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Wine Type Vintage Name Variety Locale Date Posted Score Helpful Comments More...
Red

2016 Château Pontet-Canet

 Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend more
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7/9/2022 - Jeff Leve wrote: 99 points

Almost opaque in color, the wine kicks off with smoky blackberries, wet earth, underbrush, licorice, black cherry, and currants. Full-bodied, rich, and intense, the wine is incredibly concentrated. Think of placing a magnum of wine into a single bottle! And yet, somehow, everything here is in balance. There is a vibrancy to the fruit that you feel from start to finish. The depth of flavor holds your focus for close to 60 seconds as the wine builds, expands, and paints your palate with flavor. If you are a fan of Pontet Canet, you want this wine in your cellar. When fully mature, this is a candidate for perfection. The wine blends 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. 14.5% ABV. Drink from 2030-2065.

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Red

2019 Château Pontet-Canet

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12/14/2022 - Motz wrote: 96 points

Coravin access. Tasted alongside the same vintage Alter Ego...which cannot hold a candle to this.

Effusive perfume! Fresh picked berry medley, pomegranate, spring flowers, early summer potpourri, raspberry leaf tea, and light, bright fruit liqueurs, backed by traditional variety and terroir markers. In a (compound) word: knee-weakening. Very much appreciated the absence of IN-MY-FACE oak and BLAST-THROUGH-MY-NASAL-MEMBRANE alcohol.

Incredible tension, lift, and austerity! Strikingly juicy attack. Piercing and tangy mid-palate. Gripping back. Layered, inflection-changing finish of un-clockable length. Medium plus to high acid, medium, fully ripe, steely tannins. Here again, the absence of heavy extraction, oak, and alcohol enhance the experience. Profoundly satisfying!

If blind, initially, I would have placed this in Saint-Estèphe...particularly, Montrose. The longer it breathed, the more its Pauillac character came forward. Any modern vintage Left Bank offering that comes in at 13.5 abv merits at least a full courtesy bow, and probably a standing ovation.

This packs the substance to evolve for at least fifteen years, probably twenty, and it should hold through 2050 with ease. Less Burgundian than the 2015 vintage, but no less appealing. Improvement all but certain. 96-97...98?

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Red

2009 Château Pontet-Canet

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7/13/2015 - ledocq Likes this wine: 97 points

First from a case bought at auction. Decanted and kept chilled in a tub of water for 5 hours (which is crucial). For the hell of it, I had a sip at pnp, and the nose was magificent and mysterious, with the familiar PC cedar and depth...and then more depth, sort of like realizing the mineshaft suddenly has a whole new vein you didn't know about if you had the '03 or '06 or '08. I actually had the thought "Oh my lord, I'm smelling eternity." Tasting it, however, was stupid. It was like being flung into the middle of a Jackson Pollack of confusing elements that finished with a cassis blowtorch. Five hours later, however, I was having an experience that seems pretty much like most people's from their notes: a little bit of "uh-huh" and a whole lot of "oh yeah." It kept getting better and by the 8th hour open, it was elegant yet robust, and the finish was endless, sun goes down moon comes up, oh it's still going on. And this might sound nuts, but I was starting to get notes that reminded me a bit of the '66 Haut Brion in that post-fruit, post-exuberant maturity. Not that it's anywhere near there, just that like seeing on-coming lights on the highway, you know there's something out there, approaching, eventually. This is magnificent and all that they say.

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Red

2016 Château Pontet-Canet

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10/3/2020 - Indran Rajendra Likes this wine: 95 points

This wine is perfect-almost. It has a black opaque core, ruby edge with a dark mauve rim in keeping with its ripeness and youth. The nose is a cloud of pencil shavings intially in keeping with Pauillac. At half hour post decantering the ripe fruit bursts through the cloud with dominant black cherries but also blueberries, blackcurrant, mint, lemon grass, olives, spices ( pepper and cinnamon), cafe au lait, charcoal and cedar. The wine has an extroverted masculine character consistent with my perception of Pontet Canet which it shares with its neighbour Mouton Rothschild. The palate is dripping with ripe intense fruit. It is powerful but elegant and has great length. It has a soft mouth feel. With each mouthful, the tannins leave a growing satisfying firmness. However, it lacks slightly the firmness of structure from acid so feels flabby. For this reason, I prefer the 2015 which I drank a week ago. Drunk frim Riedel Bordeaux glasses. Initial temperature in the glass was 17 deg C. Best after 1/2 hour in the decanter. Estimated at its best drinking window 2028-2040. I have no further bottles.NS

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Red

2014 Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste

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12/18/2021 - Motz wrote: 94 points

Tasted over three days. My third experience with this wine; the last was three years ago.

