Château Pontet-Canet

Pontet-Canet is a Fifth Growth château that punches well above its weight. In recent decades it has been pushing the quality boundaries, introducing certified biodynamic farming, low yields, Breton draft horses working the vineyards and concrete eggs in the winery. The Pauillac estate dates back to the 1700s when royal governor, Jean-Francois de Pontet, amalgamated several plots of vines and his descendants added further plots in Canet; Pontet-Canet was born. It was sold in 1865 to Herman Cruse, a wine merchant, and it remained in the Cruse family for over a century, before being bought by Guy Tesseron, who also owned Lafon-Rochet, in 1975. Its 81 hectares of vineyards neighbour Mouton-Rothschild and sit on the same gravel plateau where the poor, well-drained soil is aptly suited to Cabernet Sauvignon which makes up the majority of the plantings with smaller amounts of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot also grown.