Vivid plum colour, violet reflections, chewy tannins from the first moments. Loaded with cassis, blueberry and fresh fig fruits, laced through with rosemary, sage, dried herbs, edges of chamomile and fresh mushroom. Tight in its tannic structure, with smoked earth, cinammo, cardamom and lavender. Mathieu Bessonnet technical director, and the 47th vintage of owner Alfred Tesseron, 50% new oak, 35% amphora, 15% one year old barrels, 55 year average age of the vines. Harvest September 8 to 28, with clay used as sunscreen on the grapes to avoid sunburn, and a selection before harvest to drop any shrivelled berries. 94 points

The 2022 Pontet-Canet is a surprising wine. Usually much more opulent, especially in warm, dry years, the 2022 comes across as restrained and understated. It is a wine of linear intensity rather than size, marked by notable freshness and a feeling of tension and precision I don’t recall seeing in the past. Clean mineral notes extend the finish effortlessly. I very much admire the precision and vibrancy here. Unforgettable. 95-97 points

The 2022 Pontet Canet has a pure nose with perfumed blackberry and cassis fruit. It takes time to cohere, evolving light pencil lead notes after 8-10 minutes. The palate has a lovely chalky texture on the entry, and a silver bead of acidity. Perhaps, more complexity than the aromatics suggest at the moment. Fine balance, moderate grip, the mineralité coming toward the final third, it fans out with gusto. There is quite a long residual peppery note on the aftertaste that you can feel after 30 seconds. I have not pulled any punches in recent vintages, when stylistically, I felt that it has veered too far away from Pauillac, for my personal taste. But closely examining this 2022, today, it seems safely within the appellation. 94-96 points