1961 Pontet Canet

Clearly fully mature and not going to get any better, the 1961 Château Pontet-Canet is nevertheless healthy and lively, with a complex and nuanced bouquet of darker fruits, smoked earth, lead pencil, minty herbs, and truffle. Medium-bodied, elegant, and silky on the palate, it has completely resolved tannins, good mid-palate depth and overall balance, and outstanding length. It's a classy, elegant Pontet Canet to drink over the coming decade.

The 1961 Pontet-Canet is a wine that I have encountered three or four times previously. It does not herald from a glorious era as in those days the Cruse family were rather more motivated by quantity than quality. That said, this is one of the better older vintages. It has a dusky, earthy bouquet that feels a bit loose at the seams, yet has simple charm if not longevity. The palate is medium-bodied and balanced with cedar and black cherries mixed with balsamic, segueing into a meaty and fully mature, quite savory finish. Not bad, but drink bottles sooner rather than later. Tasted blind at dinner in Bordeaux.

Pontet-Canet produced a great 1961, although a distressingly high incidence of variation as a result of the numerous English bottlings is undoubtedly a problem. The best bottles exhibit rich, deep color, with a full-blown, ripe, deep bouquet of spices and plums, viscous, round, supple flavors, and the sumptuous length that typify this great vintage. Now fully mature, the good examples of this wine will last a decade. Certainly the best Pontet-Canet I have ever tasted. The wine performed splendidly at a vertical tasting at Pontet-Canet in 1990. Anticipated maturity: Now-2005. Last tasted, 4/90.