2025 Pontet Canet

Auslieferung bis Herbst 2028!
Delivery until Fall 2028!

Inky but vivid bright plum colour, tannins at the front of the mouth, a ton of energy, if reserved at this early stage. Expect graphite and crayon, lovely lift and floral Cabernet Sauvignon character; low yields like much of Pauillac and small berries ensuring the tannins are plentiful. Walks the line of fresh and juicy flavours alongside a brooding concentrated architecture, huge ageing potential with cold ash and gunsmoke nuance. Although there was some rain at end of June and July, this was still a dry vintage, and vineyard work including braiding the vines for shade and applying chamomile as sunscreen, so they coped better than in 2022 overall. Harvest September 2 to 23, indigenous yeasts that are specific to the vintage, 40% new oak, 35% clay amphoras, 15% one year old barrels. Extended maceration, low SO2 with zero added until after fermentation.
96/100 Jane Anson

(Pauillac; 56% Cabernet Sauvignon; 39% Merlot; 4% Cabernet Franc; 1% Petit Verdot; pH 3.71; 13.3% alcohol; 4-6 weeks of maceration, but very gently with only punching over; the same aging protocol as in recent vintages). Tasted at the property with the talented technical director, Mathieu Bessonnet. A little closed at first, even when served from the decanter. But that allows you to see what one might otherwise miss as the wine opens. This has a delicate florality that interweaves itself with the fruit and, as this inhales, we find that iconic cassis component coming through with aeration. It’s very beautiful when it does so, but one needs a little patience. Pontet Canet 2025 is plump and plush in its blend of red and darker berry fruits, with a little thyme. It’s also saline in its minerality, distinctly so. On the palate, it’s darker-hued, with the fruit profile seemingly evolving or resolving itself towards the darker stone fruits – plums, damsons above all – and a little bramble. We pick up again that distinct wild florality and more and more cassis floods the palate with gentle aeration in the mouth. There’s plenty of Pauillac graphite too. The tannins are quite chewy on the finish at this stage and this is distinctly peppery – rose and black peppercorns freshly pounded. It’s crystalline but not quite as aerial and luminous as some recent vintages. Indeed, for Pontet Canet I find this reassuringly substantial, but also pleasingly sapid and fresh on the lifted finish.
95-97/100 Colin Hay; The Drinks Business