A classy Pauillac! Spectacularly balanced on the first day, true to place, strikingly fresh, expansive and long.

The wine 'brought it' on the second day! Waves of balanced fruit, root vegetables, pepper garden, worn leather, tobacco (in all forms), gravel, cacao, espresso beans, mint, black earth, and more. The inflection-changing range and depth rivet the senses! Seamless, 13.5 abv enhances the experience.

Better integrated oak than expected. Indeed, it plays well with the worn leather and tobacco elements. It also aligns with the wine's impressive, terroir-driven substance.

It seems appropriate to comment on this understated vintage as well. Just as I did not understand the praise for 2009 and 2016, I did not understand the general disinterest in this more traditional, gripping, and brawny vintage. It is, make no mistake, far better than the vapid 2016 vintage, and so far, at least, a cut above the 2018 vintage. I was delighted for the pricing and am elated to have a good many bottles of various wines, which should age quite nicely through 2035, or so. Drink by 2038-2040.

I plan to hold my last bottle for a long while, and look for more bottles. Even at current pricing, this wine represents exceptional QPR. If the winemaker had applied slightly less oak treatment, even by 5 percent, this would be even better. Improvement seems likely. 94-95.

P.S. My 12,000th tasting note. What a wine journey!

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Red

2016 Château Pontet-Canet

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5/23/2020 - Mark1npt Likes this wine: 97 points

Ok, ok.....after seeing so many on here trying this so young and liking it, I had to take a swipe at it now, too. Coravined a glass with the smaller vintage needle after dinner while sitting through John Wick 3 for the 97th time....man, that dude's got more lives than an animal shelter full of kittens!

Right from the pour there is strength and class to the nose....this is dark, dark crimson in the glass, with cassis and graphite galore.The first hour has some grippy tannins but they are sweet and they smooth out the 2nd hour. A whiff of alcohol shows up on the nose as this warms in the glass over the 2nd hour but the smooth, silky mouthfeel, the dark blackberry fruit and the mouthwatering acidity easily outpace it. This has terrific length. There is an herbaceous, earthy component on the back end, with a little peppery spice, too. Make no mistake, this is not sweet Napa fruit, but it is intense dark berry fruit and it surely has a few more layers it will develop over the next 30 years. I wanted to get to 3 hours of air in, to further evaluate it, but I kept going back to the glass for another sip and swirl, so I only got about 2 hours, 30 min in. At that point a little cranberry showed up on the end of the black fruit with a touch more astringency to it......I toyed with a score of 96 tonight but man, this may be the very best 'young' BDX I've ever had. It's reminiscent of the '16 Ch. Labegorce fruit last year, but on steroids and HGH. Wow! The scary part is, upside remains even with a score of 97 tonight! The tricky part will be, as always, how to navigate the next 25-30 years? Undoubtedly, there will be lesser drinking windows along the way, but what a fun wine this would be to have a case of, and drink one every 2-3 years.

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Red

2016 Château Cantemerle

 Haut-Médoc Red Bordeaux Blend more
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5/17/2022 - Alexander Tronstad Likes this wine: 93 points

I love this Chateau. And this wine in this vintage is by far my most drunk wine of the left bank classed growths. Just good easy drinking, yet has enough complexity and depth to satisfy the craving for some gravity and seriously made wine.. So be it that it may be lacking a bit on concentration as Konstantin Baum pointed out recently, but... at the price it is a big winner. It is a classed growth, and it tastes like a class growth, unmistakably.

