Chateau Pontet-Canet AOC Pauillac 2017

Château Pontet-Canet is a pioneer, the first major Bordeaux estate to fully embrace biodynamic viticulture. Under the vision of Alfred Tesseron, the vineyard is treated as a living garden, worked by horses rather than tractors to avoid compacting the soil. The 2017 vintage was a challenge, as frost severely reduced yields, but the grapes that survived produced a wine of startling clarity and definition.

Because of the reduced crop, the selection was draconian. The wine was aged partly in new oak and partly in custom concrete amphorae, a technique used to preserve the fruit's energy without masking it with wood flavors. The result is a Pontet-Canet that differs from the massive vintages of the past; it is linear, precise, and incredibly fragrant.

This wine is a whisper of the terroir. It speaks of the limestone and gravel deep beneath the vines. It is not a wine of force, but of resonance. Drinking Pontet-Canet 2017 is a spiritual experience for the palate, connecting the drinker directly to the health and vitality of the ecosystem from which it came.