Chateau Pontet Canet Vertical Tasting Wine Dinner with Melanie Tesseron
Nicolas Le Restaurant
Tasted Saturday, March 8, 2014 by hkm520240 with 982 views
Introduction
After attended last Pontet Canet wine dinner in 2013 with Melanie around, I was excited to learn that she will be in town again for another Pontet Canet wine dinner in March 2014. This time round the wines featured is even better with straight vertical from 2005 to 2010 which include 2 perfect RP scores wines. It is definitely great to compare them side by side. That said other vintages are equally impressive, 05 was drinking well during the dinner, 06, 08 were very strong and convincing, even 07 showing well with fresh and approachable character. A big credit to the organizer to organise such a wonderful dinner for us, probably the best line up for 2014.
Closing
I am absolutely delighted with the quality of wines showed on the dinner. That said, I am happy to leave my PC collections deep inside my cellars to slowly age and gain more complexity.
2005 Château Pontet-Canet 95 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Deep red core, powerful and very concentrated nose, lots of dark fruits and wonderful rich cassis, still very primary and fresh. Just showing a light hints of tobacco and floral notes. Vanillin oak is integrating well too.
Soft and elegant on entry, with blackcurrant and black licorice. More development on palate than the nose and getting ready. Polished mouth-feel with lively acidity and spicy aftertaste. It has a very good grip on the long lovely finish. One of my favourite wine for tonight.
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2006 Château Pontet-Canet 94 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Dark and inky garnet core with a nice vibrant hue, still pretty tight on the nose, showing blackcurrant, roasted coffee and toasted oak. Full and robust on palate, even more powerful and richer than 2005, with notes of pencil shaving, cassis, berries. Very young and structured, need years to evolve and come around. Firm grippy tannins with long smoky finish. This is definitely an impressive wine judging by the context of the vintage. It tastes more like a powerful Napa Cabernet and not as lively as what I expect. Yet it could offered the best QPR among the available PC in the market along with 2008.
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2007 Château Pontet-Canet 91 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Compare side by side with 08 and both showed dark opaque core, but 08 is more vivid and vibrant. Nose is less expressive and powerful than other vintages but fresher, more elegant and developed, tobacco, cigar box, blackcurrant, sweet licorice and hints of leather.
Good richness on entry, with nice notes of tobacco, blackcurrant, raspberries, black and red fruits, hints of earth and leather. Lean and fresh acidity, lighter on bodied but smooth on mid-palate. Good medium+ finish with chewy tannins. Not bad but lacking real substance and a little weak compared to other vintages, but unsurprisingly other tasters liked it as it is the most approachable wine of the night.
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2008 Château Pontet-Canet 94 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Compare side by side with 07 and both showed dark opaque core, but 08 is more vivid and vibrant. Still tight on the nose, showing good amounts of dark fruits along with cassis and smoky oak.
Good medium+ bodied and rich mouth-feel, good mix of black currant, tobacco and black licorice on palate. Firm grippy tannins with long lingering aftertaste. Very good indeed for such an under-rated vintage.
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2009 Château Pontet-Canet 97 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Deep opaque core, big expressive nose, plenty of black elements, roasted coffee, black licorice, smoky oak and hints of violets. The oak is not overwhelming and overall nose is pretty complex.
It has shed a bit of fat since I last tasted but still massive and got lots of substance and structure on palate. Rich cassis, still primary, good balance in a full bodied frame. Plenty of ripe grippy tannins, wonderful long persistent finish with spicy aftertaste. Definitely need a decade or more to start evolve but it is so lovely at the moment.
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2010 Château Pontet-Canet 96 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Another wine with expressive nose, lots of sweet ripe fruits, dark plums, rich cassis, violet, vanilla toasted oak, plenty of dark and roasted elements. Unlike other vintages that still retain some old world complexity, it has rich powerful fruity palate, with massive structure, plenty of dark fruits and roasted coffee notes. Firm tannins and long lingering finish. Together with 09, the finishing part stand out from the rest. Huge ripe fruits match by oak and tannic backbone, need years to integrate and develop. Full bodied wine with 15% alc still under control.
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