With the other classed growths - too often I find myself trembling before opening one, "I spent so much money, what if it is not good enough?? What a waste! Why spend so much!?" I get nervous and over-analytical, I can't really relax, and wine isn't supposed to feel like that. Well... I am not so worried about that with Cantemerle.

This 2016 is around 45 $.. It's no everyday wine, it's still priced above that, but I can let my guard down, I don't need to worry when I find the occasion - opened too early? Who cares... Have a bit in the sauce for your meal? Sure, why not! Have half a bottle left over in the fridge that you drink at the wrong temperature the day after? Well, it is not optimal but again, who cares? You can afford it and it is YOUR wine, and this wine is robust; It takes a beating and is enjoyable throughout. It works with you, you don't have to tiptoe around and micro-manage it, I let my shoulders down, relax and enjoy. This is not a high maintenance visitor, this is home on a sunday.


It is delicious and I am not ruined, it reaches quite high, has great manners, it's well made... at the price it is punching well above its weight, it is balanced well between structure and fruit, not too sweet. What I find I need to dig for in a lean chianti, Cantemerle showers you with - the quality comes out quite eagerly without going into a too sun-sweet plummy cabernet - it carries itself better than that. It hits the right spots and my red fine wine-thirst is quenched. If I were richer I'd probably find better, but for a normal worker, this hits me right at my level. As Peter Koff said comparing a higher quality wine to one he liked better regardless: "Another wine is my favourite, but this wine is my friend."

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Red

2005 Château Pontet-Canet

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9/12/2021 - Xavier Auerbach wrote: 95 points

My sixth tasting note for this wine, and the fourth bottle from a full case purchased at auction in 2009. In 2009 (2x) it was spectacular, in 2012 (1x) it was very closed and in 2019 (2x) it seemed to be slowly waking up again. Decanted at 4pm, and it's immediately impressive, an essence of northern Pauillac, blackcurrant fruit and lead pencil, completely integrated oak, perfectly judged tannins, youthful but on its plateau of maturity. Two hours later, some tertiary, meaty aromas start to emerge next to the flowers, gravel, fruit and gentle leafiness. The balance on the palate is really striking at this stage, the power and weight almost hidden by the youthful minerally energy and freshness, with firm tannic grip for balance. Around dinner time, 8.30pm, the wine is seems to have returned to its more primary state, resplendent in its tannic richness. This was built for the ages - a half century at least. Revisit in 2025.

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Red

2016 Château Pontet-Canet

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10/22/2022 - sfwinelover1 Likes this wine: 98 points

One off ($150) from Costco about a year ago, brought to Edwin’s palace on Lake Travis and served with a rib lamb chop dinner, preceded by a lobster and porcini consommé. On the nose and palate, potent notes of blackberries, cassis, black currants, wet earth, violets, anise with a powerful graphite finish. Impenetrably purple black, full bodied, thick legs. Medium++ tannins, medium+ acidity, no heat. VG+ complexity and intensity, extraordinary persistence. Well, here was my conundrum: a super generous host, good friend and client, who likes wine, BDX in particular, more than he appreciates the intricacies of really good wine (although he sure enjoyed the taste of the ‘00 Latour in BDX) and a BDX collection which was almost all too young to crack, particularly at the high end, IMO; reluctantly, I decided to burn this bottle, with the thought it might not be that appreciated and could even be infanticide. Well, on the former front, it was helped by the pleasant but totally unremarkable ‘18 Chatelet, next to which the Pontet was a supernova. This came out of the bottle a bit closed, although not unusually so for a BDX, but after 90 minutes-2 hours, was like a Roman Candle, absolutely incandescent and brilliantly concentrated and focused, which would have led me to guess this as something made by a producer on my side of the Pond. Almost sweet, by the BDX standards I’m used to, this was nonetheless exquisitely balanced with wonderful savoriness and great structure, already balanced and largely integrated with the couple of hours of air. While I’ve not had this bottling previously, I’ve no doubt that this will add complexity over time, but it’s so stunningly delicious and voluptuous now I can’t but recommend anyone pop it, especially if you have more bottles in reserve (which I sadly don’t, but will look for more in the same general price range). Over the additional hour and half or so it was open, I can’t say I noticed a big further change, but I can say that, unlike many BDX, this shone equally on its own and with our sumptuous dinner. BDX more often than not seems to break my heart, but this was stone cold stunning, more than holding its own against the local fare at this price point, and even outshining slightly dearer BDX I’ve had in the past 6 months or so like the ‘10 Poyfrere and the ‘09 SHL. And while one robin doth not a spring make and I’m not willing to call it a game changer, it will make me a bit less nervous about popping high quality, young BDX, which is good since I have events in the next few weeks at which I plan on pulling corks from a ‘18 Montrose and a ‘16 Fig. An easy 97-98++ with possible runway to the upside.

