Chateau Pontet Canet 1993 (1x75cl)

Pauillac on the left bank of Bordeaux, with more than thirty years in bottle. Wine of this age is a different drink from a young Bordeaux: the fruit steps back, savoury and earthy notes come forward, and the tannin has usually gone very soft.

A bottle like this is really about the occasion and the conversation, or a birth-year gift for someone born in 1993. Bottles this old vary a lot depending on storage history, so treat it gently, stand it upright for a day or two, decant carefully off the sediment and drink it within the hour rather than letting it sit.

Tasting notes

Bordeaux with over thirty years of age typically shows dried fruit, tobacco leaf, mushroom, leather and cedar rather than fresh blackcurrant, with light body and very fine, resolved tannin. Usually delicate, so handle and pour with care.