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: 2011 Pontet-Canet, Pauillac

2011 Pontet-Canet, Pauillac

SKU #1185317 96 points Wine Enthusiast

Outer quote mark So smooth, this is a rich, grandiose wine. Although it is full of black currant fruits and spice flavors, the texture is most impressive. Dusty tannins are integrated with juicy fruits seamlessly. The purest fruit flavors are allied to linear tannins in a precise yet generous way. *Cellar Selection* (RV) Inner quote mark (5/2014)

95 points James Suckling

Outer quote mark A wine with lots of ripe berries, verging on dried fruits. Full and chewy with ripe, round, chewy tannins. It needs lots of bottle age. A wine of steel. Inner quote mark (1/2014)

94 points Jane Anson

Outer quote mark A lighter-framed vintage than the 2010, and you see it even in the colour of the wine, that is still young but has a trace of rose-pink around the edging. Love the aromatics of smoke, chamomile, and fragrant violet. Touches of russet, autumn-tinged leaf alongside earthy red cherry and raspberry. This is a good choice for drinking now, but it will age because there are plenty of finely placed and integrated tannins. I gave this 95 points last time I tasted this in February 2021, and it is easily one of my favourite 2011s but there is austerity here. Harvest September 15 to 29, with a little more Merlot in the blend than is usual after a dry but not overly hot summer followed by a tricky harvest. 90% of the crop went into this wine, far higher than the first wine of many classifieds in the vintage. Inner quote mark (9/2021)

93 points Decanter

Outer quote mark Looking more evolved than the 2010, with higher-toned red berry fruit and blackberry and cassis. Cedar and smoke accentuate the aromatics alongside chopper herbs. Not quite as ripe as the 2010 - more linear than round, but it has a subtle mid palate creaminess as the tannins have softened. Grill a steak, and you'll be very happy. (PK) Inner quote mark (2/2021)

93 points Wine Advocate

Outer quote mark Deep garnet in color, the 2011 Pontet-Canet comes bounding out of the glass with exuberant notes of redcurrant jelly, warm cassis and blackberry pie plus touches of dried mint, mocha, smoked meats and yeast extract with a waft of pencil lead. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has bags of energy with lively red and black fruits and compelling mineral accents, finishing long with a provocative lift. (LPB) Inner quote mark (5/2020)

92 points Wine Spectator

Outer quote mark This cuts a broad swath, with prominent notes of espresso and ganache leading to the core of crushed plum and blackberry confiture. Lush, with the ganache edge joining a loamy hint to underscore the finish. Consistent with the barrel tasting, this shows more breadth than cut in the end. (JM) Inner quote mark (3/2014)

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2011 Pontet-Canet, Pauillac

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Product Reviews:

By: Steve Bearden | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: 12/16/2019 | Send Email

Very complex aromas of red and black fruits, cedar, earth and even a slight touch of animal funk. The body of the wine is more classically clean and racy with a tight line of blackberry fruit and mineral weaving through the middle. The dry, iron tinged finish has fine, tight tannin. Decant or age.

By: Clyde Beffa Jr. | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: 12/29/2015 | Send Email

60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot. In the running for wine of the vintage from the Médoc. Black color and aromas of blackberries and vanilla oak. Some orange peel undertones. Lots going on here. Seamless wine.

By: Gary Westby | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: 2/18/2015 | Send Email

Show stopping bottles like the 2011 Pontet Canet defy the vintage chart mentality with greatness. If you have a good cellar and time to leave it alone, this wine will reward you with a truly special experience. We tasted it blind, and I guessed it was 2009 Leoville Las Cases because of the tremendous breed and giant scale of this exotic beauty of a wine. I found it opaque, smoky, powerful and yet finely focused and pleasantly long. What a wine!

Drink from 2021 to 2051

By: Jeff Garneau | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: 2/18/2015 | Send Email

Tasted blind in a recent K&L weekly staff tasting along with the 2000 Pontet Canet. Thank god Clyde decided to taste us blind on this 2011 Pontet Canet or I likely would have allowed my feelings about the vintage as a whole to color my perceptions. The class and breed of the exceptional terroir at Pontet Canet along with the incredible work done by the Tesseron family over the past twenty years really shines through here in a wine made under very challenging conditions. Youthful character, remarkably sweet fruit, and firm but not astringent tannins. And what length! Quite possibly the wine of the vintage.

Top Value!

Additional Information:

Varietal:

Cabernet Sauvignon and Blends

- Cabernet Sauvignon has come a long way from its role as a blending varietal, however dominant, in the wines of Bordeaux. Today it is the most planted red varietal in the world. Identified as a descendent of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc, the late-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon needs to be planted in warmer climates to fully ripen. Its small berries can easily be identified for their distinctive blue color, thick skins and high tannins. And while the varietal has its own definitive characteristics: green pepper-like aromas and black currant flavors among them, it is perhaps most prized for its ability to convey terroir, vintage and winemaking. A relatively new varietal, Cabernet Sauvignon started making inroads into the wines of the Médoc and Graves in the late-18th century. Today it is also dominant in the up-and-coming Entre-Deux-Mers region of Bordeaux and can also be found in Southwest France. It is the companion varietal to Sangiovese in Italy's Super Tuscans and is planted all over Europe, stretching to lesser-known winegrowing regions like Russia and Lebanon. In the Americas Cabernet Sauvignon has found champions in every nook and cranny of California and among winemakers in Washington, where it complements plantings of Merlot. In South America, Cab thrives in Chile, but can also be found in smaller amounts in Argentina and even in Mexico.

Country:

France

- When it comes to wine, France stands alone. No other country can beat it in terms of quality and diversity. And while many of its Region, Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne most obviously, produce wine as rare, as sought-after and nearly as expensive as gold, there are just as many obscurities and values to be had from little known appellations throughout the country. To learn everything there is to know about French wine would take a lifetime. To understand and appreciate French wine, one only has to begin tasting them.

Sub-Region:

Bordeaux

Specific Appellation:

Pauillac

- Pauillac is probably the most famous village in Bordeaux. Located between St. Julien and St. Estephe, it has more of the top ranked chateau than the other four appellations of the Haut Medoc. This area has three of the five premier cru classe wineries: Lafite Rothschild, Latour, and Mouton Rothschild. There are two of the top second-growths (Pichon Lalande and Pichon Baron) as well as several outstanding fourth and fifth-growth chateaux including Lynch Bages. Because of the gravely soils and great drainage, Pauillac has the ideal conditions to grow great Cabernet Sauvignon. The wines from this village are some of the longest-lived in Bordeaux.

Organic: