The famous Jean de Pontac married the great niece of Pope Clément 5th, in 1555. His brother, Louis, was the first “Seigneur de Monplaisir”. Louis’ son, Jacques, was the founder of Pontac Monplaisir, when he established a hunting lodge there, in 1585.

 

The Pontac family was also the owner of Château Haut – Brion. The Revolution brought their fame and fortune to an end and their many properties were divided up. Much later, in 1920, the father of Jean Maufras acquired the domain that at the time encompassed 50 hectares.
Château Pontac Monplaisir is situated in the Graves, on the outskirts of the perpetually encroaching Bordeaux agglomeration, and is classified as a Pessac – Léognan. Unfortunately, the building of the “Rocade” (circular ring road) around the city, amputated some of the vineyard area and today the property only has a surface area under vines of 16 hectares !

Château Pontac Monplaisir belongs to Jean and Alain Maufras. Jean Maufras took over the reins of the château after the war and had the vast and demanding task of its reconstruction. Vines had to be restructured and, in 1960, followed the renovation of the cellars, in spite of financial difficulties in those lean years. In the 1970’s, Jean Maufras decided to place the domain under the management of André Lurton.

Alain Maufras completed his studies in commerce and, as of the 1980’s, he became more active in the affairs of the château. In 1994, he took over the running of the property and, as an autodidact, took an oenological course to bring his knowledge up to date. He has discreetly, very quietly and with singular passions, made tremendous advances since then.

Alain Maufras, who has therefore been absorbed in the domain since his tender childhood, revolves his philosophy around respect – respect for the “terroir” in its entirety; the vines; the grape variety; wine; the way wine is made and nurtured into maturity. This is emphasized by his pursuit of optimum techniques and methods in his work, and in the development of Château Pontac Monplaisir, which enhance the delicacy of the wine. Attention is given to every detail throughout the chain of actions.

The quintessence is perfect maturity and this alone leads to the culmination of his love and his labour in an excellent glass of wine. “Work gently with Nature and listen to the vine and its needs !”

This philosophical perception is reinforced by his firm belief in the indispensable value of tasting every step of the way – the berries on the vine, the skins, the pips, the macerating grapes, the fermenting wine, the wine in all its moods and stages.
Direct, hands-on contact is the only guarantee of following its dictates and achieving success. He was but a child, in the 1960’s, when the eminently esteemed Emile Peynaud made the white wines here at Château Pontac Monplaisir, but the man and his art made an indelible impression on his young and receptive mind.

TASTING NOTES
Château Pontac Monplaisir, Pessac Léognan
2003 CHÂTEAU PONTAC MONPLAISIR
COLOR : Deep, dark, fresh, ruby purple, almost black, turning rich garnet.
NOSE : Mild, ripe and tender. Delicate, rich, fruit aromas. Hint of smokiness, slightly toasty. Very attractive, complete bouquet with gentle power and delicacy
of aromatic expression.
PALATE : Ripe, gentle, delicate and tender. Juicy fruit, soft, chocolaty. Very smooth textured. Quite forward. Smooth, rich, opulent tannins. Delicious mouthfeel, long and lingering, deep fruit flavours. Medium structure and surprisingly feminine expression, yet great volume of round and silky, ripe fruit. Finish long and lingering on tender, grilled fragrance. Notes of endless fruit. Gentle, generous and very enjoyable glass of wine.
Deeply complex. This excellent wine can already be enjoyed with great pleasure, however it will stand up to several years maturing and will mellow beautifully. All elements are in place forming a well balanced and harmonious whole. Very well controlled 2003. Do not miss the joy this wine will procure ! Magnificent describes the experience nicely.

2004 CHÂTEAU PONTAC MONPLAISIR WHITE
COLOR : Bright, pale, yellow gold, finely dense, brilliant golden reflections.
NOSE : Pure Graves bouquet of delicate honey and smoke aromas of the rather classical style. Gentle, fresh minerality and a flinty, pebbly background giving tone to the wine. Rich, yet refined depth of aromatic expression, delicate yet intense. Hint of florality. Delicacy and lace work precision.
PALATE : Fresh, rich, pure, clean and vigorous, refreshing lemon tingedand vibrant acidity, giving the relatively full bodied wine an airy feel. Excellent, velvety mouthfeel. Delicate honey and minerality. Succulent,juicy flavours with restrained, controlled exhilarating harmony. Long in the mouth, full flavoured, generous, ripe, but fresh, fruited and deliciously satisfying glass of wine.

