Chateau Pontet-Canet 2019

Chateau Pontet-Canet is a biodynamically farmed Pauillac classified as a Fifth Growth in the 1855 Bordeaux Classification. Crafted from Cabernet Sauvignon-led blends and matured in French oak and concrete amphorae, it offers cassis, graphite, cedar, violets, and refined tannins with exceptional depth and remarkable aging potential.

Food Pairing: Pairs beautifully with roast lamb, prime rib, venison, duck breast, and aged hard cheeses.

99 Points - James Suckling

The aromas to this are really amazing, with a potpourri of spices and dried flowers, as well as redcurrants, sweet plums and even some peaches. Full-bodied with layers of ripe fruit and ultra-fine tannins that spread across the palate in an encompassing yet always elegant and pure way. It’s succulent and unadulterated. Like crushed, perfectly ripened grapes. The length is rather endless. The tannins build. Fabulous young red. 35% in amphora and the rest in 50% new oak and 15% one-year oak. 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, with the balance Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.

99 Points - Wine Enthusiast

This is a luscious, sumptuous wine, with layers of black fruits and wonderfully cushioned tannins. The structure of the wine is initially masked by the great fruits, but then finds balance from a dry edge of spice, smokiness and lifted acidity. It's another great vintage from this biodynamic estate.

Barrel Sample: 97-99

96 Points - Decanter

Clear Pauillac character in terms of its tannic structure, overlaid with the Pontet signature of recent vintages that translates into spirals of peony and iris alongside brambled hedgerow. As it settles, coffee bean and tobacco adds a charred character alongside blackberry and cassis puree. It opens extremely slowly, with so many subtle nuances that gather in confidence. The tannins have unmistakeable Pauillac strength, but the structure and the subtlety of this wine is Pontet-Canet, with the amphoras having an influence in terms of the tannins feeling less silky than they do in many of the appellation's biggest wines, but still with swagger.

Barrel Sample

94 Points - Wine Spectator

Very lush out of the gate, with waves of gently mulled plum, blackberry and black currant fruit that roll through slowly, lined with alder, sweet tobacco, worn cedar and singed savory notes. Delivers a late tug of iron that's well-buried on a finish marked by lingering perfume, resulting in an end impression of a rich wine that's very light on its feet. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Best from 2023.

93 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 2019 Pontet-Canet offers up an expressive bouquet of plummy fruit, kirsch, dried herbs and peonies. On the palate, it's full-bodied, ample and seamless, with melting tannins, succulent acids, and a long, liqueured finish. Tasted twice, it's a wine I find somewhat perplexing: in a blind tasting, I might be more inclined to place it in Gigondas than Pauillac. I'm far from dogmatic when it comes to what the French call "typicité," and stylistic diversity surely enriches every appellation; but by the same token, I'm not convinced that this is the most compelling aesthetic that a Cabernet-based blend from this part of Bordeaux can realize. Checking in at 13.7% alcohol, some 35% of the production was matured in amphorae, which no doubt contributes to the wine's idiosyncratic identity. Best After 2021.

92 Points - Jeb Dunnuck

The 2019 Chateau Pontet-Canet checks in as a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot that was brought up in a mix of barrels and concrete tanks. It shows the new style of the estate with a more savory, exotic, medium- to full-bodied style that's dramatically different from the benchmark 2009 and 2010 vintages. Aromas of redcurrant, mulberry, brambly herbs, wood smoke, peony, leather, and cedar pencil lead to a medium- to full-bodied palate with firm, savory, high-quality tannins, excellent balance, and outstanding length. Best After 2029.