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Red

2019 Château Pontet-Canet

 Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend more
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3/29/2022 - Jeff Leve wrote: 97 points

It is the purity of the fruit, along with the soft, silky, polished layers of freshness that matter here. The wine kicks off with an array of flowers, plums, currants and blackberries along with spice, savory herbs, tobacco leaf and a touch of cherry. The wine exudes its red fruit quality with ease, leaving you with an elegant, refined, soft, polished, mid-palate and a long, vibrant, fresh finish that provides you with a gorgeous display of purity in the fruits. Please allow the wine some time for aging before pulling a cork. Drink from 2030-2060.

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Red

2016 Château Pontet-Canet

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8/1/2020 - vintage1949 Likes this wine: 96 points

A high quality Bordeaux wine that is drinkable in four years? Impossible. A 2016 Bordeaux wine that shows off its class in 2020. Incredible. A 2016 Pauillac with a nose that is what some may call beguiling. Intriguing.

Someone here with the name of Mark and another CTer wanted me to open one bottle of a six pack of Chateau Pontet-Canet. Thought it would be a tannic waste. Wow was I wrong.

Let’s start with the nose. Pouring a small amount into a Riedel glass and letting it sit for a little over an hour allowed the fruit to blossom. I was expecting a tight as a drum nose-maybe bitter not scents that revealed the quality of the vintage. I was greeted by a warm blanket of cassis, cigar box, black fruit, and tobacco.

This warm blanket coated the tongue with the presentation of the nose causing one to smile. No hole in the middle here but a mouth filling, cascading offering of what I consider true Pauillac flavors.

In time I think layers of complexity will form creating an even bigger smile on my face. I guess that Mark guy and another friend were correct. Now it is time to sit back and dream of the flavors to come. Dave

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Red

2010 Château Lynch-Bages

 Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend more
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3/25/2022 - Winegangster Likes this wine: 95 points

Everything Pauillac is as intimidating as Pall Mall's line up of gentlemen clubs. You're a member, or you're not. And if you're in, it takes a few generations to blend the code of conduct with your DNA and another dynasty to avoid social suicide while navigating inbetween 3 centuries of implicit evidences. And so is Pauillac : rules maker, standard setter, warden of the elegances, old school and eternal... immensely boring, and therefore absolutely desirable.

And here comes Lynch Bages, the only punk in town who does not bother borrowing a tie to sit at the 1855 Ivy League's table. The Prince Harry of the left bank, Hugh Grant before Divine Brown : so perfectly compliant that his deviances make Parker's systematic contempt for him look like jealousy. But in 2010, even the Wine Advocate could not help but admitting the dunce's genius.

With a solid 70% of new oak and 79% of cabernet in the blend, stats don't call for nuance and subtlety. And the color rather tends to confirm this intuition : lights fails to pass through this deep violine liquide with crimson reflections. It's superb and promises the exhausting experience of virile wine from the Duero's valley, until sight gives way to smell. There rises the black swan, in a prodigiously balanced symphonhy of bramble, ripe raspberries, blackcurrant here; fumes of smoke and smells of undergrowth there; and a whole world of fine spices all over the place... and each of these fragrances at the right place. Rarely could the world elegance find a better definition; as for what happens in the mouth, it's about balance. Same perfect blend of fresh black fruits, yesterday's fire pit, kampot pepper and exotic swirls of an Indian market. At 11 years of age, its tannins are solid but round edged and backed by a surprising acidity that calls for decades of improvement.

