Château Pontet-Canet 2004

Mike      Belgium

After an exceptionally mild winter and a hot and dry April, the cold and rainy conditions in the following four months left their mark not only in the memories but on the morale of wine makers.


Throughout the country, the humidity encouraged mildew of an incomparable intensity. In our commitment to a different kind of viticulture, both demanding and ambitious, we were probably more prone to attacks than others. Binding our fate to that of our vines, where sap and blood are but one, we were wounded in our flesh. Yet from this painful experience, we have also gained a greater knowledge of our terroir.

Without losing faith, we needed to react quickly and did so, by bringing in extra teams to discard the affected fruits. It was a long and meticulous task.


During the summer holidays, we repeated this process by again re-employing new teams to remove undeveloped bunches or portions of bunches, due to the long flowering period.

Towards the beginning of September, the atmosphere gradually improved as a hot sun settled for nearly the whole month, warming our bodies and also our hearts.


The vineyard, in particularly good health, gave us thick skins and led us to hope for a complete maturation. Optimism returned.

From the first grape tastings, the Cabernet Sauvignon seemed to already show a beautiful potential in quality, higher than the Merlot; which was a good omen as this grape variety carries within, the soul of the great Pauillac wines.


Keeping a cool head we pushed back the harvest date, to begin picking slowly on October the 1st in order to collect each plot of our vineyard at full maturity. We finished on October the 13th.
Never had there ever been such an important amplitude in the harvest dates from one property to another. However we believe that we made the right decisions, taking into account the vineyard’s state of health which remained perfect until the end of the harvest, allowing the grapes skins to become riper with each day.

In the vat rooms, during the pumping-overs, the aromas released were so intense and complex that every day, it reminded me how passion is really the driving force behind out work.


The tannins seem to have this smoothness which now defines Pontet-Canet’s last vintages, whilst keeping the volume in the mouth and the structure specific to this magnificent property.


We await you from the beginning of April to taste the result of all our efforts.


Alfred Tesseron

Maturity : Keep in cellar

Classified in a list 4 years ago

Meditrina Vino      Orlando  (United States)

What an outstanding effort by this Chateau. While the 2003's are drinking fantastic right now, the 2005 needs more time in the cellar. Even after 6 hours of decanting, the wine still isn't at it's prime. It brings in the classic Pontet Canet's fruit, it also has underlying tones of cedar and pencil. I think this wine needs at least another 5 years of cellaring before it comes all the way through. Drink this wine in 2013, and see what Pontet Canet is all about.

Reviewed 3 years ago