Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A stunning wine for this vintage although it’s still a bit shy on the nose (more spice than fruit showing than now). There’s wet earth, too, but on the palate it’s bursting with ripe yet subtle flavors. Very long and complex finish that goes on and on.
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Decanter
Classic Cabernet nose of cassis. Lovely purity and depth with a silky texture that caresses the palate - more obviously Pontet-Canet than Pauillac. An extremely fine wine almost in a class of its own.
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Jeb Dunnuck
A final blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot, the 2014 Pontet-Canet is brilliant stuff, and I was able to taste this wine from barrel as well as multiple times from bottle, both at the estate and from a bottle purchased in the United States. It offers a sensational bouquet of crème de cassis, black raspberries, tobacco leaf, and minerals, as well as an unmistakable Pauillac lead pencil characteristics that I just adore. Possessing full-bodied richness, a rounded, surprisingly opulent, sexy texture, awesome purity, and sweet, succulent tannin, it’s a sensational 2014 that might just surpass what they accomplished in 2015. This is a 2014 you won’t regret buying in bulk as it’s going to keep for 2-3 decades and be drinkable for the vast majority of it. Bravo to Alfred Tesseron and his team!
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Wine Enthusiast
This is a finely structured wine with dark tannins and intense black fruits. The estate, with its biodynamically grown fruit, has given an impressively pure wine, packed with tight serious tannins and a fine structure of black-plum skins and intense acidity. It is direct, firm and with a huge potential over many years. Drink from 2027.
Cellar Selection -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Deep garnet with a hint of purple to the color, the 2014 Pontet-Canet gives a very serious, classic Pauillac nose of blackcurrant preserves, baked blackberries and warm black plums with suggestions of menthol, pencil lead, woodsmoke, cassia and cast-iron pan plus a hint of baking spices. Medium to full-bodied, it fills the mouth with black and blue fruit preserves with a rock-solid frame of grainy tannins and bold freshness, giving lift to the long, exotic spice-laced finish. It is approachable now, but really should start to make jaws drop in another 4-5 years.
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Wine Spectator
This delivers a notable menthol note, showing an ample core of well-steeped blackberry, plum and black currant fruit. A bright anise streak checks in on the back end, with a slightly loamy structure. Best from 2020 through 2030.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
The leader on the Left Bank in number of first growth classified producers within its boundaries, Pauillac has more than any of the other appellations, at three of the five. Chateau Lafite Rothschild and Mouton Rothschild border St. Estephe on its northern end and Chateau Latour is at Pauillac’s southern end, bordering St. Julien.
While the first growths are certainly some of the better producers of the Left Bank, today they often compete with some of the “lower ranked” producers (second, third, fourth, fifth growth) in quality and value. The Left Bank of Bordeaux subscribes to an arguably outdated method of classification that goes back to 1855. The finest chateaux in that year were judged on the basis of reputation and trading price; changes in rank since then have been miniscule at best. Today producers such as Chateau Pontet-Canet, Chateau Grand Puy-Lacoste, Chateau Lynch-Bages, among others (all fifth growth) offer some of the most outstanding wines in all of Bordeaux.
Defining characteristics of fine wines from Pauillac (i.e. Cabernet-based Bordeaux Blends) include inky and juicy blackcurrant, cedar or cigar box and plush or chalky tannins.
Layers of gravel in the Pauillac region are key to its wines’ character and quality. The layers offer excellent drainage in the relatively flat topography of the region allowing water to run off into “jalles” or streams, which subsequently flow off into the Gironde.