Chateau Grand-Pontet

Standing only 700m from the St-Emilion collegiate church, Chateau Grand-Pontet now belongs to the family-owned company, and managed by Sylvie Pourquet Becot. The chateau is neighbor to Chateau Beau-Sejour Becot, managed by her brothers. There is constant investment for a quarter of a century.

The vineyard has 14 hectares on the west plateau, in a single block. Planted with 70% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, the vines average 35 years and planted at a density of 7000 vines per hectare.

The grapes are sorted in vineyard and cellar, the whole bunch is fermented without adding any yeast. The must will stay on skin for 3-5 weeks in stainless steel temperature controlled vats, before carrying out malolactic fermentation in 60-80% new oak.

The wine will age for 14-18 months before release, of annual production of 55,000 bottles. There is a second wine called Dauphin de Grand Pontet.

I have recently tasted the 2005 vintage and below is my tasting note:

Appearance

Bright and clear, this wine is of deep ruby color, with legs.

Nose

Clean, the nose shows medium (+) intensity aromas of ripe black fruit of black cherries and dark plum, oak notes of cedar, sweet spice of cloves, pungent spice of liquorice, mineral notes of earth, maturity notes of savory. The wine is developing.

Palate

Dry with medium acidity, the wine has a medium (+) tannin, still a bit dusty. Medium (+) in alcohol, it has medium (+) body and medium (+) intensity flavors of black fruit such as black cherries and plum, sweet spice of cloves, pungent spice of liquorice, oak notes of cedar, and some maturity notes of tobacco. The wine has a medium (+) finish.

Conclusion

Very good quality St-Emilion with an intense nose showing high complexity, though still fairly youthful and not having much development characters, the wine is equally intense on the palate, but the tannin is still strong and a bit dusty, requiring more time for it to mellow. The overall finish is fairly rounded and lengthy, and despite the high alcohol level it was not too warming on the swallow. Ready to drink now, it will benefit from further ageing of another 3-5 years.