Chateau Pontet Canet 2025

Wine Advocate: A blend of 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot that weighs in at 13.3% alcohol, the 2025 Pontet-Canet is one of the finest wines this estate has produced. Wafting from the glass with aromas of sweet cassis, wild berries and plums mingled with notions of violet and burning embers, it's full-bodied, ample and velvety, with a degree of structural polish and sensuality that is rare in the Médoc, ripe acids and a long, penetrating finish. Over the last handful of years, technical director Mathieu Bessonnet and his team have revitalized Pontet-Canet's vineyards with well-timed soil work and precise phytosanitary treatments; and since 2023, the careful use of "pieds de cuve" in the winery, along with early blending, more refined barrel choices and cooler temperatures in the chai-plus more precise bottling practices-have conspired to take this estate to new heights of quality and consistency. In 2025, the team formed lower-than-usual "ponts" (whereby the canopies of adjacent vines are braided together in an arch) to retain denser foliage to protect the fruiting zone from sunshine, and they waited to pick late in pursuit of full maturity in Cabernet Sauvignon, finishing on September 23. The result is one of the wines of the vintage."

Vinum: Dunkle Frucht, Veilchen, weisser Pfeffer, Cassis, am Gaumen vollmundig, rund und weich im Auftakt, der Wein zeigt trotz nur 13.5% Alkohol eine gewisse Opulenz, die Tannine sind von höchster Güte, kleiden die Frucht in ein Seidengewand, am mittleren Gaumen wird der Wein kräftiger, bleibt dabei fokussiert und elegant; im Abgang von ausgezeichneter Länge, endet würzig und rotfruchtig. Ein verführerischer Pontet-Canet, verbindet Charme und Noblesse."

Falstaff: Tiefdunkles Rubingranat, opaker Kern, violette Reflexe, zarte Randaufhellung. Zart nach kandierten Veilchen, schwarzen Kirschen, etwas Nougat, einladender Hauch von Edelholz, facettenreiches Bukett. Saftig, elegant, reife Herzkirschen, feine Extraktsüße, reife, seidige Tannine, frisch strukturiert, mineralisch, Brombeerkonfit im Abgang, finessenreicher, harmonischer Stil."

James Suckling: A precise and beautiful wine with total integration of the fruit and polished tannins that give a caressing and seductive mouthfeel. It’s medium-bodied with lovely fruit, a gentle nature and an overall softness and gorgeousness. Yet structured."

Decanter: Deep purple plum colour in the glass with earthy, blackcurrant fruit aromas. Crystalline and focussed, this is seamless and quite straight - tannins are fine but give a solid structure and edge to the wine with brilliant purity to the fruit. Excellent freshness but it’s more than just cool and pure, there’s perfect tension and weight, clarity and finesse with detail - sinewy, juicy, fresh, fragrant, cool and mouthwatering. Delicate and graceful with the power from ample tannins building afterwards full of liquorice, sticky cola, black chocolate, a dusting of espresso and tobacco. A very transparent expression of the vintage - not overly demonstrative but structured and fresh with a great promise of long ageing. 3.7pH. Harvest 2-15 September with indigenous yeasts and no sulphur usage for fermentations and a long maceration to soften the tannis. 1% of Petit Verdot completes the blend. Ageing 50% new oak, 35% amphoras and 15% one wine barrels. "

Jeb Dunnuck: Deep purple-hued, the 2025 Château Pontet-Canet showed beautifully both times I tasted it, with incredibly classic Pontet-Canet notes of cassis, violets, iris, and gravelly earth and graphite. Based on 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot, it's being raised in 50% new barriques, 35% concrete amphora, and 15% once-used barrels. It's rich and concentrated on the palate, with medium to full-bodied richness, ripe, building tannins, nicely integrated acidity, and a layered, elegant mouthfeel. Checking in at 13.3% alcohol with a pH of 3.7, it brings a balanced, structured, beautifully classic style with terrific elegance and a beautiful floral character."

Lisa Perrotti-Brown: Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2025 Pontet-Canet leaps with bright, bold notes of warm cherries, cassis, and blueberry pie, followed by hints of garrigue, violets, and crushed rocks with a touch of tilled soil. The medium-bodied palate is bursting with energetic black fruit and minerally sparks, framed by very firm, grainy tannins and bright acidity, finishing long and earthy. The blend is 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot. It is aging in 50% new French oak barrels, 35% amphorae, and 15% used barrels."

The Wine Cellar Insider: Dark purple in color, the wine exudes currants, peppery spices, blackberries, and licorice on the nose. The palate is lush and creamy. Intensely concentrated with lift and balanced by richness, the wine culminates in a long, mouth-coating finish packed with black currants, chocolate, spice, mint, and flowers. The wine blends 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot. 13.3% ABV. Harvesting took place September 2 - September 23. Much of the vintage's success is due to the late-June rains, followed by late-August rains, which helped achieve ripeness and lower ABV levels while adding lift and energy. The wine is aging in a combination of 50% new, French oak barrels, 35% Amphora, and neutral oak. Drink from 2032-2065."

Jane Anson: Inky but vivid bright plum colour, tannins at the front of the mouth, a ton of energy, if reserved at this early stage. Expect graphite and crayon, lovely lift and floral Cabernet Sauvignon character; low yields like much of Pauillac and small berries ensuring the tannins are plentiful. Walks the line of fresh and juicy flavours alongside a brooding concentrated architecture, huge ageing potential with cold ash and gunsmoke nuance. Although there was some rain at end of June and July, this was still a dry vintage, and vineyard work including braiding the vines for shade and applying chamomile as sunscreen, so they coped better than in 2022 overall. Harvest September 2 to 23, indigenous yeasts that are specific to the vintage, 40% new oak, 35% clay amphoras, 15% one year old barrels. Extended maceration, low SO2 with zero added until after fermentation."