2014 Pontet Canet Pauillac

A stunning wine for this vintage although it's still a bit shy on the nose (more spice than fruit showing than now). There's wet earth, too, but on the palate it's bursting with ripe yet subtle flavors. Very long and complex finish that goes on and on. Review Date: February 2017

A final blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot, the 2014 Pontet-Canet is brilliant stuff, and I was able to taste this wine from barrel as well as multiple times from bottle, both at the estate and from a bottle purchased in the United States. It offers a sensational bouquet of crème de cassis, black raspberries, tobacco leaf, and minerals, as well as an unmistakable Pauillac lead pencil characteristics that I just adore. Possessing full-bodied richness, a rounded, surprisingly opulent, sexy texture, awesome purity, and sweet, succulent tannin, it's a sensational 2014 that might just surpass what they accomplished in 2015. This is a 2014 you won't regret buying in bulk as it's going to keep for 2-3 decades and be drinkable for the vast majority of it. Bravo to Alfred Tesseron and his team! Review Date: November 2017

Deep and translucent to the core, the 2014 Pontet-Canet is one of the sexiest wines of the vintage. A host of violets, lavender, mint, spices, new leather and plums grace the palate in an utterly exquisite wine endowed with magnificent yet understated depth and crystalline purity. This is without question one of the highlights of the vintage. The 2014 isn't a big wine rather it is a Pauillac built on a total sense of finesse. The 2014 was vinified in equal parts cement and oak, and is aging in a combination of 50% new oak, 35% amphora and 15% once used barrels. The blend is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot. Personally, I can't wait to taste the 2014 from bottle. Review Date: April 2015

The Château Pontet-Canet 2014 was picked between 29 September and 10 October, the 10th biodynamically. It is initially quite reticent, a little broody in the glass. However, it unfolds with each swirl revealing a very pure and I feel, a more contained and classic bouquet compared to the 2013: blackberry, graphite, minerals and a touch of incense. The palate is medium-bodied with fine, quite tensile tannin. The acidity is very well judged ? crescendo of flavors that lead to a precise, lightly spiced, quite vivacious finish. What I like here is that it is very Pauillac, in the sense that I feel that recent vintages were flirting with deviating too far away from what a typical Pauillac ought to be. This is unmistakable in terms of where it comes from, but there it retains that sense of focus and mineralité that ensures this is a total success for the vintage. I find this more appealing than the 2013 last year and this 2014 should be a vintage that puts a smile on Jean-Michel Comme's face. Review Date: April 2015