2015 - Pontet-Canet, Pauillac

A blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot, the 2015 Pontet-Canet is deep garnet-purple colored. It rolls effortlessly out of the glass with notes of blackcurrant pastilles, raspberry coulis, and blueberry compote, plus suggestions of candied violets, beef dripping, and tar. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is firm and grainy with seamless freshness framing the generous red, black, and blue fruits, finishing long and lifted.

Vibrant plum colour, followed by spiced plum on the nose, more exotic in its range of flavours and silky texture than many vintages, still powerful and in its primary fruit phase. This is a gorgeous wine, hard to argue with, showing estate character over appellation or vintage. The tannins are softer at this stage that you will find with the 2016, even the 2014, but there is so much pleasure in the glass, and it will power ahead for decades. Harvest September 18 to October 3. This was the vintage where Tesseron decided to make no more Les Hauts de Pontet, with everything going either into the first wine, or declassified, as he felt both that the vineyard had reached the level he wanted, and also that philosophically that he wanted the wine to be a true reflection of the whole vineyard.

The 2015 Pontet Canet is endowed with impressive lift and delineation on the nose of blackberry, graphite and tobacco – classic Pauillac all the way through. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannin and slightly herbal in style. The graphite-infused finish is missing a little depth and grip (like some other 2015 Pauillacs), though it seems to develop with aeration. I suspect that the 2016 will be superior. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting.