2004 Chateau Pontet-Canet Pauillac Jeroboam (5L)

Château Pontet-Canet is one of the few Bordeaux estates that is a legitimate rival to the First Growths, and their open, complex 2004 release is bottled proof: With leather, tobacco, dried violet, and truffle tertiary aromas spilling from the glass, the 2004 is lighter than other vintages from this esteemed property, but just as deep and multi-faceted. The softened, plush tannins support a core of black fruit flavors, with leather and spice notes evolving long into the finish. Quite lively and energetic, and an excellent representation of the 2004 vintage. 

Pontet Canet has done the cellaring for you with this crimson beauty, and today we invite you to experience this glorious wine for yourself. 

Having changed hands only twice over two centuries, Château Pontet-Canet boasts a rare ownership legacy in Bordeaux. But it was the Tesserons—the family that owns Château Lafon-Rochet in St.-Estèphe—and more specifically the leadership of Alfred Tesseron, its current proprietor, that has cemented its place in the pantheon of the best properties of Pauillac. “Throughout history farmers have been laboring, innovating, to get the most fruit possible from their land,” Alfred told us when we met with him at the estate. “All that interests me is what we need to do to get the best quality.”

Alfred converted Pontet-Canet’s farming to organic, and later biodynamic practices, halting the use of all chemicals and noticing a better concentration of flavors in the fruit as the years went on. He also changed the whole facility to a gravity-fed one, avoiding the use of pumps that can extract astringent seed tannins, and installing a double sorting line to ensure that only pristine berries make it into the winery. Alfred himself designed cement vats and amphorae for fermentation, drawing upon the gravel from the property itself to mix the cement, infusing the wine with the property’s terroir throughout the process. 

Every one of the Pontet-Canet bottles we’ve featured recently has shown off Alfred Tesseron’s incredible achievements at the Pauillac estate, and this is your opportunity to get a perfectly aged Bordeaux specimen that stands with the best, bar none, at a pre-arrival price.