2022 Château Pontet-Canet
Community Tasting Note
chatters wrote:
Tuesday, April 25, 2023 - En Primeur campaign for the 2022 vintage Day Four (Bordeaux): Short note - For me this was over-extracted and over-worked to the point of undrinkability. Read the below if you want a more detailed diatribe/rant
Longer note - Medium plus intensity aromas of concentrated (to the point of bitter savouriness) black fruits; blackcurrant especially but touches of plums, oaky spices, dried woody notes and a little baked earth on the nose. Ripe concentrated black fruits and woody, though smoothy textured, tannins smash around the mouth like two cars trying to squeeze into the same tiny parking spot. With time the fruit appears to win the fight by beating the tannins into submission with an alcohol based nightstick. the tannins then park their ugly wooden vehicle on top of the fruit. Pretty awful over-extracted stuff. One for the masochists and I'm no masochist. Pontet Canet appears to be striving to be the Pavie of the Left Bank.
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13 comments have been posted
13 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue (6,630 views)
Comment posted by Alexander Smith:
5/10/2023 7:48:00 AM - Thank you for your honesty on this one!
Comment posted by CdB Dallas:
5/10/2023 8:10:00 AM - I guess I and many other critics tasted a different wine than you did.
Comment posted by Alexander Smith:
5/10/2023 8:15:00 AM - Those critics who were allowed to taste the wine ;)
Comment posted by chatters:
5/10/2023 3:37:00 PM - It was pretty undrinkable...and, as a rule, I like Pontet Canet ,& have a few bottles in my cellar from the other vintages, so it's not personal bias. I mean, they can tend to the monolithic in their impetuous youth (like a petulant teenager sulking) but this was on a whole different level.
CdB Dallas - I'd love to see your note - what day were you at PC tasting? Or was it at UGCB or one of the negotiant tastings? I was mostly at Chateau visits but do like to try wines more than once (though this is a bit of a challenge with the amount of wine vs the amount of time)
Talking to the wineries most EP bottlings seem to occur within the 48 hours prior to the pour which may be a reason for some minor differences (the fundamental source should be the same e.g. at Croix de Labrie they have a dedicated tank for the EP wines that they will be bottling for the Negotiant tastings and visitors)
cheers,
chatters
Comment posted by StarV100:
5/30/2023 8:23:00 PM - Baked earth?
Comment posted by chatters:
5/30/2023 10:12:00 PM - Hi StarV100,
Baked earth for me is the scent of the ground on a country path in the middle of a hot summer when the earth has been baked by the sun for quite a while with no rainfall. As you kick it up you get a dusty though earthy scent. As I can't see where you are from your profile I'm not sure if you live in an environment where you might encounter such a thing but down here in Australia summers can get quite warm so this is a fairly regular occurrence.
I hope that helps a little.
cheers,
chatters
Comment posted by StarV100:
5/30/2023 11:33:00 PM - Sounds good. I am in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. We’ll be in your neck of the woods in February. Sydney, and to Adelaide for Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale, then off to NZ.
Comment posted by chatters:
5/31/2023 1:50:00 AM - Oh, well please reach out about a month before you come out and we'll catch up when you're in Sydney if you like?
cheers,
chatters
Comment posted by StarV100:
5/31/2023 7:42:00 AM - Sounds good. Any advice on the best winery tours around Adelaide? I love Australian Shiraz and have many favorites, but I don’t yet know which wineries are great experiences as tour destinations.
Comment posted by chatters:
5/31/2023 2:41:00 PM - Absolutely...stylistically can you throw me some producer/wine examples of what you have enjoyed in the past to help guide me?
cheers, chatters
Comment posted by StarV100:
5/31/2023 4:57:00 PM - Well, I love Dead Arm, St. Henri's, Yalumba, Elderton Command, Bin 28, and aspire to Grange, but can never justify the price
Comment posted by chatters:
5/31/2023 6:59:00 PM - Well, you should defo go to Penfolds and d'Arenberg then, as well as Elderton and Yalumba!
Other cellars to take into consideration would be Hentley Farm, Torbreck, Kalleske and, if you fancy a lighter approach to wine-making, Alkina.
These guys offer potential exposure to quite a few producers in a single hit: https://artisansofbarossa.com/pages/reservations
Apparently the Lyndoch pub is good for a feed with a reasonably diverse wine list.
Happy hunting!
cheers, chatters
Comment posted by StarV100:
6/14/2023 10:47:00 AM - Thanks Chatters, for taking the time with this. I do appreciate it.