Château Pontet-Canet: From Pontet to Cruse
In 1865 Château Pontet-Canet came into the ownership of one of the great winemaking dynasties of Bordeaux, the Cruse family. Herman Cruse moved quickly to improve the situation, employing Charles Skawinski (whose father Pierre worked at Château Giscours), despite Charles’ tender age of just 23 years. There was massive investment, there being a new chai constructed to Skawinski’s design, and the cellar – notable for being a true, subterranean cellar, not a feature frequently encountered at a Médoc château – was re-equipped. With time the reputation of Château Pontet-Canet grew to what it had been before, and it remained this way until both Herman and then his widow died, at which point control of the estate then passed to other members of the Cruse family. Sadly, this seems to have been another turning point for it, as quality once more spiralled downwards.
This new decline was no doubt compounded by the Cruse family’s decision to eschew château-bottling, even though as the second half of the 20th century progressed this was gradually becoming standard practice throughout Bordeaux; it only began here in 1972, when it was made a legal requirement. By this point, however, Château Pontet-Canet had become a byword for underachievement, despite the enviable location of the vineyard.