This wine is a first class long haul trip to the most extraordinary of the Left Bank. Indulge yourself a VIP pass to the most exclusive Pauillac experience and start wondering : after such a wine, what ?

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Red

2019 Château Pontet-Canet

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12/5/2023 - Purple Tooth wrote: 95 points

**I bought 3 bottles of this because I cant help it. I am curious...Like a little monkey. It keeps my mind fed and my my eyes alive. And...the price was good too! So what the hell...or hey

This is where everyone should just relax and drink this wine instead of believing in Santa Claus. In its depth of deepest red, there is so much energy and pull, making the smallest sip, last the longest time. This is definitely a date night wine right now...A bottle you can enjoy with someone you want to get to know better or again, because it takes its time.
Lots of evolution during 5 hours. Twists and turns take you from one region to another though the language of a rainbowed wine with many tales. We go from a hot Napa summer day to a trip across the ocean to Rhone, where the dry and tannic ceylon tea like notes flare like a peacock in the finish, bringing much confusion. As we take a rest, the cocoa appears. Wrapped in cold graphite with notes of pen ink and then the wood influences come back in the form of decimated cozy little baking spices. A long, punctuated clean finish takes you back around to...California.

This wine can replace any 200+ dollah Napa with ease. But like most big voluptuous things, the weight will eventually shrink it down to less than what it is today. Drink, Drink and be merry! Happy Holidays and what a GREAT HOLIDAY WINE!

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Red

2005 Château Pontet-Canet

 Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend more
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7/22/2022 - Mark1npt Likes this wine: 97 points

Been almost 3 years since my last bottle....MJP drinking his '10 on vaca encouraged me to dip into the cellar.....my (only slightly fatty) liver thanks you, Michael!

Decanted, but right from the pnp you could probably start drinking this one, now. Only slight barnyard to the nose, but it resolved very quickly over 30 min to be replaced by a beautiful graphite and leather nose. The palate is high class with a dark red/black fruit profile. The first hour or two there's a slight tart cherry ending to the fruit, but it's not a thin tart, it's a heavier, richer tart if that makes sense. There are multiple layers, well integrated tannins and acidity and jut a beautiful 'punch' to this wine. The mid palate is less than desired but the juicy, rich fruited ending and mouthwatering fruit go on for a good 30-60 seconds after you swallow. 96-97 the first 2-3 hours.

Next 3 hours sees a slight change.....a tad of mushroom shows up, a tad of astringency to the resolving tannins also appears. The wine goes extremely well with the grilled teriyaki flank steak and crispy baked potato. Maybe a 94-95 with dinner? It's quite the food compliment at that point.

Still enjoying the last glass, now open 6+ hours to air. More mouth coating drying tannins are emerging, but the deep, dense dark fruit is just so good I can overlook that. Still a 94-95. Hard to believe this is a 13% alc wine, I never would have guessed it given the quality, richness and density of the fruit. Glad I have 3-4 more of these left in the cellar....there's still plenty of time for these to age and integrate further. No hurry here.

Addendum: Late at night, the last glass has sat open to air for an additional 5 hours so now about 10-11 hours of total air time for this one. The nose remains quite strong with its graphite and now some beautiful red rose petals, too. The palate remains full of dark red fruit and some sweet tobacco leaf, maybe a touch of coffee bean while the mid palate has filled out a bit and the wonderfully full, elongated ending, continues. This bottle is sitting right in the middle of the spectrum between what big Cali red drinkers like and the traditionally aged and integrated Bdx drinkers like. Since I like all along that spectrum, this one is in a good place for me. Extremely enjoyable.

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Red

2019 Château Pontet-Canet

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9/22/2023 - Motz wrote: 96 points

Tasted over two days, alongside the same vintage Duhart-Milon and d'Armailhac. Those two wines showed equally well, for different reasons, although I preferred the latter. This delivered more of everything good, than either.

The bouquet features bright, crunchy, and sweet berries, seemingly more red and than purple, along with focused savoriness, reminiscent of the Rhone, sweet herbs, tobacco, light roast coffee grounds, and distinctive, Left Bank terroir. In a word: tantalizing!

