What happened to Pontet Canet 2019???

[DanielP]

I cannot understand why a major estate would ban a critic. It is not as though he won’t have the opportunity to taste the wines.

Did Pontet-Canet ban a reviewer?

[William_Kelley]

I cannot understand why a major estate would ban a critic. It is not as though he won’t have the opportunity to taste the wines.

Did Pontet-Canet ban a reviewer?

Not yet, as far as I know

[Keith_Levenberg]

tl;dr “People who like this kind of thing will find this the kind of thing they like.”

[Pat_Martin]

Frankly, Pontet Canet is not that interesting of a wine…

Sadly, this. I’ve had many P-C, including at verticals, and though Alfred is one of the most likable, generous people in Bordeaux, the last vintage I’ve really liked at P-C is the 1996.

There are so many other interesting, classic Bordeaux to fawn over.

Thankfully so.

[Robert.A.Jr]

I cannot understand why a major estate would ban a critic. It is not as though he won’t have the opportunity to taste the wines.

Did Pontet-Canet ban a reviewer?

Not yet, as far as I know

That would be a badge of honor!

[Mark_Golodetz]

I cannot understand why a major estate would ban a critic. It is not as though he won’t have the opportunity to taste the wines.

Did Pontet-Canet ban a reviewer?

Not yet, as far as I know

I just PM’d William where I read this.

[Robert.A.Jr]

If PC bans a reviewer, does anyone care?

[Julian_Marshall]

I cannot understand why a major estate would ban a critic. It is not as though he won’t have the opportunity to taste the wines.

Quite so. I remember a few years back that NM did get banned by a producer, but I assumed it was somebody on the Right Bank. Personally I always find it shocking when it happens, because as you suggest it’s just a rather silly form of censorship, but also because of the lack of reaction from fellow professionals - I recall Jeb Dunnock’s really awful post directed at Neal at the time. It wasn’t any better when Chris Kissack was banned by Huet because he didn’t like one of their vintages - the silence was deafening.

[Daniel_T]

Looks like LPB added her score with a 99 (!). No mention of Black Forest Cake…

Very curious to receive my shipment - I am comfortable with the result, despite the question marks, given the risk/reward of EP pricing

[Howard_Cooper]

FWIW Jancis Robbins gave it 16 points late October and an underwhelmed description. It would not enduce me to pursue the wine in any way, if I were in the market ( and I have bought Pontet Canet off and on since 1970, but I’ve pretty well stopped buying long haul wines due to anno domini) . Not sure of the protocol of quoting it here. I’ll check.

[She describes 16 as ‘distinguished’ but since it falls between average and superior I tend to think of it as ‘good but not great’ . Her words in this instance give no hint of distinction. Not sure if it was tasted blind].

How British! It’s like Clive Coates’ “very good” and “very good indeed.” You need a decryptor ring.

or points

[Brent_S]

Such controversy. Such drama. All for grape juice.

Okay, so the wine ranges between 93-99 points. Let’s remove the 2 high and low scores and take an average of the rest and it’s probably a 95.

[Johan_Beglund]

Looks like LPB added her score with a 99 (!). No mention of Black Forest Cake…

Very curious to receive my shipment - I am comfortable with the result, despite the question marks, given the risk/reward of EP pricing

Well, for what my opinion is worth, you will receive an outstanding wine that in 2019 is as Lisa writes “So stunningly vibrant that it shimmers.”

Just like Carmes Haut Brion it has a singular and personal style for the place that it is from. If you like one then you will like the other or there is something amiss.

[Ian_Sutton]

What happened to Pontet-Canet 2019? The people reviewing it were different.

It’s a very good demonstration of the stupidity of following reviewers’ scores and trusting them as some objective expert assessment. Instead read the tasting note and if the reviewer is any *good, they’ll share decent insight of what to expect from the wine. It’s still nothing like tasting a wine for yourself though.

• If they’re not so good, it will be unnecessarily clouded by the level of their personal enjoyment, or their desire to shape the wine world into what they personally enjoy, or their desire to make a ‘statement’ that will get their (wine reviewing) brand some extra coverage.

[Daniel_T]

Looks like LPB added her score with a 99 (!). No mention of Black Forest Cake…

Very curious to receive my shipment - I am comfortable with the result, despite the question marks, given the risk/reward of EP pricing

Well, for what my opinion is worth, you will receive an outstanding wine that in 2019 is as Lisa writes “So stunningly vibrant that it shimmers.”

Just like Carmes Haut Brion it has a singular and personal style for the place that it is from. If you like one then you will like the other or there is something amiss.

Thank you for the input, Johan. I am a huge fan of Carmes Haut Brion, so I am delighted to hear this explanation.

I have also been pleased with recent PC vintages, but not always the obvious ones. I love the ‘15. ‘16 is great like all Pauillacs, but it has come off a little big to me. I look forward to tasting the ‘16 again in the next month. The ‘12 at the Chateau in September was tremendous. ‘14 felt a little forced for the vintage when tasted upon release. Have not picked up my ‘18s yet, and I am really looking forward to these ‘19s