Chateau Pontet-Canet 2000
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James Suckling
A lovely lead-in of singed cedar and vanilla notes gives way to slightly taut, racy red and black currant fruit flavors that drive nicely through an iron-edged finish. Rather sleek and tightly focused, relying more on minerality than power.—2000 Bordeaux blind retrospective (December 2015). Drink now through 2023.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Tasted at the Pontet-Canet vertical, the 2000 Château Pontet-Canet is perhaps where things start getting interesting, as Alfred Tesseron's top-to-toe reconfiguration of the vineyard and vinification began to impact and ameliorate the wine. It has a lovely bouquet of blackberry and briary fruit, hints of black truffle developing, later damp earth. There is an intensity here, if not the complexity of the best millennial Pauillacs. The palate is medium-bodied with a mixture of red and black fruit, cedar and sous-bois percolating up through and rendering it a "serious" Pontet-Canet in keeping with the vintage. There is a subtle and yet insistent grip on the finish. It has always been a tannic wine, but these are now softening, albeit at a slower pace than some might like. Therefore, I might be inclined to hold on to bottles for another 3-4 years. Tasted February 2016.
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Wine Spectator
A lovely lead-in of singed cedar and vanilla notes gives way to slightly taut, racy red and black currant fruit flavors that drive nicely through an iron-edged finish. Rather sleek and tightly focused, relying more on minerality than power.—2000 Bordeaux blind retrospective (December 2015). Drink now through 2023.
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Wine Enthusiast
This is a very modern style of wine, with generous new wood and super-ripe fruit flavors, balancing with polished solid tannins. Very international in style, it is good, but could come from anywhere.
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Jean Francois Pontet, Royal Master of the Horse in the early 18th Century, bought and consolidated several plots of land located northwest of Pauillac. Several years later, in 1750, his descendants bought neighboring vineyards in an area named "Canet", thus creating one of the largest estates in the entire Medoc. Chateau Pontet-Canet's topography and soil predestined it to produce great wine.
In 1865, the noted wine shipper Hermann Cruse acquired the chateau and its 120 hectares of vones. The Cruse dynasty provided the financial means to make one of the greatest wines in the Medoc. In 1975, Guy Tesseron, solidly implanted in the Cognac region, and owner of Lafon Rochet in St-Estephe, purchsed Pontet-Canet.
The family's avowed ambition is to pass on the history of Chateau Pontet-Canet and secure its future. Today, it is Guy Tesseron’s descendants who own the estate today: Alfred and his nieces Mélanie and Philippine, daughters of his late brother Gérard. Together, they have the same outlook. Alfred shares his vision of the estate with Mélanie, passing on to her its traditions, his outlook on vinegrowing and his passion for wine.
In 2004, the year of the first biodynamic trial which took place on 14 hectares, the wines were radiant, tighter and brighter. Alfred urged Jean-Michel to go further. The estate was fully converted to biodynamic agriculture. This decision became a commitment and a challenge, but also a first for a Médoc Classified Growth.
Since then, with each vintage comes new knowledge, furthering the understanding of the terroir in a profound way. The vine’s resistance to disease is better known today, the understanding of how different parcels behave has improved, always in keeping with biodynamic principles. It requires sincerity, pragmatism and transparency: in a nutshell, absolute dedication.
The wines of Chateau Pontet-Canet obtained organic certification from Ecocert and biodynamic certification from Biodyvin in 2010 and from Demeter in 2014.
A shared state of mind and a particular sensitivity are the key factors which have propelled Chateau Pontet-Canet to the summit of Bordeaux wines in recent years. They are the expression of the Tesseron family’s quiet determination to ensure continuity over the long term.