Winemaker Notes
#85 James Suckling Top 100 Wines of the World 2025
#29 Jeb Dunnuck Top 100 of 2025
Blend: 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
A sensational Pauillac as well as the finest wine from this château since the 2009 (although the 2010 might have something to say about that), the 2022 Château Pontet-Canet sports a deep purple hue as well as a heavenly perfume of crème de cassis, smoke, incense, leafy tobacco, and chocolate. This beauty has sensational purity, a deep, layered, multi-dimensional mouthfeel, flawless balance, and incredible precision and detail in its aromas and flavors. Despite its opulence and power, it has a solid underlying structure, and its tannins are sweet and polished; it has remarkable depth and concentration, and it just does everything right. It should have 40, 50, if not 60 years of overall longevity. The 2022 is based on 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, brought up in 50% new barrels, 35% in amphora, and the rest in once-used oak.
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James Suckling
The concentration of dried herbs such as thyme, sage and mint with blackcurrants and Spanish cedar is mesmerizing. Full-bodied with a dense and intense palate, this has creamy, crunchy tannins and a long and flavorful finish that goes on for minutes. Punchy and rich with lots of power. The real identity of Pontet-Canet comes through despite the hot and dry growing year. 57% cabernet sauvignon, 35% merlot, 4% cabernet franc and 4% petit verdot. From biodynamically grown grapes.
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Decanter
Vibrant, vivid purple colour in the glass, rich and deep. Smells bright, super fresh and expressive on the nose with freshly-picked blackcurrants and perfumed purple flowers - the Petit Verdot, really standing out. Clean and clear, creamy, powdery and softly chewy on the palate. The texture is lovely, you can tell they haven't over extracted but there’s still clear concentration with a gentle succulence provided by the acidity, cool freshness and appealing mineral touches alongside liquorice, clove, dried herbs and bitter chocolate. Enjoyable and well defined if still a little compact. 3.85pH. 4% Cabernet Franc completes the blend. 15% press wine used. Harvest 8 - 28 September, the earliest and longest ever. 20% lower yields than in 2021. The technical team used a clay sunscreen on the grapes to avoid burning. Tasted twice.
Barrel Sample: 95 -
Wine Spectator
Alluring and smoldering, with dark violet, iris and anise notes infusing the core of plum sauce and dark currant preserves. A bolt of cast iron runs underneath, and there's a late tug of freshly tilled humus on the finish, all while the fruit keeps the upper hand. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc.
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.