A candidate for the “wine of the vintage,” Pontet Canet’s 2008 boasts an opaque purple color as well as copious aromas of sweet blueberries, blackberries and black currant fruit intertwined with lead pencil shavings, subtle barbecue smoke and a hint of forest floor. Full-bodied, with fabulous richness, texture and tremendous freshness, this first-growth-like effort is more developed than the uber-powerful 2010. Give it 5-8 years of cellaring and drink it over the following three decades. Bravo!

Robert Parker (Wine Advocate #194, May 2011)

The 2008 Pontet-Canet has a very perfumed, outgoing bouquet with raspberry coulis, blackberry, briary and graphite aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, crisp acidity, classic in style with a firm, grippy finish that suggest it will need more ageing. I detected just a slight herbaceous note on the aftertaste but I suspect that will disappear with time. (Tasted at BI Wine & Spirit’s annual 10-Year On tasting.)

– vinous.com, Feb 2018

Quality 834 | Brand 983 | Economics 883 | buzz brand
Quality: Above the average quality score of its peer group for the 2008 vintage, 761 Brand: Strong restaurant presence, featuring on 27 of the world's top wine lists, including Amber - Mandarin Oriental Economics: Below its peer group average price of £90 for the 2008 vintage Production: Higher production than its peer group average of 151,058 bottles

- www.wine-lister.com June 2017