Inside Bordeaux's Super Second Elite: Chateau Palmer & Pontet-Canet!

In 1855, one of the wineries that I'll be featuring today was classified as a third growth in Bordeaux, and the other one was barely on the radar as a fifth growth. But today, both of these producers regularly produce wines that compete with some of the very best wines in Bordeaux, even with those made by some of the first growths. I recently visited both Château Palmer and Pontet Canet, and in this video, I'll be sharing what I learned and how both of these wineries have been able to defy their classification in the 1855 classification of Bordeaux. Located in the Margaux appellation, Château Palmer was classified as a third growth in the 1855 classification of Bordeaux. It had been more than 12 years since I last visited Château Palmer, and I was extremely impressed by all they had accomplished in the meantime. The last time I visited, they were in the midst of a massive overhaul of their winemaking facilities, but now those facilities are complete and absolutely state of the art. Château Palmer has 66 hectares planted to vine, 47 percent of which are dedicated to both Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. They also have around 6 percent Petit Verdot. These vines average around 45 years of age. Château Palmer farms these vines biodynamically and on a parcel by parcel basis. Some of its most prestigious parcels are located very close to the estate. One reason that it wasn't classified more highly back in eighteen fifty-five is that these parcels weren't part of the estate at that time. In the winery, Chateau Palmera made a significant change to its oak maturation program since the last time I visited. Beginning in 2019 or 2020, they reduced the new oak influence. Currently, they mature their top wine in around 50% new French oak for 12 months, and then they shift the wine to large oak foudres for another 12 months. This change has made an improvement to the purity of the fruit and made the wines a little bit more approachable in their youth. While Chateau Palmer has long had a reputation of producing elegant, refined wines, the completion of their new winery has helped them improve their wine even further. For example, they now use gravity flow winemaking, which helps them to emphasize the purity of the fruit and prevent oxidation. They also use an extremely stringent selection process. They do four different sortings to make sure that only the highest quality fruit makes it into their top wine. Two of these selections take place in the vineyard, and then when they do the harvest, they also do a manual sort and also use optical sorting equipment. In addition, they vinify their wines on a parcel by parcel basis, which gives them tremendous precision in the blending process. One thing that I learned during my recent visit to Chateau Palmer relates to their distribution. In particular, they now release only 50 percent of their production through the en primeur or wine futures process. They hold back the other 50 percent for a library release. In particular, they release their top wine ten years following the vintage and Alter Ego five years after the vintage. So earlier this year, they just released the 2015 Chateau Palmer and the 2020 Alter Ego. While there's certainly no rush to enjoy either of those wines, they are both getting close to the early stage of their drinking window, and so this is certainly a good opportunity for collectors to purchase these wines without having to utilize a lot of storage space for a long period of time to mature them yourself. Both of these vintages are also extremely strong. Twenty fifteen, in particular, is an extremely strong vintage for the Margaux appellation, which was definitely the best appellation on the left bank in twenty fifteen. In that regard, it's much like nineteen eighty three. In both of these vintages, the fruit in Margaux was perfectly ripe at the time of harvest. Unfortunately for those appellations to the north, the fruit still needed a little bit of time to ripen fully, but the producers had to pick it a little bit earlier than they wanted to because rains were approaching. So it's no surprise that both 1983 and 2015 are two of my all-time favorite vintages for Chateau Palmer. Some others that I really enjoy more recently include 2016 and 2018. All three of those wines have received at least some 100-point scores. Chateau Palmer has certainly been firing on all cylinders lately, and you can buy with confidence every vintage beginning with 2008. Although 2013 was definitely the weakest in that streak. In terms of older vintages, in addition to 1983, I really enjoy 1982, 1989, and 1999. 