Chateau Pontet Canet 2015

Chateau Pontet Canet 2015 – 97-98 Pts JS, 95-98 Pts AG, 94-96 Pts WA

12×75 – £790 EP

6×75 – £395 EP

IG Wines offer a choice of bottling for en primeur orders, see below.

En Primeur Expected Spring 2018 

Pontet Canet has just released their 2015 vintage for £790 per case of 12 bottles, an increase of 20% on 2014. In 2015, this leading Pauillac has continued its tradition of producing a superb wine in excellent vintages, taking advantage of its superlative terroir and their winemaking talents. Ponet Canet 2015 has been awarded 97-98 points from James Suckling, 94-96 from Neal Martin and 95-98 from Antonio Galloni, who considers it ‘one of the wines of the vintage’. Today’s price of £790 per case of 12, or £66 per bottle is the lowest increase of any major estate so far, a euro increase of only 12%. This will be very attractive in the Asian, Swiss, European and US markets and well received in the UK. Furthermore, the Estate has greatly reduced its supply in 2015 by 40%. As such, allocations will be stretched and supply exhausted quickly.

Pontet Canet is a darling of the US, Europe and Asia and one of the best performing left bank wines over the last ten years, scoring 100 points in 2009 and 2010. Their 100% biodynamic wine-making techniques and fastidious focus has lead Pontet Canet to be First Growth quality, in fact it is located high on the illustrious, elevated real-estate sandwiched between Lafite and Mouton Rothschild.

Pontet Canet History
Chateau Pontet Canet was put together by Jean-François Pontet, a powerful political figure in the 1720s and 1730s. The property passed to Pierre-Bernard de Pontet and the reputation of the wines flourished until his death in 1836. This moment marked a decline in the standard and price of the wine, which in turn, led to Pontet Canet being rated a Fifth Growth rather than a higher classification.

The property was purchased in 1865 by Herman Cruse and promptly installed the 23 year old Charles Skawinski, son of the owner Château Giscours, to manage the property. Cruse invested heavily in the property including building a new chai, a new cuvier and constructing one of the few large underground cellars in the Médoc. The standard of the wines increased dramatically, often fetching as much as Third Growths wines or even occasionally Second Growths.

After the death of Cruse’s widow, the Cruse firm in Bordeaux ran the Chateau until a crisis forced its sale in 1975. Guy Tesseron purchased the Estate and it is now owned by his two sons, Alfred and Gérard, meaning that only three families have owned the property during its illustrious history.

Pontet Canet under the influence of Alfred has embraced organic winemaking techniques and was the first Château to earn the official Agence Bio (AB) organic certificate. These techniques, coupled with the challenging gravel soil perfect for growing the grapes has made this into a wine that exceeds its Fifth Growth status and is unquestionably one of the leading Super Seconds.

Also released and available:

• Grand Puy Ducasse 2015, £275, 12x75cl – 90-92 Pts
• Valandraud 2015, 12x75cl, £1,100 – 95-97 Pts
• d’Armailhac 2015, £300, 12x75cl – 92-93 Pts
• Kirwan 2015, £330, 12×75 – 93-94 Pts
• Beychevelle 2015, £530, 12x75cl – 92-94 Pts
• Fombrauge 2015, £170, 12x75cl – 94-95 Pts
• Gazin 2015, £470, 12x75cl – 96 Pts
• Chasse Spleen 2015 £205, 12x75cl – 94-95 Pts
• Guiraud 2015, £315, 12x75cl – 96-97 Pts
• Coutet 2015, £280, 12x75cl – 94-97 Pts

Click HERE for a review of the Bordeaux En Primeur 2015 Campaign to date.