Pontet Canet produces a little bit of luxury in the form of wine from the vineyards and has been owned by three different families over two centuries. Guy Tesseron bought the Chateau while it was undergoing hard times in 1975 and today the Chateau is run by Guy's son, Alfred Tesseron assisted by his niece Melanie.

During the early 18th century Jean Francois Pontet brought together several of the very best vineyards in Pauillac. Some years later, descendents added more vines and named it Canet. This was to be the start of one of the largest luxury estates in Medoc. Almost a century later Pontet Canet was included in the 1855 classification, ensuring membership among the very best of Medoc. Henry Cruse an important Bordeaux shipper of that time bought the estate in 1865 and set about building new cellars and modernized the Chateau thereby establishing the reputation of the luxury wine around the world. The family went on to own the Chateau for more than one hundred years until it was bought by Tesseron.

In 1989 the Chateau saw the recruitment of Jean Michel Comme, an engineer oenologist of the very best and in this year the first green harvest was seen. Five years later Tesserons father gave him carte blanche to make his first vintage and two years later restoration of the oak vat room took place and saw the introduction of smaller new vats. An area was also built specifically for keeping stock that was already bottled. In 1999 a new double luxury reception room for the vintage was planned for the first floor and the name of the Chateau changed from Chateau Les Hauts de Pontet to Chateau Pontet-Canet. In 2001 it was decided that pumps would no longer be used to fill the fermenters and the Chateau returned to the old 19th century system of working by gravity. Another change was made in 2002 when the use of pesticides in the vineyards ceased and a year later a purification station was built. 2005 saw the installation of 32 concrete vats with a capacity of 80hl for the reception of the harvest, these vats were gravity filled only.

In 2005 the daughter of Gerard Tesseron, Melanie, joined the Pontet Canet team and become a breath of fresh air to the Chateau with her excellent communication skills. The first harvest using only biodynamic practices throughout the whole of the 81 hectares on the property was also seen in 2005. In 2007 thanks to her excellent passion for wine Melanie reached the top grade in the DUAD. Melanie wanted to continue developing here knowledge of wine and joined the ENITAs wine property management masters 2 in Bordeaux where she graduated successfully in 2009.

Editorial | Image Courtesy Of Chateau Pontet Canet