Chateau Pontet-Canet 2009 | 100RP: Epically long-lasting fireworks. Wow!
When he tasted it on release, Robert Parker called the Chateau Pontet-Canet 2009 “a tour de force in winemaking that is capable of lasting 50 or more years.” Fast forward to early this year, when Parker’s Advocate confirmed their boss’s perfect score, calling the ‘09 “full-bodied, rich, multilayered, and completely seductive.”
So, Winebuyoftheday usually focuses on red gems under $50. Sometimes a bit higher. But Chateau Pontet-Canet bottlings are an exception. My personal experience with the winery is nothing short of exceptional, having had the opportunity to share the 2000 vintage with my closest friends. So, if you pardon me for splurging, I will be sharing more Chateau Pontet-Canet vintages with you. I hope you splurge too! And the Chateau Pontet-Canet 2009 is off the charts amazing. More about what the experts had to say…
Robert Parker exudes “Kudos to Pontet-Canet!”
100pts Robert Parker | Deep garnet colored, the 2009 Pontet-Canet is a little shut down to begin, but with coaxing this baby is soon firing on all cylinders with a full-throttle nose of chocolate-covered cherries, crème de cassis, boysenberries, and spice cake plus tons of kirsch and cranberry sauce sparks and a beautiful undercurrent of emerging tertiary characters: cigar box, sandalwood, chargrill, truffles and cast iron pan. Full-bodied, rich, multilayered, and completely seductive, the palate is charged with incredible energy, with a firm backbone of velvety tannins and seamless freshness providing solid grounding and promising a very long life ahead. It finishes with an incredible display of epically long-lasting flavor fireworks. Wow!
More Sensational Cellar Selections
100pts Jeb Dunnuck| The Chateau Pontet-Canet 2009 continues to just knock it out of the park every time I’ve been lucky enough to drink a bottle, and this beauty was as good as it gets yet again. Deep purple-colored, full-bodied, beautifully concentrated, and just about off the charts in terms of scale and density, it nevertheless just glides across the palate with an ethereal, seamless texture that never seems heavy or cumbersome. This is pure Pauillac in all its glory and is a monumental wine in every way. Drink it any time over the coming 4-5 decades.
A 100-point Bordeaux for $349 would be a formidable deal on release, but with ten years of age and a second perfect 100-point score from Jeb Dunnuck, it’s irresistible: You can pop this a few days after it reaches your doorstep (let it settle after its journey and give it a good decant) or cellar it for four more decades. Either way, on the day you pull the cork, you’ll be getting a snapshot of one of the greatest Bordeaux vintages in history, for a fraction of what other classed growths command.
Proprietor Alfred Tesseron. Winemaker Jean-Michel Comme| Special Cellar Release
Alfred converted Pontet-Canet’s farming to organic and later biodynamic practices. While halting the use of all chemicals, and noticing a better concentration of flavors in the fruit as the years went on. He also changed the whole facility to a gravity-fed one. Hence, avoiding the use of pumps that can extract astringent seed tannins. And installing a double sorting line to ensure that only pristine berries make it into the winery. Alfred himself designed cement vats and amphorae for fermentation. While drawing upon the gravel from the property itself to mix the cement. And then infusing the wine with the property’s terroir throughout the process.
Explore today’s finds at Wine Access
So, every one of the Pontet-Canet bottles we’ve featured recently has shown off Alfred Tesseron’s incredible achievements. Thanks to Alfred, his daughter Justine, and to you, our loyal Bordeaux collectors. Because of the strength of your buying power, Pontet-Canet is happy to reward you with this special cellar-release.
