Château Pontet Canet, 5ème Cru Classé, Pauillac, 2023
This is the best Pontet Canet since the magnificent 2010. After more than a decade somewhat in the doldrums, Pontet is back with a beautiful 2023. Justine explained they had a bit of rain in March and June, but they didn't really experience much mildew pressure. Two heat spikes late August and early September required a little kaolin sunscreen, which they adopted in 2022 to cope with the extreme conditions. She describes the 2023 as "éclatant", which is roughly translated as brilliant or bright, an apt depiction. Somewhat muted initially, then revealing hints of dark mulberry and violets. This is measured with a clarity to the dark, mineral fruit; there's also a mineral seam at its core that provides freshness. Lots of clear textured fruit framed by sumptuous, plush tannins. This graceful, unforced style really suits Pontet Canet; a wine of impeccable balance with a long cassis, mineral and fine salt finish. Excellent. 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot, matured in 50% new oak, 35% amphorae and 15% one year old barrels.
critic reviews
Meeting the expectations set at the en primeur tastings, the 2023 Pontet-Canet wafts from the glass with a vibrant, perfumed bouquet of cassis, mulberries, rose petals, pencil shavings and licorice. Medium- to full-bodied, seamless and pure, it is layered and precise, framed by filigreed tannins and delivering a powerful yet controlled profile that extends into a long, crystalline, licorice-inflected finish. A blend of 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot, it signals a new aesthetic era for the estate, marked by greater purity, brightness and precision.
One of the wines of the vintage. Slow and steady unrolling of spice, capsicum, fresh acidities, crushed oyster shell and peony, cassis, squid ink and blueberry. Elegant and finessed, capturing the heart of Cabernet Sauvignon in a way that makes me think of Zuccardi and Malbec. Bright unrolling through the palate, great precision and quality with a ton of freshly cut herbs, black tea and fennel, giving life and focus. This was blended before ageing for the first time for at least a decade. Vinified in egg-shaped wooden vats and sunken qvevri-style clay vats. 50% new oak for ageing, with 35% amphora and 15% one year old barrels. New lighter bottle as of the 2022 around 490g, down from 815g in the past, 30 tonnes of CO2 saved just in terms of production. Harvest September 7, one day earlier than 2022, then slow picking through to October 10, later than many in Pauillac - and normal yields of around 40hl/h. Technical director here Mathieu Bessonnet.
The 2023 Pontet Canet was bottled in mid-July 2025 and it was the first vintage that used air conditioning in the barrel cellar, also the first not using the large vats. There was also a reconfiguration of cooperages used during the ageing. It has a tightly knit bouquet with those dark cherries and blackcurrant scents noted previously, albeit with a subtle cassis scent emerging with time. This is nicely poised and more classical in style compared to previous vintages. Free sulphites here are around 30 mg/L. The palate is medium-bodied with fine, slightly edgy tannins, more tension and mineralité tucked into this vintage than the 2022. Nicely composed towards the finish with a residual pepperiness that lingers, this is a fine Pontet Canet. Tasted three times including at the château.
The 2023 Pontet-Canet is deep garnet-purple in color. Notes of juicy blueberries, black cherries, and blackcurrant jelly spill from the glass, giving way to nuances of violets, black truffle, fertile loam, and mossy tree bark with a hint of cardamom. The medium-bodied palate is so, so silky, elegant, and fine, with perfumed black and blue fruit layers and beautiful tension, finishing long with lots of shimmery mineral and floral sparkles. The blend is 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Petit Verdot, aged in 50% new oak, 35% amphorae, and 15% used barrels. With an alcohol this year of just 13.8%, this is a beautifully poised, tightly packed powerhouse that promises to keep the firework displays bedazzling collectors for many years to come.