Promising notes of ripe dark fruits, earthiness and spices emerge from the glass. At 13% alcohol the 1999 Pontet-Canet is not over-alcoholic, but the somewhat diffuse, jammy dark fruit is really not to my taste, as well as the overstated oak. The wine is fully mature now and the long-lasting, spicy finish -mainly oriental spices- is quite impressive, but this is an atypical, unbalanced Pauillac, lacking precision and personality. A disappointment!
Not so the 2001 Fleur de Rose Sainte-Croix, Listrac, 12,5% Alcohol. This is an elegant, complex wine, with excellent balance of fruit and refreshing acidity, excellent precision, and a long-lingering, minerally finish. On the generously fruited mid-palate, layers of cherry fruit, black and red currant fruit, raspberry, blackberry, dried herbs, and fine notes of iodine, tobacco, leather, and cedarwood. Almost perfect Listrac at an excellent drinking stage now. Delicious!
Last night, we opened another 1999 Pontet-Canet. What a contrast compared to the bottle we had in September last year…
The fragrance is as promising as ten months ago, but the complex fruit is very precise now: Pure Morello cherries, fine red and black currants, delicious blueberries, raspberries, and elderberries. Moreover, the oak is perfectly integrated now, and the wine shows excellent earthy notes, licorice, and anis on the palate, followed by a persistent, spicy, fresh, mineral driven finish. This is an opulently styled, very elegant and well-balanced Pauillac. Near to perfection and certainly not on the dark side of the spectrum. Simply astonishing!
A while back, I had the sister estate (or perhaps a different cuvee) of that Listrac, but the 2005 vintage. I too thought it was much better than I’d expected. It was the first Listrac that I’d tried that didn’t have the hard, gritty mouthfeel of yore.
What a difference a year makes! I’m surprised at how much it evolved in just 10 months, but delighted to hear it’s rounded into shape. Thanks for the notes, a fun comparison. I assume those were both from the same purchase/same storage.
No wonder they say there are no great wines, only great bottles… It’s just like a live performance. You can practice all you want, but you never know what you’re going to get in the moment.
