The vat room on the first floor dates back to the 19th century. It allows the grapes to go into the fermentation vats by natural gravity flow, without the use of pressure or pumping. Combined with the exclusive use of indigenous yeast, this makes for slow fermentation. Extraction takes place gently over a long time to bring out the best quality tannin. Using this exemplary system as a model, Alfred had a new modern version built in 2005. The same gravity flow principle is used. The new vat room houses 32 concrete truncated cone-shaped vats, each with a capacity of 80 hectolitres. All the wine made at Pontet-Canet is now fermented in these two vat rooms.

You might say that this new vat room was inspired by the cutting-edge methods used by the famous visionary Skavinski, but obviously updated in light of the great technological strides made over the last century. The new vat room was operational for the 2005 vintage. 

The first of its kind in the Médoc, this vat room houses 32 truncated cone-shaped vats, each with a capacity of 80 hectolitres. These vats are located in the previous cement vat room, dating back to the 1940s and renovated several times since. The previous vats were all taken out to make space for them. Furthermore, the stainless steel vat room, built in 1986, was also abandoned. The vats were removed and sold.

The new cement vats each weigh 9 tonnes. Their 15 cm thick walls provide good thermal inertia, thereby encouraging slow, gentle fermentation. The vats are fully temperature controlled and able to be either cooled down or warmed up very efficiently. Their hatches, which cover almost the entire top of the vat, are located directly under the sorting tables on the first floor. The grapes thus fall down straight into the vats by simple gravity.

This vat room is both resolutely modern and in keeping with the Médoc's winegrowing tradition. It is the result of discussions between Alfred Tesseron, the famous oenologist Michel Rolland, the architect Christophe Massie, and Jean-Michel Comme*,  Pontet-Canet estate manager.

By facilitating the fermentation of small lots, this new organization makes it easier to select and fine tune the final blend. Grapes from each plot (or part of a plot) are kept separate. This is done out of deference to the terroir and respect for the fruit, which are the two bywords for making fine wine. Pontet-Canet is truly a tailor-made wine.

Fermentation generally lasts about four weeks, but varies according to grape variety, vineyard plot, and the degree of ripeness. The wine is run off directly into barrels, where it ages for sixteen to twenty months, depending on the vintage. The proportion of new barrels is never greater than two thirds.

*Jean-Michel Comme, the Estate's Manager of Pontet-Canet

Jean-Michel is the modern-day Skavinski. He has unfailingly looked after Pontet-Canet's best interests for the past seventeen years, and always with the same passion. He also manages a family estate, Château Le Champ des Treilles in Sainte-Foy-La-Grande, with his wife.  www.champdestreilles.com

Vinification duration :