WTN: Bordeaux Focus - 1996 Pontet-Canet

[David M. Bueker]

• 1996 Château Pontet-Canet - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (12/2/2024)
  From my late father’s cellar, this was ready to go the moment I opened it. It didn’t really change much from when I opened it, to four hours later when I finished my second glass. It was gorgeous the entire time. Classic Bordeaux aromas and flavors - cassis, cedar, dried tobacco, etc. and a largely resolved structure made this a joy to drink with some medium rare beef. It was ur-Bordeaux, hitting every single mark for what I would expect and want from a nearly 30 year old wine that had been properly cared for and passed from father to son.

[Jenise]

And "passed from father to son" is the most important part. Adds layers of meaning. Glad it was a great bottle.

Lovely note, David. I take it that your dad's cellar was likely not as glacial as your own, as '96 was a highly structured year (along the lines of '86) that has taken its good sweet time to come around. I'd imagine that '96s from your own cellar might need another decade or so

[David M. Bueker]

Yes. His cellar was cold but hardly glacial.