Château Pontet-Canet 2015

At the risk of repeating ourselves: with this wine, which defies any classification, one must either remain silent or write an entire novel. What is impressive is not only its quasi-metaphysical greatness, but also its impeccable technical dimension. A monument.

This sports a lovely core of gently steeped plum, blackberry and black currant fruit, carried by a velvety structure, while smoldering tobacco and charcoal notes fill in through the finish. It fleshes out steadily in the glass, revealing more juniper, bay leaf and loam accents. Best from 2022 through 2035.

Ruby with a purple rim, no second wine made starting with this vintage. More expressive and opulent aromatics than in 2014, with ripe red and black fruit. The irresistible, juicy palate with a creamy texture recalls 2010, but lacks the same tension and structure. It resembles 2009, enjoyed over lunch after the morning vertical, but with more focus and fruit purity, including primary blackberry, plum, and cassis. Long finish. Aged 50% new oak, 35% amphora.

So much floral and dark-fruit character with almonds and walnut shell. Full body and ultra-fine tannins. Powerful. Classic style with a harmony and energy. Goes on for minutes. A superb wine with great fruit. Real Bordeaux. Try in 2025.

Deeply colored, initially you notice Cuban cigars, eucalyptus, coffee bean, flowers, blackberries, and cassis. On the palate, the wine is rich, plush, and polished with an opulence to the texture. The fruit is packed and stacked with wave after wave of mouth-coating fruits that paint every nook and cranny of your palate. There is fabulous sweetness, lift, and depth. There is no touch of heat. Even with all of this power, the wine is balanced. Completely effortless to drink, this is already sublime in your glass. But, give it a few more years in the cellar and it is only going to get better and better. An interesting point, 2015 marks the first vintage without a second wine, allowing you to experience the totality of what the entire 81-hectare vineyard produced. The wine blends 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, 13.5% ABV. Drink from 2025-2060.

Dark ruby, purple reflections, delicate edge brightening. Finely spiced dark forest berries, nuances of blueberry and blackberry mingle with the typical cassis nuances, tobacco and herbal spices, tiny animalistic hints. Complex and full-bodied, ripe black cherry, fine, very well integrated tannins, juicy and with a pleasant freshness. Combines finesse with power; here you can feel the polish of the amphorae for the first time. 2015 is the year in which the caesura in the vineyard really arrived in the wine for the first time, and from now on no more second wines were produced. (2025 -2070).

Extremely dark purple with lilac and violet highlights. A fairly open, expansive bouquet with delicate notes of cedar, coffee and prunes; shows a lovely sweetness of terroir. On the palate, a firm, peppery extract with a healthy tannic astringency. It has about as much muscle as flesh and will result in a classic, perhaps even somewhat traditional, patient Pontet-Canet.

Extremely dark purple with lilac and violet highlights. Quite open, expansive bouquet with delicate cedar notes, coffee, prunes, showing a lovely sense of terroir sweetness. On the palate, it offers a firm, peppery extract, shows astringency with healthy, gripping tannins. It has about as much muscle as flesh and will make for a classic, perhaps even somewhat traditional, patient Pontet-Canet. (18/20). 19: Dense purple-garnet, saturated core. Herbal bouquet, mint and minimal traces of eucalyptus, mineral streaks, thus displaying a distinct personality. The initially described aromas are so strong that the generally red-berried fruit (lingonberries and red currants) seems rather in the background. On the nose, it stands out in flavor from this group of twelve. On the palate, it feels very strict, the tannins latch onto the body’s sinews, the body’s shape is compact, and aromatically it comes across as quite introverted. A tough guy without charm. It demands long bottle aging, with no guarantee of charm in 10 years. The potential is, in itself, huge. As it stands, it doesn’t quite appeal to me right now – despite the enormous potential!

Velvety, dense, concentrated, closed, and profound bouquet: black berries, currants, tobacco, dark chocolate, plums. A concentrated, multi-layered, powerful palate with plenty of fine tannins, a concentrated structure, dense, dark aromatics, and a very long, aromatic finish. 19/20 2024 - 2055

Vibrant plum colour, followed by spiced plum on the nose, more exotic in its range of flavours and silky texture than many vintages, still powerful and in its primary fruit phase. This is a gorgeous wine, hard to argue with, showing estate character over appellation or vintage. The tannins are softer at this stage than you will find with the 2016, even the 2014, but there is so much pleasure in the glass, and it will power ahead for decades. Harvest September 18 to October 3. This was the vintage where Tesseron decided to make no more Les Hauts de Pontet, with everything going either into the first wine, or declassified, as he felt both that the vineyard had reached the level he wanted, and also that philosophically he wanted the wine to be a true reflection of the whole vineyard.

A blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot, the 2015 Pontet-Canet is deep garnet-purple colored. It rolls effortlessly out of the glass with notes of blackcurrant pastilles, raspberry coulis, and blueberry compote, plus suggestions of candied violets, beef dripping, and tar. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is firm and grainy with seamless freshness framing the generous red, black, and blue fruits, finishing long and lifted.

This 2015 offers a singular profile, with silky texture, a velvety touch, and a grace that borders on perfection. Its style evokes a Burgundy Grand Cru in its refinement.

A dark, sensual nose—peppery and playful, fresh and lively. Harmonious on the palate, with plenty of character.

Dense garnet red. What elegance and complexity in this bouquet! It combines the freshness of Cabernet with the warmth of the vintage. The terroir also shows through, with notes of graphite followed by black berries. On the palate, the wine is powerful and compact. The tannins are tight yet broad, perfectly aligned with an acidity that is strikingly pronounced for this vintage, arguing for long cellaring. A truly great wine that will challenge the decades to come.

The nose is fruity, aromatic, elegant, racy, and offers power as well as concentration. It reveals notes of blackcurrant, Boysenberry and, more slightly, fresh raspberry and fresh cherry, combined with a fine hint of cocoa/woody tones, touches of tonka bean, racy minerality (terroir), and a fine/discreet hint of violet, blueberry (in the background) and spices. The palate is fruity, balanced, elegant and offers lovely delicacy, fine structure, subtle juiciness, beautiful freshness, excellent precision, fine complexity, a pleasing smoothness, clear definition, a subtle acidic backbone, a silky texture, and a lovely expression of fruit. On the palate, this wine shows notes of blackberry, blackcurrant and, more slightly, cherry, combined with fine touches of cherry and raspberry, as well as discreet hints of strawberry, licorice, toasted nuances, sweet spices, and an imperceptible hint of ripe almond and Sichuan pepper (on the aftertaste). The tannins are fine and offer a lovely grain. The finish is slightly tannic and elegant. Good length and good persistence. (2027+).

Double decanted. Dark, intense color with slight evolution. Very aromatic nose with ripe, suave fruit. A creamy touch. A tender, tasty, approachable palate, but lacking lift in the mid-palate. Lovely finish with wrapped tannins, though the flavor feels somewhat stripped by the double decanting.

From this vintage onward, the decision at Pontet-Canet was to focus solely on producing the grand vin. Praised by wine critics, 2015 is among the greatest vintages of the past decade and is exceptional at Pontet-Canet. Power, intensity, depth, freshness, energy, silkiness: a true “bomb” that will require plenty of patience to reach its optimal drinking window.

96–98. Barrel Sample. This is an opulent wine, very generous with forward blackberry fruits. Behind an accessible exterior, there is a dark core of tannins, as well as a wonderful, rounded structure. There could be more acidity, though the wine is finely balanced. It shows immediate fruit but will age well and long.