Château Pontet Canet 1997
Review of the Estate
Positioned adjacent to Chateau Mouton Rothschild, Chateau Pontet-Canet is blessed with excellent terroir. Extensive improvements to vineyard practices over the past twenty years have built on this natural advantage. This has elevated the wines created at Chateau Pontet Canet to impressive heights challenging and surpassing the wines of nearby top estates, particularly in difficult vintages.
Chateau Pontet Canet is unique in Bordeaux in that they have been certified both biodynamic and organic since the 2010 vintage. Synthetic chemicals are not used and there are now horses to work the vineyards because they are gentler on the soils than tractor tires. Soils which are repeatedly worked by machines may become compacted over time and this makes it more difficult for vine roots to penetrate deeply enough into the subsoil.
All fruit at Chateau Pontet Canet is handpicked and is placed into small crates that minimise the possibility of the grapes being crushed before they reach the winery. Careful sorting is done with both vibrating machines and a large group of workers in order to remove all but the healthiest grapes.
A new and improved vat room was built in the cellars for the Chateau Pontet Canet 2005 vintage. Upgrades included cone-shaped stainless steel tanks and cement vats. The cellar also operates entirely by gravity, ensuring that the grapes, must and wine are all handled as gently as possible.
Chateau Pontet Canet uses very precise blending techniques, with parcels being fermented in small lots. After fermentation, the wine is run off into barrels, 60% of which are new, where it is then matured for 16 to 20 months.
Vineyard
Surface area: 160.5 acres
Grape Varieties: 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot
Average age of vines: 40 years
Density of plantation: 10,00 vines per hectare
Average yields: 45 hectoliters per hectare
Average cases produced: 14,500 per year
Plateau of maturity: 15 - 50 years
Château Pontet Canet 1997 Reviews / Tasting Notes
Robert Parker - The Wine Advocate
Point Score: 85
This wine, which had performed well from cask (particularly for the vintage), was severe, tannic, gritty, and attenuated on two of the three occasions it was tasted from bottle. I have lowered the score and added a question mark because the wine lacks the color saturation of the barrel samples, exhibits more herbaceousness, and the tannin is astringent. Perhaps it is going through an awkward stage of development, but right now I am less enthusiastic. Anticipated maturity: 2002-2010.
Stephen Tanzer - Vinous
Point Score: 90
Bright ruby-red. Blackcurrant, shoe polish, and floral aromas. Smooth and seductively sweet in the mouth. Very good depth of flavor and length on the palate. The tannins are unusually soft and lush. A lovely '97 in the making. As was done with Lafon-Rochet, the merlot here went through its malolactic fermentation in barriques