The wine tastes like it smells, presented in intriguing, inflect-changing waves. Savory and juicy attack. The precise and expansive middle dances across the palate, touching every part. Unsurprisingly, the wine reveals its structure and profoundly tannic substance at the back. The shape-shifting finish knows no quit.

The wine's depth and range is matched by its seamless balance. Does it show exactly like Pauillac? Not exactly...on account of its deceptive lightness and complex savoriness. This house excels at adapting to and showcasing what nature offers, across vintages. The amphorae touch, certainly unique, enhances the wine's complexity.

I do not know if this will age as long as the best vintages, all indications point to a no less than a medium plus maturation curve, with the wine likely to enter is drinking window round or about 2040, or later. Costco was giving bottles away and even at retail, this is worth a look.

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Red

2009 Château Pontet-Canet

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4/16/2021 - Jakob Freudendahl Likes this wine: 99 points

I wanted to open this in close proximity to the 2009 Lafite Rothschild I had recently as the vineyards are located right next to each other.

The wine was quite muted to begin with, but after decanting for 4 hours the wine was singing beautifully and was quite frankly very close to showing as well as the 2009 Lafite.

Fantastic concentration of delicious fruit, blueberries and later on dominant raspberries, with a roaring minerality shining through. An incredibly long and creamy hedonistic finish.

What to me gives the Lafite the edge is that it is only 13,5% abv compared to Pontet's 14,5% which is quite massive. The wine can absolutely handle the alcohol, but that 1% less in the Lafite allows for more elegance and layers to show themselves uninterrupted and without distraction.

But at a third or even a fourth of the price of the Lafite I know what I would stock up on! This wine is absolutely amazing and would be deserving of 100 points if it, like the Lafite, had managed the heat of the vintage just slightly better.

2009 is such an incredible vintage in Bordeaux, already drinking gorgeously which makes it such a pleasure not having to wait 30-50 years like we will with the 2010's.

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Red

2015 Château Pontet-Canet

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7/30/2022 - Motz wrote: 97 points

Five 2015 Classed Growths (Left Bank) Tasted Over Several Days: Tasted over three days, alongside the same vintage Lynch-Bages.

Riveting bouquet - shading to Margaux - of ripe berries, thick petal flowers, plum and berry compote, Crème de Cassis, berry liqueurs, potpourri, 'sweet' herbs, molasses, pipe tobacco, and gravel. As with previous bottles, the bouquet also shows Burgundy-like elements. In a word: ethereal!

Equal parts piercing and deep. Incredible saturation! Merlot shows prominently upfront, its suave velvet draping a deep purple core. Exceptional balance of fruit, terroir, structure, alcohol, and oak. It changes inflection throughout, consistently delivering Crème de Cassis and blueberry liqueur top notes.

Even better on the second and third days. It matched the Lynch-Bages in tension and lift, and delivered greater range and depth. Mint and eucalyptus essences dance offer titillating interplay with the crimson and purple berry notes. While hinting at Margaux in perfume, the middle to back transitions leaves no doubt as to its Pauillac provenance.

A next level offering! Truly profound! Likely to peak after 2040, probably around 2045. Drink by 2050 or so.

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Red

2015 Château Giscours

 Margaux Red Bordeaux Blend more
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10/29/2020 - Motz wrote: 95 points

The other great wine enjoyed during the festivities surrounding the union of my great friend and his bride.

Tremendous! The quality and depth to this place it in the top five Bordeaux of the vintage that I have tasted. Suave and velvety Merlot envelops a core of inky purple blackcurrant, blackberry, and graphite! Indeed, upon opening, Merlot shows quite prominently. After a few hours of air, the Cabernet Sauvignon-Petit Verdot amalgam takes the helm, while retaining exceptional overall harmony. Delivering medium plus+ acid and medium to medium plus, refined tannin...it should evolve gracefully over the next fifteen to twenty years. Likely to reach its apogee by 2038-2040...and hold form for several years thereafter.

We did not give this the air that it needed...as it was just too good...and still, the last few sips rocked our worlds! Based on this experience, probably best to let bottles evolve for a few years. Otherwise, a long decant, 8+ hours, is essential.

