Château Grand Pontet

Jean-François de Pontet, royal governor of the Médoc, combined several vineyard plots in Pauillac in the early 18th century. Years later, his descendants added neighbouring vines in a place named Canet. This was the beginning of one of the largest estates in the Médoc, which quite naturally added the name of its founder to that of the land registry reference. A century later, Pontet-Canet was included in the famous 1855 classification, thereby confirming its membership among the elite of the Médoc. This privileged position did not go unnoticed by one of the most important Bordeaux shippers of the time, Herman Cruse, who bought the estate in 1865. He built new cellars, modernised the winemaking facilities, and established the wine's reputation around the world. The Cruse family owned Pontet-Canet for 110 years, until another shipper (from Cognac this time), Guy Tesseron, acquired it in 1975. Today, it is run by Alfred Tesseron with his niece Melanie (daughter of Gerard Tesseron) who are the descendants of Guy. In the last 10 years, Alfred has raised the bar in terms of their wine’s quality. They are one of the rare properties in the Médoc that follow biodynamic vine growing, which he introduced in 2008. This paired with lower yields and even more rigorous selection have enabled them to create some of their greatest wines ever. Robert Parker recognised this ascent in quality by granting both their 2009 and 2010 perfect 100 point scores.