Château Pontet-Canet 2016
From a longstanding favourite, Château Pontet Canet, which has been on meteoric form since 2005 and firmly stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Châteaux Leoville Las Cases, Cos d’Estournel and Ducru Beaucaillou year-in-year-out and in some vintages competing with the First Growths…
Alfred Tesseron and his team have produced a superb wine in 2016 @ £645.00 IB per case of six.
Waud Investment Wines have purchased 100 cases of Château Pontet-Canet 2016 for our various syndicates.
98-99 James Suckling “Vivid and full of energy with blackberry, currant and salt. Full body, intense and long. Harmony. Purpose. Classicism. The mineral and currant character is all year. A seamless tannin texture. Great wine. You want to drink it now”
96-99 Antonio Galloni “The 2016 Pontet-Canet has been absolutely brilliant on the three occasions I’ve tasted it so far. Exotically ripe, powerful and voluptuous, it brings together the richness of the 2009 with the structure of the 2010. There aren’t too many other 2016s where that is the case, but it is undoubtedly true here. The 2016 is a spectacular wine by any measure, while Pontet-Canet confirms its rarefied place as a true original in Bordeaux. Technical director Jean-Michel Comme added that Cabernet Sauvignon plays a slightly lesser role in the blend because the berries had less juice than normal at harvest. Comme also bumped up the new oak slightly, to 55 percent. The rest of the wine was aged in neutral oak (10 percent) and amphora (35 percent). In a word: Superb. Tasted three times.”
97-99 Jeff Leve “Cassis drenched flowers, lead pencil, clay, spice, blackberry and cigar box aromatics win you over immediately. Purity and freshness, balance and harmony with length and character, this wine sneaks up on you — it tastes and feels wonderful. The finish keeps going, building in intensity and flavor, moving from red to black fruits, leaving you with red berries, spice and minerality. The tannins are silky, the fruit is sweet and there is more than ample lift here. The wine just does not quit. Produced from blending 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, the wine is aging in 55% new French oak barrels, 35% in amphora and the remainder of wine in one year old casks”
97-99 Roger Voss “This wine is so dense and concentrated, with magnificent fruit. The tannins are velvety, but, at the same time, the wine has a dry side that will allow it to age so well. Juicy blackberries and great tannins work in harmony. The estate is in its seventh vintage certified biodynamic”
18.0 Jancis Robinson “Very dark crimson. More savoury and sumptuous than many of its neighbours. Blackberry compote and very round and rich and satiny. Very round. Almost too sweet but that is to complain needlessly. Already rich and enjoyable but masses of tannins too. Long and throbbing. Excellent with freshness and cleanliness and round. Pretty sweet though so it’s a definite style.”
95-97 Neal Martin “The 2016 Pontet-Canet is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% Petit Verdot and 39% Merlot, less Cabernet this year because of the size of the berries. I tasted the wine on two visits to the property around two weeks apart, plus additional tastings at négoçiants. It has an intense bouquet with layers of blackberry, sloes and fresh mint, just a hint of black truffle in the background. It is certainly a little more opulent compared to its peers. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine tannin, a little spicier than I expected (in a positive sense) with gentle grip in the mouth. It fans out with confidence, a voluminous Pontet-Canet with an extremely persistent aftertaste, and a saline and balsamic finish. This is an extravagant Pauillac for the vintage that will age over many years.”
97 Jane Anson / Decanter “This is richly layered with seductively ripe fruit. The quality and texture of the brambled blackberries, cassis and bilberries is striking. There is a sense of lightness and juiciness but also depth and flesh – you can feel the joy of that contrast at every step as the wine stretches out in front of you, hard to resist. 2016 is another vintage where they are up at 95%+ of grand vin, this year aged in 55% new casks, 10% in one year old casks and 35% in amphorae. Feel the effects of biodynamics make Pontet Canet stand out for its energy and lush tannins, even with the concentration of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot.”
For all Bordeaux En Primeur enquiries, please contact charles@waudinvestmentwines.com or call +44 20 7940 5516