TN: 2006 Château Pontet-Canet (France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac)

[JimHow]

• 2006 Château Pontet-Canet - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (7/10/2009)
  Ho hum, yet another outstanding effort from Chateau Pontet-Canet. I sat next to Alfred Tesseron at a restaurant near Times Square two years ago, when all the buzz was about the 2005 vintage. "Yes," he said to me with a wink. "But you should see our 2006!" There was nothing on the nose when I first uncorked this wine. But it just kept opening, very slowly, to reveal classic 1996-like Pauillac characteristics of ripe, structured cabernet, ripe blackberries and cassis. Exhiliarating finish. Purple/black. With the fully-unfolding Pauillac we had blackberries and cream for dessert... oh yeah. In the end, despite all the ripe fruit bursting at the seams, the wine displays a very appealing restraint. The wood is pleasantly restrained. Mouton-like. Like the '96 Pontet-Canet, this is a wine of first-growth quality. I agree with He-Who-Shall-Remain-Nameless that this is a 50-year wine, but I don't think we'll have to wait half a century to enjoy this wine. I think this is one of those wines, like the '96 Pontet Canet, that will drink well young, will be enjoyable as it evolves over the decades, yet will be enjoyed by our grandchildren. 13.0% alcohol. Wow! (95 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

[JimHow]

I'd be curious what the weather statistics were for the 2006 cabernet harvest because for the wines I've had like Pontet-Canet, Lagrange and Haut Bailly, there has been 1996 levels of quality here.

[DavidG]

From The WIne Advocate, spring 1007. I'm sure there are more detailed weather reports available.

I did not expect the highlights of 2006 to be as promising as they turned out. There was little talk about the vintage following the harvest, and after the wine press and the proprietors exhausted themselves with their praise of the 2005s, there was little need to start additional speculative fires. However, the 2006 vintage has produced many fine wines, and overall, it is superior to 2004. The weather was hot in June and July, but August was cool and rainy. The first two weeks of September were again torridly hot, setting the stage for what many believed would be a vintage to rival, possibly eclipse 2005. However, substantial rain fell across the region before the end of September. Overall, the entire viticultural season, from April’s flowering to autumn’s harvest, was much drier and warmer than normal. In Pomerol, the Merlot harvest began for a handful of estates before the first heavy rains hit. The Cabernet Franc was generally picked during the last ten days of September, and the Cabernet Sauvignon was harvested from the end of September through the first two weeks of October. Consider the following statistics for the critical growing season - the seven months from April through October. During these months, it was hotter than normal every month except August, which was only 1.6 degrees centigrade below normal. June, July, September, and October were all at least 3 degrees centigrade above normal. Precipitation figures are equally revealing. The average rainfall for these seven months is typically 979 mm (about 37.5 inches). In 2006, it was 901 mm (36 inches), a drier than average year. All of this explains why the 2006 crop had lower acids and yields than 2004 and 2005 as well as alcohols that are less than in 2005, but higher than in 2004.

[JimHow]

Thanks DavidG, I think this may be one of those vintages where certain micro-regions may have thrived as a result of a confluence of weather conditions during the season.

[Claudius]

Well,
Now I'm kicking myself for NOT buying the 06 PC.
I've been buying it regularly since the mid 90s.

[PappaDoc]

As I said some four months ago, the 06s are more Bordeaux than the 05s. At least 5 06s I tasted at the UGV tasting late winter 09 bested the 05 tasted side by side. Pontet Canet, Lynch Bages, Lagrange, Bran Cantenac, Haut Bailly, and some others as well. Most of these Producers present stated exactly that!

This is more apperent in the Left Bank, but some Right Bank wines shone brightly as well. For me 06 is an excellent Cabernet Sauvignon vintage, even beter than the 96s, because the tannins are rounder and will come to maturity in less time then the 96s. I do love the 96 Left Banks, and always encourage anyone to buy them at auction as they are still great buys!