1999 was arguably the wine of the vintage on Bordeaux's left bank, and that's a wine that flies a little bit under the radar, but is absolutely an extremely high quality wine that's showing remarkably well right now. So that's definitely a wine that you can pick up and enjoy immediately. In addition to their top wine, Château Palmer has produced a wine called Alter Ego since 1998. This is not a second wine made from declassified fruit, rather it's a separate label that's made with fruit from primarily a dedicated parcel that they acquired back in 1998. This eight hectare parcel has a lot more sandy soils and tends to produce fruit that's a little bit more vibrant and expressive, and which shows well younger than the top wine for Château Palmer. For that reason, they decided to make a wine called Alter Ego rather than blending this fruit into their top wine. In most years, you can get Alter Ego for around one hundred dollars per bottle, and it offers extremely high quality at that price point. In fact, if there were a reclassification of Bordeaux, Alter Ego itself would probably warrant a fourth growth classification. They make this wine in exactly the same way as the Chateau Pomerol top wine, except that during the first year they only use twenty-five percent new oak for the maturation, rather than fifty percent. Many people also ask me about visiting some of the wineries that I feature in my videos. Pleased to report that as of earlier this year, Chateau Pomerol welcomes visitors to their winery. They have a new restaurant where they offer lunch, and that's definitely well worth considering. But they also have a number of wine experiences for visitors, so just check out their website and look under the experiences tab to find out more information. Chateau Pontet Canet is another winery that welcomes visitors. They even schedule weekend visits many times, so be sure to reach out to them the next time you're in Bordeaux as well. Pontet Canet has a remarkable success story in Bordeaux, particularly in the last 30 years. It was acquired by the Tasturon family back in 1975, but the significant improvements began in 1994 when Alfred Tasturon took over control of this winery. Among other things, they began farming biodynamically in 2005. In 2009 and 10, Pontet Canet achieved back-to-back vintages with perfect 100-point scores. Pontet Canet's vineyards are located in a prestigious area. Its neighbors include the Rothschild and Bouton Rothschild. Pontet Canet has a massive estate with 81 hectares planted to vines. They have 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot. These vines average around 45 years of age. Significantly, beginning in 2017, they even started to manually destem their fruit, which is certainly a rarity. Pontet Canet was the first major winery in Bordeaux to be certified organic, and they achieved that certification in 2010. Their dedication to sustainability is impressive. They have a number of horses that work the vineyards. In addition, they don't use any chemicals whatsoever. Instead, they rely on a number of preparations that they make on hand, and they use those both for fertilizer, and also to try to battle hazards like mildew. Pontet Canet both farms and vinifies their wine on a parcel by parcel basis. In terms of the maturation process, Pontet Canet matures their wines in 50% new French oak, 25% amphora, and they also rely heavily on concrete that they've sourced directly from materials located on the property. In my view, the strongest vintages for Pontet Canet began in 2005. As mentioned, 2009 and 10 are some of my favorites, but I also really enjoy 2016, 2018, 22, and 23. Some of the weaker vintages in that streak would be 2007, 11, and 13, but those were really challenging vintages across the board. In terms of the time to enjoy Pontet Canet, I found that it's definitely best with at least ten years of age on it, and I typically try to give it at least fifteen or twenty. I recently checked in on the 2005 vintage, for example, and that one still has a long life ahead of it. While I've enjoyed the 2009 vintage many times over the years, that one definitely still has a long life ahead of it as well. For the quality, Ponte Cané wine is incredibly well priced. You can oftentimes find new vintages for right around a hundred dollars per bottle. The 2023 vintage was a potential 100-point wine, and on release, that was selling for as little as eighty-nine dollars per bottle. Based on my reaction from viewers, Ponte Cané can be a little bit polarizing. Some people really enjoy it, while other people think the style is perhaps a little bit too opulent for them. For the people that find that the style is a little bit too opulent, you may want to give the two thousand and twenty-four vintage a try, as that one is definitely a wine that's made in a little bit more of an elegant style. That one should be released probably in January of two thousand and twenty-seven or so. So definitely keep an eye out for that one. Monte Cane is also serious about reducing its carbon footprint in other ways besides just sustainable farming, as they greatly reduce the weight of their bottle. Beginning with the twenty twenty three vintage, the weight of their bottle reduced from eight hundred and fifteen grams per bottle to as little as four hundred and ninety grams per bottle. This change resulted in a savings of thirty tons of carbon dioxide for the production process alone. Unlike most wineries in Bordeaux, Quantecinay does not have a second wine or even a second label. They only make one wine per vintage. About six months ago, I did a reclassification of Bordeaux video, and in that video I elevated Ponte Canet to second growth. Certainly, Ponte Canet has been making wine that rivals the quality of second growths since at least 2005 or so. If you'd like to learn about iconic Bordeaux producers Leoville Las Cases and Pichon Baron, please be sure to watch this video that's linked above.