Chateau Pontet-Canet 5eme Cru Classe, Pauillac 2024

Such an outstanding wine from Pontet this year. Ripe blackcurrant and dark chocolate, very expressive, open and scented on the nose. Concentrated, smooth and so satisfying on the palate, great texture and energy straight away - lifted but there’s power here, this isn't a weak wine at all. Wonderful finesse and texture with a long length. This is very complete and satisfying and really justifies the decisions made in the vineyard this year - late harvesting starting on October 4th when many were finishing. Juicy, fresh acidity combines with ripe tannins and lovely purity. Very accomplished - a great Bordeaux and Pauillac. 1% Cabernet Franc completes the blend. Ageing 50% new barrels, 15% one year old barrels, 35% concrete amphoras.

The 2024 Château Pontet-Canet is deep purple-hued and delivers beautiful aromas of black and blue fruits, violets, graphite, sweet tobacco, and damp earth. Based on 52% Cabernet Sauvignon and 43% Merlot, with the rest Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc, it was harvested between September 26 and October 11 and is aging 14 to 16 months in 50% new barrels, 35% amphora, and 15% once-used wood. Medium-bodied and seamless on the palate, it has pure, polished tannins, integrated acidity, and outstanding length. The alcohol is 13.1% with a pH of 3.8.

Deep garnet-purple colored. Strolls confidently out of the glass with notes of ripe, juicy plums, wild blueberries, and red currants, leading to suggestions of lilac, cardamom, fertile loam, and crushed rocks. The medium-bodied palate is elegant and fresh with wonderfully plush tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and fragrant.

The 2024 Pontet-Canet underlines the fact that daring to harvest late paid dividends in this challenging vintage, wafting from the glass with aromas of cassis, black raspberries and plums mingled with accents of rose petals, licorice and exotic spices. Medium to full-bodied, deep and integrated, with mid-palate density that's all too rare this year, it's layered, suave and seamless, concluding with a long, sapid finish. Picking began on September 26 and concluded on October 11, with the heart of the estate's old-vine Cabernet Sauvignon coming in between the seventh and the ninth, well after many châteaux had finished their harvest. Greater reactivity during the season means that Pontet-Canet's vineyards are gaining in vigor, while in the winery, a lighter touch with extraction, systematic climate control and a wholesale refinement of the estate's cooperage choices have brought new harmony and sensuality to this estate's wines. That has combined with a willingness to take risks with harvest dates to deliver what is clearly one of the wines of the vintage. The blend is roughly half Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, with the balance Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc.

Vibrant ruby in colour with violet edging, this is beautifully measured, with a careful release of black fruits. Puts the focus on the floral side of Cabernet Sauvignon, with rose petals, chamomile, fragrant tomato leaf and lilac. There is austerity on the opening, with tight architecture but as it opens juice begins to flow through the pumice and slate-textured tannins, and this delivers a finessed, slim-style of Pauillac, with plenty of ageing potential and quiet confidence. One of the successes of the vintage. Harvest September 26 through to October 11. 3.8ph, 50% new oak, 35% concrete amphoras. Tasted twice.

The 2024 Pontet-Canet is one of the most elegant wines I have tasted here in some time, as in a long time. Brisk acids and beams of tannin shape a mid-weight, classically built Pontet-Canet unlike any I have tasted. The 2024 is not an obvious wine, it does not have the opulence of most recent years, rather it is a wine that impresses with its energy, tension and class. Floral, spice and mineral notes stain the palate in this vibrant, beautifully sculpted Pontet-Canet. The 2024 is seriously impressive, but it is also less immediate than what was once the norm because of a shift towards a style that favors greater energy and vibrancy than in the recent past. The evolution here is going to be fascinating to follow in the coming years. Tasted three times.

The 2024 Pontet Canet was picked between September 26 and October 11. It matured in 50% new oak, 15% used oak and 35% in concrete amphoras. It has a very pure bouquet with black cherry, wild strawberry, cassis and light violet scents vying for attention. This is not quite as complex as the '22 I tasted a few months earlier. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly grainy tannins on the entry, a keen line of acidity and veins of blue fruit commingling with black pepper and light graphite notes. Cohesive on the finish, there is an attractive linearity to this Pontet Canet, with satisfying sustain that delivers about as much precision as anyone could hope for in this vintage. Give this two or three years once in bottle, and drink over the next 15.