The 2010 Pontet-Canet is an extraordinary wine, earning praise from critics for its richness, precision, and aging potential. With a deep, vibrant crimson color, it offers complex aromas of violet, blackberry, redcurrant, and cherry, supported by a backdrop of classic Pauillac characteristics like tobacco and cedar. On the palate, it is full-bodied with impressive structure, fine tannins, and remarkable freshness. Despite its boldness, it remains graceful and balanced. This biodynamic beauty has the potential to evolve beautifully for decades, making it a wine for collectors to hold onto. It’s already showing great promise but will truly shine with more time in the bottle. If you can wait, it will reward you for years to come.

The Wine Advocate | RP 100
Published: Feb 28, 2013
Drink: 2025-2070

An absolutely amazing wine, from grapes harvested between the end of September and October 17, this blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot has close to 15% natural alcohol. It comes from one of the few biodynamic vineyards in Bordeaux, but you are likely to see many more, given the success that Tesseron seems to be having at all levels, both in his vineyards and in his fermentation/winemaking. An astounding, compelling wine with the classic Pauillac nose more often associated with its cross-street neighbor, Mouton-Rothschild, creme de cassis, there are also some violets and other assorted floral notes. The wine has off-the-charts massiveness and intensity but never comes across as heavy, overbearing or astringent. The freshness, laser-like precision, and full-bodied, massive richness and extract are simply remarkable to behold and experience. It is very easy, to become jaded tasting such great wines from a great vintage, but it is really a privilege to taste something as amazing as this. Unfortunately, it needs a good decade of cellaring, and that's assuming it doesn?t close down over the next few years. This is a 50- to 75-year wine from one of the half-dozen or so most compulsive and obsessive proprietors in all of Bordeaux. Is there anything that proprietor Alfred Tesseron is not doing right? Talk about an estate that is on top of its game! Pontet-Canet's 2010 is a more structured, tannic and restrained version of their most recent perfect wine, the 2009. Kudos to Pontet-Canet!

Jamessuckling.com | JS 100
Published: Nov 14, 2013

The aromas to this are incredible with blueberry, minerals, dried flowers, and stones. It goes to dried meat and spices. Full body and incredibly integrated with blackberry, licorice, and minerals. There's a wonderful purity to this. It goes on for minutes. The quality of tannins is amazing. Seamless. There's an amazing transparency that shows you all the elements of the wine's unique terrior. Try after 2018.

Decanter | D 98
Published: Sep 17, 2021
Drink: 2021-2060

Class in glass. Deep ruby, youthful tone. Such sumptuous red berry, cassis and tobacco aromas. Juicy and full bodied, with smoothly textured tannins. The creamy mid palate texture is framed by an impressive arc of tension and balancing acidity, ensuring long life. Long finish. Super! Aged 50% new oak.

Jancisrobinson.com | JR 17.5
Published: Nov 30, 2023
Drink: 2018-2035

Wonderfully classic nose backed up with still-juicy black fruit. Such a faithful rendition of claret, albeit clearly from a ripe vintage. Cedar, dried tobacco, clove, aniseed. 

Pontet-canet.com

Each year in Bordeaux is unique, truly not resembling any other. Like any child, a wine has two parents: a father-terroir and a mother-vintage. It will have something of both, but above all it must be itself.
The vine cycle got off to a slightly late start. Then unstable weather during flowering caused shatter, which reduced the number of berries, especially in our older Merlot parcels.
However, sun and drought predominated until harvest time, heralding a fine vintage.
We made considerable progress in our use of draft horses, increasing the surface area on which tractors are not used at all from 7 to 24 hectares (17 to 59 acres).
The vinifications, reduced to the essential at Pontet-Canet, were a reminder that a great wine is made first and foremost in the vineyard.
The result of our choice of organic and biodynamic viticulture, the 2010 vintage is the only one among the Medoc Classified Growths to have both certifications.

Harvest: from September 29th to October 17th
Grape varieties: 65% Cabernet Sauvignon - 30% Merlot
4% Cabernet Franc - 1% Petit Verdot
Alcohol: 14.5°

Tasting 2010
The colour is crimson shading to black.
Aromas of violet, blackberry, redcurrant and cherry among others predominate on the highly complex and vibrant nose.
On the palate, the wine displays a forthright structure of impressive length.
Radiant fruit, exquisite freshness, shimmering substance and patrician tannins define this widely acclaimed vintage. Fine, supple and gracious,
the wine leaves a lasting memory of consummate pleasure.
Certainly the finest Pontet-Canet of the modern era and the first vintage to be certified 100% organic and biodynamic!