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Goedhuis, April 2022, Score: 92-94
A very firmly structured Pauillac, with scents of herbal clipped currant fruits. A very tight structure and the wine was a little on the reserved side when tasting from cask. There is plenty of power here, it just needs the fruit to evolve to show off its true potential.
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Neal Martin, April 2022, Score: 91-93
The 2021 Pontet Canet is quite perfumed on the finely delineated nose of blackberry, briar and pressed iris flower, a touch of inkwell coming through with time. The palate is medium-bodied with a pinch of white pepper on the entry and gentle grip. Not as enormously deep as other vintages, as you would expect, but it displays a fine bitter edge and a graphite-infused finish. This should drink earlier than other vintages yet has the substance to mature in bottle. Drink 2025 - 2050
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Antonio Galloni, April 2022, Score: 93-95
The 2021 is the most classically Pauillac Pontet-Canet I have tasted in modern times. Medium in body, with striking aromatic presence, the 2021 screams with character. Grilled herbs, incense, leather, lavender and plum open with a bit of coaxing, all framed by beams of tannin and bright, salivating acids that give the wine shape and real sense of direction. There's a bit more Petit Verdot in this year's blend, and that comes through in the wine's intensely savory profile. Aging is 50% in new wood, 35% in amphora and 15% in one year-old barrels. The 2021 was impressive all three times I tasted it. Drink 2031-2046
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Wine Advocate, April 2022, Score: 91-93
Offering up wild, exotic aromas of blackberries, cloves and Indian spices mingled with notions of rose petal, bruised orchard fruit and cherry pit that evolve rapidly in the glass, the 2021 Pontet-Canet is medium to full-bodied, ample and fleshy, with a layered mid-palate and refined tannins that assert themselves on the firm, saline finish. Always one of the Médoc's most singular, idiosyncratic wines, it will be interesting to see how it performs in bottle.
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Matthew Jukes, April 2022, Score: 18.5
Vintages like 2021 play havoc with biodynamic operations, and Justine Tesseron explained that despite the desperately rainy weather in June, and the accompanying mildew pressure, the viti-team at Pontet-Canet earned their spurs in 2021. They have built a new ‘tisanerie’ (herbal tea room in which they make their biodynamic preparations), and this has meant that there is no time delay when they need to react to inclement weather. In addition, and this was not the only time this year when the conversation turned to tractors, P-C has bought one more tractor, and they now have 15 members of staff, fully-trained as tractor operators. This might sound somewhat mundane, but when Mother Nature turns on the waterworks and you are left helpless in a soggy vineyard, you might as well pack up and go home. Pontet-Canet has proved that you can make a jaw-dropping wine in a vintage like 2021, thanks to the tea and tractors at this illustrious property! This is an all-enveloping wine that is open, expressive, perfumed and possesses a stunning colour (I never write about colour, but P-C’s was captivating). Justine said that these arresting characters emerged extremely early during fermentation. There is delicious exoticism here over a black cherry theme, and the tannins are vital, raspy and frictional, and they perfectly offset the exuberant fruit.
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Wine Cellar Insider, April 2022, Score: 94-96
The wine opens with flowers, tobacco leaf, currants, herbs and a touch of spice. Medium/full-bodied, elegant, refined, fresh and vibrant, there is a gorgeous sense of purity to the red fruits along with vivid freshness and a touch of spice in the endnote. The wine is aging in a combination of 50% new, French oak, and 35% Amphora. 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot. Drink from 2028-2055.
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Jane Anson, April 2022, Score: 95
Bright berry red in colour, nuanced blackberry and loganberry with bitter black chocolate notes from the first attack. Lovely precision, good level of spice, earthy, unfussy, rose stem and blackcurrant bud. This was the third vintage with mildew pessure, but the team are now experienced, and I can attest to seeing the vines during harvest and remarking on how healthy they looked, with no-till farming helping concentration. Plenty of tannins give structure and are shot through with sinew and juice, this is an impressive wine from technical director Mathieu Bessonet, with Pauillac typicity. Harvest 24 september until 12 October. 50% new oak, 35% amphora, 15% one year barrels, 15% press (aged in the amphora).
