Perfect 100 points! Extremely limited 100-Point Bordeaux. 100 Points Wine Enthusiast: "A voluptuous wine, this is rich and fruity yet properly balanced by a magnificent structure. Pure, crisp and packed with a black currant flavor, this will be a remarkable wine as it develops. Still young, it needs many years to develop. Don't think about drinking before 2025" 99 Points Antonio Galloni (Vinous): "The 2016 Pontet-Canet is absolutely breathtaking. Powerful, ample and racy in the glass, the 2016 is one of the most exquisitely well-balanced young Pontet-Canets I can remember tasting. Savory, high-toned aromatics and brisk mineral notes lend energy and delineation as this vivid wonderfully alive wine opens up in the glass. The flavors are dark and incisive, but it is the wine's total sense of harmony that is most compelling. All of the elements are simply in the right place. The 2016 is tremendous. It's as simple as that. As is often the case, Pontet-Canet is one of the most singular wines in Bordeaux. Alfred Tesseron could have chosen to play things safe when he took over the management of the estate in the mid-1990s. Instead, he chose a very different path. No proprietor in Bordeaux has taken more risks over the last two decades than Alfred Tesseron. A commitment to biodynamic farming, sustainability across the entire estate more broadly, and the adoption of new concepts for Bordeaux, such as aging a portion of the wine in terra cotta, set Pontet-Canet apart from other properties in Pauillac and the Left Bank. Not surprisingly, the wine is also starkly different from the wines of neighboring estates." 98 Points Robert Parker: 'The blend of the 2016 Pontet-Canet is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Around 55% of the wine was aged in new French oak barrels, 15% in two-year-old barrels and 35% in cement amphorae for 16 months. Deep garnet-purple colored, it opens with opulent scents of plum preserves, spice cake, hoisin and crème de cassis with fragrant wafts of potpourri, wood smoke and rose hip tea. Medium to full-bodied, rich and decadent, with loads of spicy layers, it has a firm, velvety texture with great freshness and incredible depth, finishing very long and on a compelling mineral note."
Matt Duncan
Tannic, but build for the long haul.
Tannic, but build for the long haul.
9.4John Van Trijp
En Primeur Tasting 2016 Vintage in Bordeaux
En Primeur Tasting 2016 Vintage in Bordeaux
9.8David T
Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator
Pontet Canet tasting and dinner with Alfred Tesseron. 2016 is such a beautifully, ripe and elegant vintage. The 16 stands tall from the other vintages we tasted. The body is rich, bold and thick. Beautiful dark fruits of ripe, ruby; blackberries, plum, dark cherries, strawberries and amazing blue fruits shine as it sit on the palate. There is more balance in the 16...fruits and earth. Saddle-wood, tobacco, leather, dry soil, dry & moist clay, dry stone, rich dark earth, lead pencil, bright, fresh, red, blue, dark flowers with violets. Very nice acidity with a beautiful finish. Don’t even touch a bottle for 15 plus years. This nice now but, you will only be cheating yourself out of a very special wine 15 plus years from now. Photos of; Clyde and Alfred at the bar, their Amphora style cement tanks they ferment part of each vintage now, road signs of the good neighbors they keep and Chateau Pontet Canet.
Pontet Canet tasting and dinner with Alfred Tesseron. 2016 is such a beautifully, ripe and elegant vintage. The 16 stands tall from the other vintages we tasted. The body is rich, bold and thick. Beautiful dark fruits of ripe, ruby; blackberries, plum, dark cherries, strawberries and amazing blue fruits shine as it sit on the palate. There is more balance in the 16...fruits and earth. Saddle-wood, tobacco, leather, dry soil, dry & moist clay, dry stone, rich dark earth, lead pencil, bright, fresh, red, blue, dark flowers with violets. Very nice acidity with a beautiful finish. Don’t even touch a bottle for 15 plus years. This nice now but, you will only be cheating yourself out of a very special wine 15 plus years from now. Photos of; Clyde and Alfred at the bar, their Amphora style cement tanks they ferment part of each vintage now, road signs of the good neighbors they keep and Chateau Pontet Canet.
9.5Jan de Weerd
If I could use just one word? Intense! Still tight but the layers of dark fruit are starting to shine through the angular, lead pencil soaked tannins. Everything is super balanced and leads you to a grippy, lingering finish. Drinking it right here in the Idaho Mountains! What a life. Oh, talking about Idaho. It finally got on the map of Wine Folly! Do you want to personally visit some of the best Idaho wineries and try their outstanding wines? Go to www.spokenwines.com
If I could use just one word? Intense! Still tight but the layers of dark fruit are starting to shine through the angular, lead pencil soaked tannins. Everything is super balanced and leads you to a grippy, lingering finish. Drinking it right here in the Idaho Mountains! What a life. Oh, talking about Idaho. It finally got on the map of Wine Folly! Do you want to personally visit some of the best Idaho wineries and try their outstanding wines? Go to www.spokenwines.com
9.6Maria Koehler
Very amazing Pauillac the vintage will get better I understand but we did not want to test this hypothesis - quite amazing
Very amazing Pauillac the vintage will get better I understand but we did not want to test this hypothesis - quite amazing
9.6Adriana Fabbro
Another spectacular bottle from ‘16. Oak a little more prominent. Dense. Generous aromatics. Revisit in 10 years.
Another spectacular bottle from ‘16. Oak a little more prominent. Dense. Generous aromatics. Revisit in 10 years.
9.3Thomas Hanft
Excellent wine. Bold yet Suttle.
Excellent wine. Bold yet Suttle.
9.5Scott Soren
Rich and opulent. This 100pt behemoth showed off its true colors. While young it exuded everything one could hope for from this famed estate. Deep black fruit with smooth tannin structure. Cassis and pencil shavings with hints of coco. Smooth as a babies bottom. Long lingering finish. More please
Rich and opulent. This 100pt behemoth showed off its true colors. While young it exuded everything one could hope for from this famed estate. Deep black fruit with smooth tannin structure. Cassis and pencil shavings with hints of coco. Smooth as a babies bottom. Long lingering finish. More please
9.8Jeffrey Vlasic
Needs time
Needs time
9.4WARNING: DRINKING DISTILLED SPIRITS, BEER, COOLERS, WINE AND OTHER ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES MAY INCREASE CANCER RISK, AND, DURING PREGNANCY, CAN CAUSE BIRTH DEFECTS.