James Suckling | JS 95
Published: Jan 28, 2014

A wine with lots of ripe berries, verging on dried fruits. Full and chewy with ripe, round, chewy tannins. It needs lots of bottle age. A wine of steel. From biodynamically grown grapes, as always. Better than from barrel. Try in 2018. 

The Wine Advocate | RP 93
Published: May 29, 2020

Deep garnet in color, the 2011 Pontet-Canet comes bounding out of the glass with exuberant notes of redcurrant jelly, warm cassis and blackberry pie plus touches of dried mint, mocha, smoked meats and yeast extract with a waft of pencil lead. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has bags of energy with lively red and black fruits and compelling mineral accents, finishing long with a provocative lift. 

Pontet-canet.com

Spring came early and invited the vines to grow strongly. The hot, dry weather brought a smile to the winegrowers faces, keeping disease at bay and raising hopes of an early harvest, often one of the keys to a very good vintage.

Flowering took place particularly early, around mid-May, in very dry weather which often meant sparse clusters and small berries. Then nature changed its plans and sent us a muted summer, though we still nurtured the hope of a true Bordeaux vintage, mature but fresh and well-balanced. Showers throughout September raised fears of a threat to the health of the crop, but a timely Indian summer stabilised the situation.

The grapes had to be sorted, of course, but our facilities have two sorting lines for precisely that purpose. Ultimately, the grapes that went into the vats were perfectly healthy and fully ripe. As in previous years, extraction was especially easy. More anecdotally, more than half the crop reached the winery in trailers drawn by our draft horses who, the rest of the year, are used over an increasingly extensive part of the estate.

Tasting:
The wine has great depth of colour and a fresh, incredibly pure nose which pleasantly combines minerality, fruit aromas and floral notes. Energetic and with fabulous substance, it displays consummate balance on the palate, with a magical radiance and a taffeta mouthfeel. Fruit, tannins and acidity all combine harmoniously. 

The magical encounter of a great terroir and biodynamics. A new masterpiece!

Grapes Varieties:
Merlot 35% 
Cabernet Sauvignon 60% 
Cabernet Franc 4% 
Petit Verdot 1% 

Harvest: From September 15th to 29th
Alcohol: 13,5