Château Pontac Monplaisir consists of 13 hectares, planted in red grape varieties : 65% Merlot and 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 3 hectares of white varieties : 60% Sauvignon and 40% Semillon.

The average age of the vines is 30 years, some much older and some young, as result of the replanting since he has managed the property.

Great care has been taken not to upset the balance and replanting is according to a clearly defined schedule to preserve the typicity of the wine.

The soil composition is 20% gravel and 80% calcareous clay, which is distinctly different. The 16 hectares of vines are all in one contiguous block.

 

Each and every viticultural action and decision is directed by the belief that the crucial decisions, in order to produce optimum quality wine, have to be in the vineyards. The basis of viticulture at Château Pontac Monplaisir is irrefutably parcellar, from the vine to the blending of the wine. Alain Maufras’ experience in fulfilling all the tasks, throughout the full cycle of the vine, gave him invaluable experience and insight, and inspired his lasting and fervent ardour for his heritage.

Together with his team, he continues the improvement and fine-tuning of the vines to ensure that the end product is of the standard that he requires. Guyot Simple pruning is used to allow the bunches more space to flourish
and to protect them against the assault of fungal diseases. All rows are ploughed and, in his view, grassing is a potential risk factor. The correlation between soil and air is important and closely monitored. This year a green harvest took place in July and a parsimonious deleafing was also carried out. Vintaging at the right moment is vital and the only way to make this criticaldecision is to taste the entire row.

The vintage is done by hand and by a small, regular team of 15 faithfuls. The sorting of the grapes takes place exclusively whilst actually picking, hence the advantage of an experienced and well familiarised team, which picks with fluidity and with meticulous selection.

Each vintage brings its own decisions throughout the entire and intricate process of winegrowing and winemaking.In 1994, the installations were restructured. All the stainless steel and epoxy coated cement vats have been equipped with thermo – regulating
equipment.

In 1995, Alain Maufras started to vinify in barrel, both for the red and the white wine. The maceration period for the red grapes tends to be long (depending upon vintage and potential) and the fermentation takes place in the thermo-regulated vats. Alain Maufras is not a fervent supporter of punching down. For about 8 days before running off, the vats are filled to the brim and kept at 28°C.

 

Approximately40 days after the onset of fermentation, the wine is transferred into oak barrels. He prefers the delicate touch. The cellars are slightly heated and the malolactic fermentation, in barrel, is slow and gentle and may last up to five months. He permits himself a light stirring of the lees, if this would, in his opinion, have positive results. He sees no advantage in pushing barrel fermentation too far as he feels that this risks losing delicacy and flavour.

The red wine remains in barrel for around 14 months, depending upon its personality.The white grapes are gently pressed and the juice run off directly into Burgundian barrels, which are more appropriate in his opinion.40% new oak, 30% of one wine and 30% of second wine. 11 coopers, from different regions, are used, with different degrees of wood drying and toasting.

All are small scale coopers. Alain Maufras may very well switch to 100% Burgundy barrels, in 2006, as he admires the respect that they show for the grape varieties. The white wine remains in barrel for approximately 10 months and is stirred on the lees.

 

The year and the grapes dictate the length of time, but this is usually around 3 – 5 months. Athanaze Fakorellis, who has a great deal of experience in Burgundy, is the consultant oenologist.No micro-oxygenation, no carbonic maceration, minimum addition of selective yeasts. The decision to rack, or not, depends entirely on rigorous tasting of each barrel, but usually twice for the red.

The red wine is fined with 5 egg whites per barrel, and the white with isinglass. No filtering as such, but a light, cleaning-up and no cold treatment. The wine is then left to rest and recover before being bottled by a mobile bottling company, with whom the property has been working for many years.

Alain Maufras has decided convictions about his property and his wine and does not attempt to hide them. He makes wine for laying down; wine which is not stripped of its typicity, nor deprived of its more delicate expression and gracious harmony.

He is passionate about preserving the suppleness and generous fragrance of the young wines, their opulent, fleshy and elegant tannins, which, with time, develop into tones of prunes and truffles, creating rich and complex harmony.

 

MARKETING POSITION in the USA
A certain percentage of the wines of Château Pontac Monplaisir is sold on the Bordeaux “Place” and therefore marketed by the Bordeaux wine shippers. However, a not negligible portion is sold directly, and chiefly finds its way onto the tables of gastronomic restaurants, but also to private individuals.

The château has only a limited presence on the USA market and is distributed in Boston and New York. Alain Maufras would like to be represented in Florida as well. Château Pontac Monplaisir produces, on average, 20,000 bottles of white wine and between 70,000 – 80,000 bottles of red wine per annum.

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