Pontet Canet 2003

In this vintage the final blend, which tips the scales at 12.9% alcohol, includes 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. The wine is impressively endowed but still backward and not at all one of the more showy and flamboyant 2003s. It is dense purple-colored to the rim, with a pure creme de cassis nose intermixed with some high-class toasty new oak, full-bodied with ripe tannin and low acidity in a rather formidable, concentrated style that still seems backward in spite of what I am sure is more glycerin and a lower acid style than usual. As most well-informed insiders in Bordeaux know, proprietor Alfred Tesseron has been doing everything right since 1994 in order to fully develop the enormous potential of this vineyard adjacent to Mouton-Rothschild. Some serious work is done in the vineyard including de-budding, de-leafing, and crop-thinning. The harvest usually takes place in several attempts trying to maximize ripeness and there are two separate sorting tables. Yields have dropped dramatically, and of course there is a severe selection.

Score: 91 - 93

Robert Parker, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2012-2030+ 30 April 2005