Memorable, evocative, inspiring! 95-96.

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Red

2005 Château Pontet-Canet

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4/9/2013 - Brmaso Likes this wine: 97 points

It is almost appalling to read the lesser reviews of this iconic wine. There comes a point where subjectivity becomes just plain wrong...

This is a blockbuster powerhouse that will re-define your definition of tannin. The 05 Pontet is built to last the long haul for sure, and should easily turn out to be a 40+ year wine. Still young and inky, the wine possesses globs of rich fruit - creme de cassis, red currant, blackberry, blueberry and wild cherry - vibrant mineral notes, and everything else that screams Pauillac in a classic wine from a ripe vintage. The balance is impeccable, and the acidity keeps it fresh. All and all, this is a wine for your children..but please pop open a bottle or two before you pass it off to see what great, fresh young bordeaux is supposed to taste like.

Finding an argument in Alfred Tesseron's biodynamic approach to wine making is literally impossible when you taste his modern day legends after taking the realm in '94. In the golden age for bdx (2000-present), he is one of the leaders year in and year out, and this aristocratic 2005 also offers hedonists the opportunity to get lost in the moment.

Do not look for a overblown california fruit bomb here. This is power and finesse to the highest degree. Impeccable in every way. If you do not like the style, you still would not be able to make the argument that this juice is anything but extraordinary.

As a footnote, somebody said something to the effect of 'beware, this wine may not age well' or something like that... what a rookie.

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Red

2014 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande

 Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend more
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10/18/2017 - Keith Levenberg wrote: 95 points

Ch. Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande Vertical Tasting with Nicolas Glumineau (Taberna del Alabardero): This kicked off an interesting succession of new vintages that kind of reminded me of a sequence like '08-'09-'10 with each one richer and more dense than the one that came before. This one is the only one of the three that's actually a finished wine, though, and offered up a whole array of detail not discernible in the newer vintages on a graceful, feminine frame that I'm not sure either the '15 or '16 will ever match. Didn't take careful notes on this as it is basically consistent with the full bottle I got to focus on a couple months ago, but I loved this. This also has the virtue of being seriously bargain-priced -- still widely available at $99 and it's going to be very hard for me to spend more than $99 on anything now when the alternative is "...or I can buy more 2014 Pichon-Lalande."

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Red

2015 Château Giscours

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4/25/2021 - Motz wrote: 95 points

Tasted over two days, alongside the more traditionally styled 2012 Cantenac Brown.

My fourth experience with this and all have been outstanding! More red fruited, bouquet and palate, conveying a striking raspberry, strawberry amalgam, than one might expect for a Classed Growth Margaux, particularly in which Merlot comprises just 25 percent of the blend. However that works...this sensuous element, enhanced by velour-like tannin, rivets the senses! Not lacking for Cabernet Sauvignon imparted substance either, and the 5 percent Petit Verdot adds an overarching luxuriousness.

In a modern style to be sure, though not heavily extracted or oaked. Also, there is no suggestion of chemical or heavy-handed manipulation. The forwardness of fruit, and the listed 14.5 abv, which imparts a loudness to the bouquet, and textural richness to the palate, are the hallmarks of modernity here. My preference for root vegetable and mineral driven Left Bank Bordeaux leave me puzzled as to why I find this offering so goddamn appealing. Then again...why not just enjoy the experience?...and I have!

Unlike the Cantenac Brown, which, next to this, I described as an accomplished lover, this wine screams: high-class escort, and in the immortal words of that transcendent poet, Luda, "a lady in the street but a freak in the bed!" Or, put differently, she, this Margaux princess, made full use of her knee-weakening beauty and overt sluttiness to please...and I liked it! Is that wrong!?

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Red

2016 Château Pontet-Canet

 Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend more
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6/29/2020 - Cailles wrote: 97 points

Tasted double blind. This wine is fantastic! At this early stage, there is so much laser-sharp fruit embedded in such a perfect structure with lots of the ultra-finest tannins and an unbelievable weightlessness. The sweet and fresh red fruit, the hyper precision, the absolute absence of any weight made me believe that I‘m having a great young Sine Qua Non Grenache in my glass! This isn’t really a Pauillac. But anyway, the 2016 Bordeaux vintage seems to best all other vintages in the past 20, 30 or more years, perfect ripeness, fresh, clean fruit, superb freshness, no weight.... wow. 97+ points.

