2008 Château Pontet-Canet- France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (3/4/2014)
I was curious as how this is evolving. At the age of six, perhaps the worst time to open. Pop and pour, it has shed the baby fat and now the fruit expression is decidedly red. Medium nose, plum, cedar, a hint of ash, lactic coming from oak and strong presence of lead pencil. Initially very noticeable but sweet tannins. 24 hours later, the nose is a bit softer, jammier and fruitier. Soft silky palate, medium concentration, good acidity and nicely integrated tannins. Despite the red fruits and strong presence of lead pencil, the overall impression is modern with lactic notes and soft palate. IMO, this is developing nicely and will require another ten years to reach the peak. If you look for freshness, this may not be the right Bordeaux for you. (93 pts.)
Kevin, do you feel that Pontet Canet never really shuts down? I don’t mean there aren’t better and worse ages to open one, but in my limited experience, I have never opened one and had it be something you couldn’t enjoy to some reasonable degree.
Chris,
I can’t recall the last time when I had a completely shut down Bordeaux. My clear preference is to drink as soon as I receive or just about fifteen to twenty years later.
I agree that the modern PC tend to be always enjoyable as the tannins are always nicely integrated and sweet.
Last evening I went to a vertical of 8 PCs from the 2000s, taken by Alfred Tesseron. I have some samples to finish and will do some TNs shortly. The 2008 was not among the wines tasted, so good to see your TN.
From your note, the 2008 sounds closer in style to the impressive but huge '09 and '10 than the '07 we had. You wouldn’t really want to open a '09 or '10 now (Chris and Kevin, I’m assuming your comments don’t apply this young?).
From the 2000 onwards through to the 2007, you could get something out of all of them. Of the vintages we had, for dinner tonight, in order, I’d take the '01, '04 and '07. Those lighter, more claret-like vintages are drinking very well (I am pleased to have my lesser rated '07s in my cellar). You could drink the '05 if you had to, but it is a great wine and you would be wasting it. And I’m undecided about whether the '00 is shut down or slightly past its best.
I think I agree with Pat. The '03 is not showing that well now. With enough air time, the fruit starts to emerge from behind the oak and alcohol, so it’s “drinkable,” but not that great. Question is, will it turn into real Bordeaux in another 10 years or has its turn to the dark side going to doom it?
To me the 2000 was quite evolved with a prominent tannic sturcture and fruit starting to dry out. While it was impressive and showing secondary evolution. I’m not that the sample I had was showing the necessary balance to evolve harmoniously. The 2005 was a tannic beast with beuautfully refined cassis fruit but totally shut down. I thought the 04 was great with outstanding focus and minerality. I know Howard is planning to post some notes and then we can a good conversation about the 09 and 10.
Wayne and Clayton, you’re probably right about the '00. There was a view at our tasting that it is tired and slightly past its best. I will try it again tonight and let you know what I think.
David, I wouldn’t be as tough on the '03 as you are. It was of course a very hot vintage.
Its interesting, talking to the boys in Wellington. The wines served in Auckland were from GG cellar and the wines in Wellington direct from the Chateau…wonder if that has made a difference.
Sorry for thread drift
Sorry to continue the thread creep, to comment on Wayne’s question, we did wonder whether the shut down/evolved, awkward nature of the '00 was due to our bottles being old, shop stock. That thought disappeared when we found out that our bottles were direct from the Chateau. And your consistent comments about the '00 you tasted make me think that’s where the vintage is at present.
Agree 05 is going to be great and it’s best to leave it until age 20 or so.
Didn’t think much of the 08 Pontet Canet so I didn’t buy any. The 08 Pichon Baron on the other hand is beautiful. Classic, balanced, and fairly open as of a 4 months ago. Bought a case and change of it to age and incidentally marks the last Bordeaux I’ve bought or will ever buy.
I had the same impression with the 2000 Pichon Baron except it had plenty of fruit but seemed a bit soft and lacking tannins to evolve. Holding on to my last 3 in the hopes that I’m wrong.
Depends on what vintages you consider to be ‘modern Pontet Canet’ I guess, but a few years ago, '01 PC was shut down hard, so I don’t agree with the notion that PC doesn’t really shut down.
In the vertical in Wellington last night, most of the PCs up to and including the 2007 had something to offer right now, except the 2005, which (although recognisably a great wine) was very shut down. The 2009 and 2010 were monsters in comparison to the rest of the line-up and quite hard work - the influence of Michel Rolland as much as youth and vintage possibly. The comments about the 2000 from the Wellington tasting may relate to storage - comparatively evolved for the vintage. Wayne, do you know for certain that the Auckland PCs were from the GG cellar and the Wellington examples were from the Château?
My apologies too for the thread drift - I have the '08 (as well as '04, '09 and '10) so I am interested in where it is at. I suspect it would be more like the '04 and '07 (drinking well now but plenty to come), but it was missing from the vertical.
I also think the '04 is drinking fantastically right now - a great food wine for me. I haven’t opened any of my post 2004 bottles, though am likely to try an '07 soon and hope it hasn’t moved into the modernist camp too much.
Greg, if you like the '04 I think you’ll like the similar '07, a more traditionalist style presumably largely due to vintage conditions (see my TN on the other thread). From my reading of Kevin’s TN, it sounds like '08 (which I have in my cellar but have not tried) was further on the way to the '09 or '10 modernist style you don’t like.
As I mentioned before, it is extremely rare that I find a wine to be shut down. I always find something, perhaps my tolerance for tannins help. The last time I had the 03 PC was in Nov, 2012. I had it blind in a horizontal of the 03s. As I recall, the 03 PC need a couple hours of decanting.
”Wine No. 5 - Expressive nose, blackberries, cassis, lead pencil, black pepper and cedar. Big scale wine. Excellent concentration and structure. Guessed Cos, 96 pts”
