Wine Advisor
Pontet Canet 2001
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at Bordeaux Index’s Pontet-Canet dinner at The Ledbury. The ’01 is a great Pontet-Canet. It has a classic nose of graphite, blackberry, cedar and oyster shell with great definition and intensity. With time it develops more Margaux-like, floral aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, crisp and tense with a graceful, more feminine finish that displays great precision and poise. Superb. Tasted February 2011.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
This is rather muffled on the nose with leather, wild strawberry, game and chestnut. Missing that Pauillac cedar-quality. The palate is medium-bodied, sinewy, dense, lacking some finesse and poise with a very ripe, fleshy finish of raspberry and leather. Needs more time. Just lacks some flair. Tasted October 2007.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Pontet Canet's 2001 shows plenty of tannin but more seductiveness than it did in 2002. Some of the hard, angular components have aged out, and the wine exhibits more flesh along with a dense purple color and a sweet nose of creme de cassis, new saddle leather, and earth. It does not have the size of the 2000, but it is developing more and more elegance, purity, and weight as it ages. Anticipated maturity: 2007-2018.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted blind at Bordeaux Index’s 10-Year On horizontal. This has a very well defined, very fresh bouquet with blackberry, black plum, cedar, graphite and a touch of undergrowth. There is a certain “honesty” to this nose. The palate is medium-bodied with good grip, a little dry on the entry, quite foursquare but so well balanced and displaying such clarity on the finish, with hints of cedar and truffle lingering on the aftertaste. Superb. Tasted March 2011.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Muted on the nose at en primeur, masculine but very pure and concentrated. Then at the CECWINE tasting May 2005. A fresh, cedar, blackberry nose with fine definition. The palate is overtly modern in style, sleek and smooth with lots of vanillary oak. Good acidity though the tannins are a bit unresolved on the finish. Again needs another 3-4 years. For those that prefer a richer, modern style of Pauillac. Then at the IMW tasting in November 2005. A great Pauillac 2001 from a chateau that is in the ascendant. A vivacious, almost hedonistic nose with ebullient ripe black cherry and cassis. The palate is full-bodied, rich and decadent, with layers of toasty new oak but good acidity cutting through. Very fine.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at Berry Bros. vertical in London. I must say, the nose is quite delectable with wonderful definition and harmony. There are notes of blackberry, wild hedgerow, a touch of shellfish, a little cedar and smoke coming through with a hint of pencil box. The palate is medium-bodied and showing more finesse than the 2003, perhaps with finer tannins, a more feminine Pontet-Canet. Very focused, still quite primal, very seductive towards the rounded, plum finish with very faint hints of smoked meats. Great harmony and focus. This is certainly beginning to open although it would need serious decanting. Tasted October 2009.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Pontet Canet's 2001 is less evolved than usual at this point in its evolution (many estates had slow malolactics in 2001). The wine reveals hard, angular characteristics along with sweet cassis fruit, medium body, and excellent purity. At present, it is austere and lacking the fat and texture obvious in Pontet Canet's superb 2000. It should flesh out with additional barrel aging, but I do not expect it to achieve the heights of the 2000, 1996, 1995, or 1994. Time will tell. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2020.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
One of the great estates of the Medoc, Pontet-Canet has enjoyed increasing attention as well as a draconian selection process by owner Albert Tesseron ever since his breakthrough vintage of 1994. The 2001 does not possess the power of the 2000 or the huge 2003, but it is still a very fine albeit tannic, lighter wine. A blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, and small percentages of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, it was produced from modest yields of 37 hectoliters per hectare. Revealing classic cassis aromas, medium to full body, a firm structure with plenty of finesse, a closed personality, and dominant as well as intrusive tannin, it should age well for 12-20 years, but patience will be required. Certainly the concentration appears up to the level of the tannin. Anticipated maturity: 2007-2017.
About the Producer
The history of Château Pontet-Canet dates back to the early 18th century when Jean-François de Pontet, grand equerry of the king became governor of the Medoc, brings together several parcels of land located in Pauillac. Subsequently, his descendants add the vineyards adjoining the locality Canet: Château Pontet-Canet was born. One hundred years later, the famous classification of 1855 included Château Pontet-Canet among the elite of the Médoc viticulture. This rise did not escape one of the first Bordeaux merchants of the time, Herman Cruse, who bought the property in 1865. He built new cellars, modernized the facilities and made this wine known throughout the world. The Cruse family managedthe property for 110 years, until another merchant, but from Cognac, Guy Tesseron, bought it in 1975. Thus, in more than two hundred years, Château Pontet-Canet knew only three different owners. Today, it is the son of Guy Tesseron, Alfred Tesseron who is at the head of the field. The Château Pontet-Canet terroir consists of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. The property is 120 hectares of which 80 hectares are dedicated to the breeding of the vine. Led by Jean Michel Comme, Château Pontet-Canet’s viticulture has gone from conventional cultivation to organic farming and biodynamic farming. Thus, the terroirs, worked daily by Breton horses, have found their originality.
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