Château Pontet-Canet Grand Cru Classé En 1855 2022

Château Pontet-Canet Grand Cru Classé En 1855 is a Pauillac classed growth farmed biodynamically, with horses working the rows and part of the crop raised in clay amphorae.

The estate lies on the high gravel plateau in the north of Pauillac, next to Mouton Rothschild, and takes its name from Jean-François de Pontet, a royal governor of the Médoc who assembled the property in the eighteenth century, and from the neighbouring Canet vineyard he added to it. The Tesseron family, négociants from Cognac, have owned it since 1975. Under Alfred Tesseron the estate converted to biodynamics and was certified in 2010, the first classified growth in the Médoc to take that step. Ploughing is done in part by draught horses, and a share of each harvest is raised in amphorae made from clay dug on the property rather than in barrel.

Serve at 17 to 18°C with lamb, beef or game, decanting well ahead; these are wines built for long ageing and they reward twenty years or more.

*Every effort is made to ensure the current vintage is accurate; however, variations can occur. If you are after a specific vintage, please contact us prior to ordering.

Type: Red Wine
Style: Full-bodied, Structured, Age-worthy
Grape Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot
Tastes Like: Comparable to a premium Cabernet Sauvignon, but more restrained and finer in tannin than a New World example
Alcohol Percentage: 14.5%
Closure: Cork
Size: 750mL
Appellation: Pauillac AOC, Grand Cru Classé en 1855
Region: Pauillac, Médoc, Bordeaux, France
Terroir: Deep gravel over clay and limestone on the Pauillac plateau beside Mouton Rothschild
Aging: Biodynamically farmed, vinified mainly in concrete, then aged in around 50% new French oak, 35% amphorae and 15% one-year-old barrels
Serving Temperature: 16–18℃ – Serve slightly below room temperature

Château Pontet-Canet traces its roots to 1725, when Jean-François de Pontet assembled the first vineyards, and it was classified as a fifth growth in 1855. The Tesseron family bought the estate in 1975, and Alfred Tesseron began converting it to biodynamic farming in the 1990s, with the whole vineyard farmed biodynamically from 2004. It was certified by Biodyvin and Ecocert in 2010 and by Demeter in 2014, and horses now plough much of the vineyard. The château is today regarded as one of the finest estates in Pauillac, routinely performing far above its classification.

The 81-hectare vineyard sits on the high ground of Pauillac beside Château Mouton Rothschild, on deep gravel with clay and limestone beneath. The 2022 vintage was hot and dry, with clay sprayed on the bunches as a natural sunscreen and the harvest running from 8 to 28 September. The blend is 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot, and around a third of the wine was aged in the estate’s own concrete amphorae, made with gravel and limestone from its vineyards.

Red Meat: Perfect with roast lamb, rib-eye on the bone or beef Wellington
Game: Excellent with venison, duck breast or slow-cooked hare
Mains: Pairs beautifully with mushroom and truffle dishes or a cassoulet
Cheese: Ideal with aged hard cheeses such as Ossau-Iraty and Comté

Ossau-Iraty: A sheep’s milk cheese from the south-west of France, firm and nutty against the wine’s tannin
Aged Comté: Crystalline and savoury, a match for the wine’s depth and length
Aged Mimolette: Hard and concentrated, softened by the wine’s rich texture
Saint-Nectaire: Earthy and supple, balanced by the wine’s structure

Gigot d’Agneau de Pauillac (Roast Leg of Pauillac Lamb with Garlic and Rosemary)

Ingredients (Serves 4):

• 1 bone-in leg of lamb, about 1.8kg
• 6 garlic cloves, 3 sliced into slivers and 3 left whole in their skins
• 4 sprigs rosemary, plus extra small sprigs for studding
• 4 sprigs thyme
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 800g waxy potatoes, peeled and thickly sliced
• 2 brown onions, thinly sliced
• 250mL lamb or chicken stock
• 125mL red Bordeaux
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:

1. Take the lamb out of the fridge an hour before cooking and preheat the oven to 220℃.
2. Make small incisions all over the lamb with a sharp knife and push a sliver of garlic and a small sprig of rosemary into each.
3. Rub the lamb with the olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper.
4. Layer the potatoes and onions in a large roasting tin, tuck in the whole garlic cloves, thyme and rosemary, season and pour over the stock.
5. Sit the lamb on top of the potatoes and roast for 20 minutes to brown.
6. Reduce the oven to 180℃ and roast for a further 50–60 minutes for pink meat, or until a thermometer in the thickest part reads 57–60℃.
7. Transfer the lamb to a board, cover loosely with foil and rest for 20 minutes, returning the potatoes to the oven to crisp.
8. Pour the wine into the roasting juices on the stovetop, scrape up the browned bits and simmer for 3–4 minutes to make a light jus.
9. Carve the lamb at the table and serve with the potatoes and jus.

Lamb raised on the salt marshes around Pauillac has long been the classic partner for the commune’s great reds. The firm, fine-grained tannins of Pontet-Canet grip the rosy meat and its rendered fat, while the wine’s depth and freshness carry the garlic and herbs without losing their shape, making each mouthful feel more generous.