Château Pontet-Canet 2000

$222.00
Out of stock
SKU
4537-2000

• Domaine: Château Pontet Canet
• Appellation: Pauillac
• Classification: Fifth Growth, 5ème Grand Cru Classé
• Origin: Left Bank, Bordeaux, France

Many estates in Bordeaux have no qualms embracing the most cutting-edge viticultural technology to improve their chances at producing quality wines.  From cryogenic extraction to hail cannons, countless Classified Growths use these sophisticated instruments and constantly look toward the future. At Château Pontet-Canet, they often look to practices of the past both in the vineyards and the vat room.  The results speak for themselves.  Without a doubt, Château Pontet-Canet has experienced a meteoric rise in demand, producing knockout wines of astounding quality vintage after vintage. 

Château Pontet-Canet is a Pauillac estate with origins dating back to the 18th Century. It derives its namesake from the owner, Jean Francois de Pontet, who expanded the vineyard holdings by purchasing new property around the estate.  Several years after his death, his descendants acquired newer plots of land including some in the Canet area and thus, it was aptly named Château Pontet-Canet.  Once the vineyard was fully established, it was one of the largest estates in the Médoc.  Château Pontet-Canet was classified as a Fifth Growth in 1855 and acquired by the Cruse family who owned the estate for 110 years.  By 1975, the vineyards had fallen into a state of disrepair.  The Cruse family sold it to the Tesseron family, a well-known name in the Bordeaux Wine Trade.  They were faced with the momentous task of bringing the vines of Pontet-Canet to its former glory. It was a task perfectly fit for the legendary figure Alfred Tesseron.

Since the Tesseron family took over the estate, they implemented radical changes.  Alfred Tesseron does not view himself as a winemaker, he views himself as a farmer.  Because of this, the majority of the work at Château Pontet-Canet is about cultivating the best fruit possible and creating wines people want to drink, not taste. Tesseron partnered with Jean Michel Comme, who introduced him to biodynamic viticulture.  With commitment and determination, the entire estate was certified biodynamic.  Today, everything is done by hand at Château Pontet Canet, and no electricity is used during picking or sorting whatsoever.  There is a very firm ethos here based on the idea that less is more - and it definitely shows.  Donkeys and Cows are on the property to cultivate organic fertilizer and the fields are ploughed by horses (who occasionally eat the grapes.)

In the Vat Room, there are no computers surveying the fermentation process or electronic devices pumping the wines.  Instead, it is a gravity flow operation with members of the Pontet-Canet team surveying the fermentations that occur, 24 hours a day.  The wines are aged in a mixture of French Oak barrels and special amphorae that are created from the same limestone in the soil of the vineyards, reintegrating the wine with the terroir it came from.  The results are powerful, friendly, and charming wines that are meant to be enjoyed, appreciated, and laid down to age.

Tasting Notes

"Upgraded in score over my original rating, which was several points lower, Alfred Tesseron has done a remarkable job since 1994 with Pontet-Canet, which has been hitting first-growth levels since 2003. But the 2000 also shows exceptionally well. In need of another decade of cellaring, this dense purple wine has a classic nose of incense, charcoal, creme de cassis, and subtle new oak. Full-bodied, powerful, still very tannic, and shockingly backward, this is a big, rich wine that has put on weight and seems to need more time than I Originlly predicted. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2035+." - Robert Parker Jr., The Wine Advocate (6/28/2010, Issue 189), Ratings: 94+, Drink: 2015-2035


More Information
Stock Status Out of Stock
Appellation Pauillac
Vintage 2000
Brand Chateau Pontet-Canet
Shipping Weight 3.000000

 

Pauillac is best known as the appellation that produces 3 of the 5 First Growths estates in Bordeaux. Blessed by an exceptional terroir, Pauillac is located in the northern part of the Médoc peninsula, on the Left Bank along the Gironde estuary, an ideal placement contributing to moderating the climate and providing optimal conditions for wine cultivation. Pauillac is bordered by two other prestigious wine appellations: Saint-Estèphe to the north and Saint-Julien to the south.

Pauillac's terroir, characterized by gravelly soils, is often considered one of the finest for the production of Cabernet Sauvignon, the predominant grape in Pauillac’s blends. The gravel helps with drainage and reflects heat, encouraging ripening and concentration of flavors in Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec grapes. Such exceptional predispositions explain that Pauillac is home to some of Bordeaux's most renowned and iconic wine estates. They include First Growths estates such as Château Lafite Rothschild, Château Mouton Rothschild, and Château Latour. Other famous estates include Château Pichon-Longueville Baron, Château Pichon-Lalande, Château Duhart-Milon, Château Pontet-Canet, Château Batailley, Château Lynch Bages, Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste, Château Grand-Puy Ducasse, Château Haut-Batailley, Château Lynch-Moussas, Château d'Armailhac, Château Haut-Bages Liberal, Château Pedesclaux, Château Clerc Milon, Château Croizet-Bages.

Pauillac wines are known for their deep color, complex aromas, and rich, full-bodied flavors, including notes of cassis, blackcurrant, cedar, tobacco, and graphite, with a pronounced tannic structure, which require several years or even decades of bottle aging to reveal their full potential. 

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