Château Pontet-Canet

"I sincerely want to thank Château Pontet-Canet for our wonderful visit on the 18th of September. It was an once in a lifetime experience! Our visit started with a lovely tour through the vineyard on a golf car with the best guide ever,“Violenna”. She was absolutely amazing! We continued with her with the winery tour which was sooo interesting! Biodynamic means of cultivation and winemaking where presented to us and got explained! Finally we ended with the tasting! The taste of “Chateau Pontet-Canet” will stay in my memory for a long long time!! We were totally amazed!

Thank you so much!

As you can imagine I recommend the visit it’s a must!"

Maria Kalogerakou

"Visit was amazing. Same time as Jeb Dunnuck - great minds think alike 😅 We love Pontet-Canet. Wine is firmly in top 3 Bordeaux wines together with Montrose and Cos d’Estournel. Visit itself was amazing - Violaine was very knowledgable, super friendly and passionate about what she does. Visit was a highlight of the 8 day wine tasting and Châteaux visiting trip."

Dmitrijs Abejevs

"Château Pontet-Canet , situated next to Mouton Rothschild, is a winery in the Pauillac appellation of the Bordeaux wine region of France with the Grand Vin being classified as one of eighteen Cinquièmes Crus (Fifth Growths) in the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855.

The current estate management is headed by Alfred Tesseron ( since 1994) who is helped by the director, Jean-Michel Comme ( left in May 2020) .

The estate took the first part of its name from a former owner, Jean-François de Pontet , who was also the royal governor of the Medoc .

The second part of its name was from a famous section in the estate from the Canet area.

After theBordeaux negociants Herman Cruse purchased the estate in 1865 (The Cruse family owned the estate for 110 years ), another negociant, Guy Tesseron, acquired Pontet Canet in 1975.

Chateau Pontet Canet is not only a Fifth Growth, but they are producing wines at the level of the best Second Growths and even in some vintages, as good as the Firsts.

In 2010, the estate ( the first major Bordeaux wine producer ) has earned the official Agence Bio (AB) organic certification.

In general , the yields at Pontet Canet are less than 35 hectoliters per hectare in most of the vintages.

The 81-hectare estate is planted to 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot.

Currently, the estate uses horses to plow 34 hectares out of the vineyards 81 hectares of vines with the plan that the majority of the estate will be plowed by horses.

The original vat house was constructed in the 1800s . However, the facilities at the estate were completely renovated in 2005.

For the aging of Pontet Canet, instead of the traditional combination of new and one-year-old, French oak barrels, Alfred Tesseron and the technical director, Jean-Michel Comme are aging up to 25% of the harvest in 900-liter amphorae jars (thought that add more minerality to the wines, along with additional soft textures, and of course less of an oak influence) along with an average of 50% new French oak barrels.

Pontet Canet produces average 25,000 cases per year.
There is a second wine, Les Hauts de Pontet ( since 1982) .

Due to the high levels of tannins and intense concentration , Chateau Pontet Canet is not at its best in its youth, even with several hours of decanting. The wine is usually better at 10-12-15 years of aging with the best vintages can be aged to 15-45 years .

Starting with the 2017 vintage, all the grapes are now destemmed by hand and the whole estate is 100% biodynamic!

A wonderful Château to visit !"

Steve Chan