TN: 1996 Pontet Canet

[JimHow]

This is really nice. Quintessential Pauillac. Still very dark purple, very little fading at the rim. I've had this in my cellar since release. It ended up really developing like you would expect a 1996 Pauillac to have developed into its 22nd year, with resolved cedar, cassis, tobacco notes. There is a strength to the wine but also an elegance. I have two bottles left. To me it is drinking great now but I'll probably drink the next one in 5 years and the last one in 10 years. Others will want to wait perhaps even longer. 94 points.

[AKR]

Cool, I have a couple on the rack that I've been meaning to drink soon.

[JCNorthway]

Good to hear. I've started to drink my 1995 Pontet Canet, which seems to be coming along pretty well. Actually a bit more mature than I would have guessed based on other 95s I've had. I think I will let the 1996 rest a few more years.

[William P]

Thanks for the report Jim. I too have a few left. I'll wait another few years.

Bill

[Ognik]

Two cases left...

[Comte Flaneur]

We had this tonight with a 2006 Corton Les Pougets Domaine De Montille, a Grand Cru ... both were intended as a treat as I am fasting in February. We much preferred the burgundy tonight. While the P-C was definitely in the zone with plenty of fruit and only a hint of horsiness it came across as a bit turgid and lugubrious against the deft and fleet footed burgundy. I liked the P-C 1996 but it was outclassed tonight.

[JimHow]

Interesting. After I saw how the Montille son mistreated and was so mean to his father in that documentary a while back I pledged myself to never drink a Montille. What an asshole.

I wouldn’t call the 1996 a “great” Pontet Canet. What I liked about it was that it was true to Pauillac.

Good luck in your fast, Ian, I try to fast 4 months out of every calendar year.

[robert goulet]

Had '95 2x last yr...one sample was a bit flat...the other was fuqn mild-blowing pauillac

[stefan]

I've drunk many Corton Pougets, Ian, but never one from Montille. How does his compare to others?

Usually Corton is not very expressive when it is 12 years old.

[Nicklasss]

Two weeks ago, after the UGC 2015 tasting, my brother opened a 1996 Chateau Lagrange with dinner that was just glorious, after all these young Bordeaux during the afternoon. The Lagrange was so mellowed, complex (hazy blackcurrant fruit, spicy, flowery, more fruit, etheral), resolved, balanced, all the greatest things you have in a 21 years old red Saint-Julien. A perfect time for that wine. Tn: 93-94.

I also opened a 2008 Chateau Gombaude Guillaut that was decanted the previous night, and left outside in the cold, and 24 hours after, was still a nice sandy fruity, berry, herb and elegant oak Pomerol. Decanted 24 hours, but soo there. Tn: 90.

Nic

[Ognik]

@ JimHow
I would call PC 95 and 96 "great" due to it's former performance (e.g. in terms of "classic" wine, whatever that means)
Since then a lot has changed at PC and it's hard to find anything "classic" there these days.

[Comte Flaneur]

I've drunk many Corton Pougets, Ian, but never one from Montille. How does his compare to others?

Usually Corton is not very expressive when it is 12 years old.

stefan, I don’t have many points of reference apart from Louis Jadot...and apart from Jadot I am not sure which producers have plots on this GC vineyard.

When I saw this for sale a few months ago - in the Sampler five minutes up the street from here - they piqued my interest because somebody here who knows burgundy inside out was raving about his 2006 Volnay Champans, remarking how beautifully it was already drinking. So I snapped these up, and I must say they are drinking sublimely now. I am sure they will keep for many years but at this rate mine won’t last long (even though I am fasting this month).

I paid £75 a bottle which I think is a bargain - slightly cheaper now than the leaden-by-comparison 1996 Pontet Canet. So if you see any 2006s by this producer maybe you should shoot first and ask questions later.

[stefan]

Jadot is the big gorilla, but Rapet also makes one. And Ardhuy has. I like Jadot's, but I get tired of waiting for it to develop. I do not have the 2006. The 2006 is not available in the USA, but the 2005 is. 75 quid sounds like quite a bargain. I don't think you can buy the Jadot version for that here.

[AKR]

I pulled a bottle of the 96 Pontet Canet to go with some lamb chops. No decanting, just popped and poured. This is really good -- just a fine classic Medoc that has rewarded cellaring. I think I like it more than a 94 recently consumed. The nose has graphite, currants, a touch of iodine. A tinge of lightening at the edges. Medium bodied and well balanced between the fruit, acid, and tannin. In fact, my example is still showing a lot of structure. I've had a few 96 Medocs in the last few months, and this is probably one of the best showings so far. I've had this since release, and it had a great fill and perfect looking cork, but I haven't taken the best care of this in the last year or so. I pulled it from storage and its been sitting at basically room temp for a year plus, but that doesn't seem to have impacted anything. It would be really hard to pick the best of the 94, 95, 96 trio of wines, but for now, I'm thinking its the last one that is the best. For me, really traditional, and an A grade. Here's some pictures. If you zoom in, you can observe the color change at rims as well as my suggestion of 'when to drink' written on the label, one of my many gauche habits from the 90's.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/52zL8R3SyV1kiDzM6

(I had the seared tuna the night before with a Val d'Aosta wine that was sort of like a taut Barolo. The lamb got an Indian/Levant style rub before cooking)

[Nicklasss]

Look all delicious Arv.

BWE has been a promoter of Pontet Canet since the 1994 vintage, and seems like it was a good idea, as the many vintages I had from 1994 to 2014 (at the chateau in 2015) are all excellent.

Dstgolf opened the 2000 a 2 weeks ago, and it was excellent +.

Nic

[Comte Flaneur]

Arv - I can’t believe you wrote a Parker score on the bottle...Jim he deserves a yellow card for that...

I have really enjoying the 96 Pontet Canet, which I am drinking at the rate of about two a year and an now about half way through the case. I would say it is well into its drinking window, and Arv’s description is spot on, as is Parker’s score.

[jckba]

Arv - I can’t believe you wrote a Parker score on the bottle...Jim he deserves a yellow card for that...

Haha that is pretty funny but I can also fully understand as in those pre everything being readily available on the internet days, information and scores were really only available in print.

I last had the 1996 Pontet Canet in 2010 at a friends 40th alongside it’s across the street neighbor that I brought in the 1996 Mouton Rothschild and they were very similar in character with the Mouton winning out as it was plusher and more elegant, BUT when factoring in the cost of each bottle, it was clear which was the real winner.