Château Pontet Canet, 5ème Cru Classé, Pauillac, 2019

Name: Château Pontet Canet, 5ème Cru Classé, Pauillac
Brand: Château Pontet Canet

Available Vintages

all 2005 2009 2015 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

justerini & brooks tasting note

Justine explained that they sprayed a kaolin clay solution over the wines to protect the grapes from sunburn. Strange aromas of clay and earth initially, followed by some primary fruit and floral notes. The palate is more Pauillac in profile with a huge well of jammy blackcurrant and gravelly cassis. The mid-palate feels quite sophisticated and refined, albeit in a big dark style. Whilst the tannins are dialled down compared with recent years, they are still rather firm and need to resolve during élevage. 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot.

critic reviews

92/100Neal Martin,Vinous

The 2019 Pontet-Canet is the outlier in the flight with its arresting exotic blueberry, cassis and mulberry scents. It is attractive, seductive even, yet it is cut from a totally different cloth to other wines in the flight of Pauillacs. The palate steers it back towards Bordeaux, albeit not all the way. Grainy tannins, mulberry and game, almost Syrah-like in style. Quite powerful, this has a chewy finish with some dry tannins. Perplexing. Fascinating. Sui generis. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting.

DRINKING WINDOW 2024 - 2038

date of review 02/2023

99/100Lisa Perrotti-Brown,The Wine Independent

The 2019 Pontet-Canet is made from 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot. Deep garnet-purple colored, it is a little shy to begin, slowly drifting out of the glass with an evocative perfume of violets, black tea, rose petals, and cinnamon stick over a core of cassis, juicy blackberries, and black cherries, plus touches of star anise and cardamom. Medium to full-bodied, concentrated, and delivering layer upon layer of black fruits and savory accents, it has a firm, ripe, grainy texture and just enough freshness, finishing very long and fragrant. So stunningly vibrant that it shimmers, give it a good four years further in the cellar to open out and enjoy its transformation over the next 40 years+. Tasted three times with consistent notes.

DRINKING WINDOW 2026 - 2066

date of review 05/2022

98/100Jane Anson,Inside Bordeaux

Particularly successful during En Primeur, and even better now, just bursting out of the glass. Plump and fruit forward, plenty of character, with spiced cedar and smoked earth, violet and iris notes play around the edges, but the focus is on creamy cassis, bilberry, cocoa bean and aniseed. Last vintage with Jean-Michel Comme as technical director, and you really now see the skilled use of amphoras, which added notes of austerity in the early years (they introduced them in 2012) but now showcase the precision of the fruit. 100% 1st wine, with the ageing taking place in a mix of 45% new oak barrels, 15% one year barrels and 40% amphoras.

DRINKING WINDOW 2024 - 2034

date of review 01/2022