serious tannins and a fine structure of black-plum skins and intense acidity. It is direct, firm and with a huge potential over many years.
96 points Wine Enthusiast
The 2014 Pontet-Canet seems to have put on quite a bit of weight and volume since I first tasted it from barrel. Ripe, juicy tannins wrap around a core of intense dark cherry, plum, spice, lavender and tobacco. Today, it is the wine's sheer intensity and vertical structure that stands out. I wouldn't dream of touching a bottle until at least age ten, and even that is almost certainly not going to be enough time for the 2014 to show the full breadth of its potential. The transformation the 2014 has undergone from a delicate, nuanced Pauillac to a wine of depth is quite remarkable. Tasted three times. The blend is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot, vinified in equal parts cement and oak and aged in a combination of 50% new oak, 35% amphora and 15% once used barrels. This is a gorgeous wine from the Tesseron family and the team led by Technical Director Jean-Michel Comme.
95 points Vinous
The 2014 Pontet-Canet, now in bottle, was tasted twice during my trip to Bordeaux. It has an attractive bouquet: graphite tinged black fruit, incense and violets, perhaps a little more hedonistic than I envisaged when I tasted it from barrel. The palate is medium-bodied with tensile tannin thanks to the keen line of acidity. I like the precision of this Pontet-Canet. It feels linear and correct, pencil lead notes developing towards the second half, more quintessentially Pauillac than previous vintages, with what you might describe as a classic Pauillac finish that retains the focus that I remarked upon from barrel. 94 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This delivers a notable menthol note, showing an ample core of well-steeped blackberry, plum and black currant fruit. A bright anise streak checks in on the back end, with a slightly loamy structure imparting a broad feel through the finish. Needs to pull together a bit more, but the fruit is there.
93 points Wine Spectator
Deep crimson. Rich digestive biscuits on the nose. Smooth, alluring and very different from the rest. Pretty successful actually! Rich finish. Even if there’s a slightly sour note of Marmite/yeast extract. Arresting! Jancis Robinson
| Product/Service Sold Out | No |
|---|---|
| En Primeur | No |
| New Arrivals | No |
| Wine Type | Red Wine |
| Wine Style | Traditional |
| Country | France |
| Region | Pauillac |
| Varietals | Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot |
| Vintage | 2014 |
| Bottle Size | 750ml |
| Wine Points | 98 |
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