Pauillac · vintage 2018
Why this vintage
- 98/100 from Wine Advocateand 5 other scores above 90/100.
- The 2018 vintage in PauillacAfter a spring marked by mildew, the heat concentrated a small crop: rich, ripe wines with great depth of material.
Critic scores
- Wine Advocate98
- James Suckling97-98
- Vinous98
- Wine Enthusiast98
- Jeb Dunnuck97
- Decanter95
The 2018 vintage in Pauillac
Vintage benchmark: 95/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)
Vintage character: After a spring marked by mildew, the heat concentrated a small crop: rich, ripe wines with great depth of material.
Overall reading of the year’s season across Pauillac. An estate can depart from it sharply, in frost or hail years, where two neighbours did not make the same vintage. What this particular wine actually gave is on its technical sheet and in the scores above.
Tasting
Robe Grenat presque noire. Le nez est précis, complexe, avec des notes de fruits noirs , de violettes et d’épices. La bouche voluptueuse et dense, se révèle sur des tanins à la fois puissants et veloutés. Le bouquet se libère en bouche sur des notes fraiches et minérales qui apportent au vin une longueur éclatante.Ce 2018 est définitivement plus qu’un Pauillac, c’est un Grand Pontet-Canet qui saura être apprécié jeune ou dans plusieurs années.
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Blend of the 2018 vintage
- 70 % Cabernet-sauvignon
- 22 % Merlot
- 5 % Cabernet franc
- 3 % Petit verdot
Shares for this vintage, as recorded on the 2018 technical sheet. The vineyard itself is planted with cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, petit verdot — a vintage blend departs from the area under vine as the year dictates.
Figures from the 2018 sheet
- 34 hl/haYield
- 42 yrsVine age
- 250,000 bottlesProduction
Winemaking
Les vinifications durent en moyenne plus de quatre semaines, mais varient en fonction du cépage, de la parcelle d’origine et de l’âge des vignes.
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Ageing
Le vin est ensuite directement écoulé en barriques, pour un élevage qui dure seize à vingt mois selon le millésime. Le nombre de barriques neuves n’excèdent pas les deux tiers.
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Terroir
The lands of Château Pontet-Canet lie at the heart of the Pauillac appellation, south of the neighbouring vineyards of Mouton Rothschild and d'Armailhac. Here it is the poverty of the soil that serves as the matrix for the greatest crus. The soil appears to be composed of nothing but gravel and sand, and it is hard to imagine that the vine can grow there. The 80 hectares of the Pontet-Canet vineyard are dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon, the well-known signature of the great wines of Pauillac. The terroir of Pontet-Canet consists of a rise of Garonne gravels over a limestone bedrock. It is a lean, warm and free-draining soil.
An offer on Château Pontet-Canet 2018
Availability, allocations and terms: the Compagnie Médocaine will reply promptly. The estate and vintage are already filled in in the message.
Texts and documents 2018
The texts below copy in one click for your product sheets, catalogues and social channels. The printable sheet condenses the whole page onto a single A4 page.
Visuals
This wine’s visuals are grouped in the media library. High-definition packshots, labels, back labels and lifestyle photos are reserved for clients and partners, on the Compagnie Médocaine’s VinCod media library.
Sheet checked on September 21, 2026. Technical data: the estate’s VinCod sheets. Critic scores: sources cited above, with their date. Vintage benchmarks and character: Compagnie Médocaine’s own editorial read. Soils and relief, where shown: the Compagnie Médocaine’s parcel survey and the Mapbox/IGN terrain model.