TN: Incredibly nose with so much pure rhubarb, bright red berries, spices, intense, hyper-precise and singular. Directly reminded me of a great SQN Grenache. Killer nose. Very fresh, totally weightless palate displaying fresh red and dark red berries, slight herbs, spices, some minerality with ultra-fine, hardly noticeable tannins. Long, red fruit and slightly earthy finish.

Decanting: A two hour decant should do the job.

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Red

2016 Château Léoville Poyferré

 St. Julien Red Bordeaux Blend more
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11/6/2019 - Keith Levenberg Likes this wine: 94 points

Nothing subtle about this one. Bordeaux in boldface. Opens with a big blast of cedary aromatics that at first seems to lend it sort of a Pauillac-like personality, but at this level of intensity obviously the barrels are doing a lot of the heavy lifting. While the tannin keeps the wine taut and muscular for the first couple of sips, it doesn't take long before something snaps and it becomes characterized instead by extreme generosity. It's weighty and expansive and a big mouthful of stuff on the palate with the cedar, gravel, and metallic ore swirling around and all cranked up to 11. The focus is on these secondary elements rather than the fruit, or at least they seem to be infusing the fruit rather than being layered on top of it as it all still has a crimson, dried-cherry cast. Despite all this it's not seared with toast to the point of turning into bitter coffee grounds like some of the more extreme Rollandized vintages from 10 or 15 years ago, but it's definitely on the slutty side and with some more time even those initially muscular tannins manage to turn fluffy and plush.

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Red

2016 Château Montrose

 St. Estèphe Red Bordeaux Blend more
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9/4/2021 - Cailles wrote: 97 points

Bordeaux 2016 - 5 Years On - 8 Top Reds: All wines tasted single blind. This tasting proved again that 2016 is an amazing vintage. Compared to many other recent vintages, the 2016s show no excess in any category (especially beneficial for right banks these days) but wines that are still fully ripe. The aromatic complexity and precision are off the charts and structural frames are luxurious. Compared to the more solar 2015s wines we tasted last year, the 2016s will need more time to integrate and open up and might be a tad less charming at this point, but the potential is immense. Group winner was an incredible Ausone, ahead of the Pichon Lalande and an incredible and singular Montrose (which for me was a tied #1 with the Ausone).

TN: Bombastic nose with layers and layers of expressive aromas of dark berries, bright red fruit, crushed rocks, fresh and roasted herbs and some Mouton-like burnt sugar aromas, I‘ve never experienced in a Montrose before. A 98/99 pts nose, just wow, wow, wow. On the palate the wine is spectacular too with super precise red and dark fruit, burnt sugar, roasted aromas, minerality, herbs all embedded in a superb structural frame with fine tannins and a perfect structure. The wine is light and airy but not in the same category yet as the Ausone in the flight before. Long, expanding and complex finish. What was surprising, and the same is true for the Cos, is how open, ready and feminine these St. Estephe wines were showing. This is without doubt the most spectacular young Montrose I‘ve ever had and I‘m pretty sure this can reach perfection. So far, this is one of the wines of the vintage for me. 97/98 pts in the context of this tasting with upside for more.

Decanting: Decanted for roughly 2 hours which seemed prefect.

Group rank: #3 out of 8 wines
Group score: 95.9 pts

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Red

2016 Château Lilian Ladouys

 St. Estèphe Red Bordeaux Blend more
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4/8/2020 - Jeff Leve wrote: 93 points

A big gulp of juicy, peppery, ripe, sweet red fruits, cassis, hints of dark cocoa, licorice and cigar wrapper gets everything started. The right amount of freshness and tannic bite give this winner structure, a backbone for aging and round textures to smooth everything out. 5-7 years in the cellar will add a lot more to the experience. And the best part is, the wine sells for a song! It is worth buying by the case

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  • Tasting notes: 5,001 notes on 577 wines

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