2012-CHÂTEAU-PONTET-CANET-5ème-Cru-Classé-Pauillac

CHÂTEAU PONTET CANET

2012 5ème Cru Classé Pauillac

Colour Red
Origin France, Bordeaux
Sub-district Haut Médoc
Village Pauillac
Classification 5ème Cru Classé
ABV 14%

65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot - exactly the same blend as the previous three vintages. Deep but not excessively dark colour, round, 'toffeed', gentle. The new cast concrete amphorae represent 40% of the elevage, with the rest in barriques - of which 60% new. Smoothly voluminous and widely mouthfilling, a very spherical feel. Tannins build. Pretty seriously rich and dense and long, but missing, compared with the really great vintages here in recent years, that line of focus and definition, the light to sharpen the shadows. Rating: 93 L&S (Apr 2013)


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The 2012 Pontet-Contet is fleshy and more Right Bank in style than its peers with pure red fruit, leather and light sous-bois notes. The palate is medium-bodied with a bitter entry, plenty of bell pepper notes that feel just a little green towards the finish. This is the second time that I have tasted this Pontet-Canet blind, and I just don't find it successful compared to other vintages. Tasted blind at the Southwold Ten-Year On tasting. Rating: 88 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Sept 2022)

Rich tawny plum, full of warmth in colour. We asked for a 2nd bottle of this wine during the tasting, so I should warn you there might be variation, and it was not the most successful in the lineup. This was the year that they stopped having the wine entirely aged in barrel (a mix of new and one year old). Instead they brought in 100 amphoras for 35% of the production, 900l in size and made from the clay of Pontet Canet. It clearly makes a difference to the expression, and there is a beautifully nuanced, finessed feel to the raspberry, black cherry and cassis fruits, studded with saffron and sage and still gently held in place by Pauillac tannins. It makes for an interesting study in a vertical but this is not the vintage that I would most recommend to people trying to understand why Pontet Canet reaches the heights that it does. Harvest October 4 to 11. Drinking range: 2021 - 2040 Rating: 91 Jane Anson, www.janeanson.com (Oct 2021)

A wine of real class, pedigree and distinction, the 2012 Pontet-Canet is absolutely gorgeous. The flavors are beautifully nuanced and delineated throughout. Bright floral notes add lift and sensuality. The 2012 is decidedly understated next to some other recent vintages, but the magic of this site simply won't be denied. This is another sublime wine from proprietor Alfred Tesseron. Drinking range: 2018 - 2032 Rating: 93 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Jan 2016)

Château Pontet Canet

Pauillac Cinquième cru 1855 Such is the speed with which Pontet-Canet's star has risen of recent that it could almost feel as if it's a new estate bursting on to the scene. But it has a long history, in keeping with its noble neighbours, but a long history of under-achievement, a moniker it has only just shaken off. During the 18th Century, Jean-François de Pontet, and his descendants, built up a very healthy portfolio of vineyard in the Médoc. Those that they owned in St Julien were, eventually, disposed of but the large estate that they assembled in Pauillac was retained and has resisted the fragmentation that afflicted so many Médoc estates over the years. Consequently, at 80ha of vines in a 120ha estate, Pontet-Canet is one of the largest Cru Classé estates. By the time of the 1855 classification, despite being the neighbour of Mouton-Rothschild and Lafite, Pontet-Canet could "only" scrape 5th Growth status. Herman Cruse bought the run down estate in 1865 and, initially, put in the neccessary investment to realise the vineyard's potential. But, by the mid-20th Century, Pontet-Canet's production was mediocre at best. Salvation came when the Cruse family, beset with scandal, were forced to sell Pontet-Canet to a Cognac shipper Guy Tesseron in 1975. He, with his son Alfred, have, at last, allowed Pontet-Canet to blossom. It has taken a lot of work, a lot of investment, and a lot of time to perform the miracle but, since the mid-1990's, Pontet-Canet has produced wines of immense quality and longevity, much loved by Robert Parker and far exceeding 5th Growth status. Lying on a wide plateau of poor gravel soils, with Mouton Rothschild and d'Armailhac immediately to the north and the Carruades de Lafite vineyard to the west, Pontet-Canet is planted to 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. The vineyards are farmed biodynamically, the first classed growth vineyard in the Médoc to do so. In keeping with that, they have eschewed tractors in favour of horses, who's hooves are kinder to the soil than tractor tyres. The Grand Vin spends 16 to 20 months in wood, of which 60% typically is new. There is a second wine - Les Hauts de Pontet Canet.

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