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Château Pontet-Canet 1994

It is not often I do Weekend Wine double bills, with back-to-back wines from the same estate. Coincidentally, I think the last time I did it was two releases from last week’s featured vigneron, François Pinon, when I pointed the spotlight at two versions of his 2012 sparkling Vouvray; one early Brut release, probably after a year or two sur lattes, and one much later release, the Non-Dosé 7 Ans Sur Lattes cuvée, the Ligérian equivalent of tasting Bollinger’s Grande Année against the RD – even if the timescales are somewhat different.

This week, though, the first of two vintages representing significant moments in the recent evolution of Château Pontet-Canet; in both cases, as is (almost) always the case, both bottles pulled from the deepest recesses of my cellar (which explains the state of this week’s label).

The early 1990s was a time of great transition for this estate. Its history is long and troubled, and too complex for this short report, but it is worth knowing that during much of the 20th century the estate’s reputation was in the doldrums (although it wasn’t all bad – a 1924 I drank early last year showed really well, at one hundred years of age). The property and vineyard was in the hands of the Cruse family for decades, but they were forced to sell and in 1975 it was purchased by Cognac magnate Guy Tesseron. He was joined by his son Alfred Tesseron, who remains in charge here today.

The inception of Pontet-Canet’s renaissance can be traced to the Tesseron era, and I would point at 1989 as significant, as this was the year Alfred – keenly aware of the changes sweeping through Bordeaux, and the need to move with the times – appointed a young manager named Jean-Michel Comme. Together they devised a programme of work to improve the wines.

At a tasting with him back in 2010 Alfred recounted to me some of the first steps he and Jean-Michel took to ameliorate the quality of the grand vin. In 1990, working without Guy Tesseron’s knowledge, they subjected a section of the vineyard to a green harvest. While this might seem a relatively simple move, in an era when quantity was perhaps prioritised over quality, especially if you have arrived from Cognac where high yields are de rigueur, it would have been anathema to Guy. But at this early stage he did not realise what Alfred and Jean-Michel were up to. Deeming their experiment a success, in subsequent vintages they expanded the practice, until in 1994 the entire vineyard saw an extensive green harvest.

By this time Guy could not help but notice.

Château Pontet-Canet 1994

Returning to the château one evening Alfred found his father in a sullen mood, and eventually the reason spilled out; he disagreed with throwing away such a large percentage of healthy grapes. A rift developed, Jean-Michel and Alfred on one side, Guy on the other, but they agreed how it would be settled; the decider would be the quality of the wine. If it was improved, the younger men would continue, and Guy would limit himself to looking after the estate’s finances, and not the viticulture and winemaking. If the wine was still inadequate, Alfred would leave. He staked his future at the property on his decision; an admirable and brave moment!

Of course, thirty years on, you can perhaps guess the result. In what was far from a great vintage, the increase in quality in the 1994 Château Pontet-Canet over prior vintages was easy to see. The wine accrued some good scores, including that from Parker who – as mentioned in my recent report on Château Rocheyron – was at the peak of his powers at this time. Alfred’s future was secure.

Of course, he and Jean-Michel would go on to develop Château Pontet-Canet in way in which I suspect nobody could have predicted back in 1994. But that is perhaps a story for next week’s wine.

The 1994 Château Pontet-Canet has continued to show well for many years, offering a quality that exceeds expectations based on the overall standard of the vintage. In the glass, at just over thirty years of age, it still shows a dark hue, with a dusty plum-coloured rim. The nose opens with a blast of evolved hung game and iodine, before passing through an awkward phase reminiscent of old dried wood, but happily it continues to move, finally offering up macerated plum and coffee bean, both rather attractive, with more unusual notes of baked rhubarb, and some greener elements which have always been a feature of this vintage, little touches of celery salt and menthol in the case of this bottle. It hangs together very nicely on the palate though, with a core of savoury dried plum skins, currants and old leather, all set in a dry, slightly bitter and grained texture. There is still some powdery grip at the end, and ultimately this shows nicely for its age. Nevertheless, if you have any tucked away, it is time to get pulling the corks, as I think the best of this vintage is now behind us. The alcohol on the label is 12%. 92/100 (14/7/25)

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