France

Vieux Chateau Certan

Vieux Chateau Certan Pomerol

Bordeaux

Pomerol

A blend of 77% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2021 Vieux Chateau Certan has a medium to deep garnet-purple color. It comes bounding out with exuberant notes of black cherries, juicy raspberries, and fresh, crunchy plums, giving way to nuances of lilacs, crushed rocks, forest floor, and garrigue. The medium-bodied palate has exhilarating tension, with fine-grained tannins and beautifully layered red and black berry flavors, finishing long with lots of mineral and floral sparks. Fireworks!

by Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW

Skilful winemaking, with fragrant curling aromatics, gunsmoke, cigar. This is a year for taking the pleasure in aromatics, so make sure you give it time to open up, as there is a lovely structure here that curls around red roses, raspberry puree, full of joy. No chaptilisation, very light fining. 65% new oak, 3.63ph. Harvest September 24 to October 6.

Inside Bordeaux

Ruby red. Delicate and velvety nose with violets, cherries, blueberries, herbs, licorice and exotic spice. Fresh acidity. Blackberries, blueberries, anise, licorice , salinity and spice. Smooth polished tannins. Very long. 96-98p

Drink from 2035-2070

The blend is:
82% Merlot
18% Cabernet Franc

Just so nice and elegant. Can't wait to taste it again 😊

Expert

2022 (barrel sample)

Aroma av jordbær, hylleblomst, perfyme, plomme, blåbær, søt lakris, vanilje, sjokolade,

Dette var noe helt spesielt, finesse og presisjon ut av en annen verden. 

Vertikalt ved siden av 2016 er 2022 mye mer rød frukt dreven og en litt mindre robust tanninstruktur.

Poeng 99-100

WSET 2

Pure and intense with high ripeness yet with the notion of fresh dark berries, black cherry, cassis, violet and finely tuned oak already well integrated. Excellent density and vigour with powerful and concentrated fruit with a millefeuille of very ripe and silky tannin adding freshness leading to a very long and persistent finish with great purity and nuance.

Sommelier

The tannins are firm and strict, keeping the dark fruits carefully in line. Tons of liquorice and slate, with a beautifully fragrant edge of violets, peonies, smoke. It has the kind of austerity that makes you happy to be patient, hiding layers and layers of nuance, with the sleight of hand between density and lightness, so it rises and falls, breathing through your palate, stretching its limbs. A delicious and beautifully classical expression, intellectual also, finishing with oyster shell salinity. 70% new oak, 40hl/h yield, harvest September 23 to October 3.

Alexandre and Guillaume Thienpont are deeply thoughtful, instinctive winemakers who spend most of their time outside in the vineyards, and prove once again here why VCC is such a well-loved Pomerol. Three years along and you start to see the sweeter edged Merlot fruits where during En Primeur this was very much Cabernet Franc dominant. I get a beautiful touch of strawberry and raspberry puree which is given form by precise brushstroke tannins, white pepper and smoked butterscotch. A careful selection from the 23 plots ensured only pristine fruit - meaning not overly-affected by the summer heat - made it into the wine, showing the level of commitment at this estate. Harvest September 19 to October 9, 3.75ph, 40 hl/ha yield.

Sødmefulle sorte bær, varme solbær, sorte bjørnebær, vanilje, noe jordlig toner, men av det balanserte. 

Usedvanlig varm til 2017 å være, noe jeg sjeldent har vært borti. 

Smak av sorte og røde bær. Varm, konsentrert frukt. Tatt og balansert. Veldig forvirret over fruktstilen opp mot årgangen, derimot så var det helt nydelig. 

94-95p.

Aroma av dype plommer, blåbær, sopp, karamell, jordbunn, tobakk, lær, sjokolade 

Perfeksjon, perfekt balanse, super kompleks, en enorm lengde, dette er en vin for ages, en Legende

Smakt på slottet

Poeng 99

Understated brilliance, with restraint shown in its precisely carved cassis and bilberry fruit on the opening, softening through the mid palate to show creamier raspberry and damson fruit, with black truffles and cocoa bean delivering the Pomerol caress. Expert construction, tannic architecture fully in focus but overlaid with the succulence of the vintage, such a good wine that has decades of it. . 50% new oak for ageing. Alexandre Thienpont owner.

Well judged, a more serious Pomerol than many, so subtle and beguiling in its construction, truffles, white pepper, cranberry, smoked earth, violet flowers, attractive floral edge and this is just gorgeous, grilled and wrapped up in caressing VCC tannins, with an intellectual edge, or rather an edge that keeps you engaged and wanting more.

The 2013 Vieux Chateau Certan has a medium garnet color, with a touch of brick. The nose opens with notions of prunes, raisin cake, and dried herbs, giving way to hints of leather and incense. The medium-bodied palate delivers a good amount of mature fruit, with chewy tannins and a firm, earthy finish.

The 2012 Vieux Chateau Certan is medium to deep garnet-purple colored. It charges out with impressively pure, laser-precise, and intense scents of blueberry compote, chocolate-covered cherries, and warm plum, plus hints of cinnamon toast, dried roses, and forest floor. Medium to full-bodied, rich, and oh-so-classy in the mouth, the palate delivers velvety tannins and compelling tension, finishing very long and opulent. The blend this year is 87% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon.

Amatør

High floral and gunsmoke aromatics, this is intense and concentrated. Where the 2009 has more immediately appeal, this 2010 is clearly going to deliver over the decades. Coiled and reserved tannins, a ton of texture and powerful black fruits, precise and poised, this is exception.

Rich and deep plum in colour, still with a vibrant reflection. This is right at the top tier of the 2009s, juicy and controlled, capturing appellation typicty in the soft waves of grilled caramel without being sweet or heavy, opens to waves of violet and tomato leaf, sculpted, juicy, delicious.

I've found a number of 2000s finally overtaking the 2001s this year, after a long time when the 2001 vintage was clearly showing better. But there are still moments when 2001 reigns, and this Vieux Château Certan is a case in point. Slowly unrolls, gathering in power as it goes, blackberry, damson and raspberry fruits, together with truffle, toasted almonds, tobacco leaf, ash. A great moment to open and enjoy this wine, made for sharing.

Første flaske korket. Flaske nr 2; rett fra flasken, en del brett, mørke plommer, blyantspiss, noe søtlig tobakkspreg. Fin nese. I munnen flott anslag med klar rød frukt mot røde plommer og noe jordbær. Bra struktur, kjølig frukt, stram, fin syre. Presis. medium tanniner, finkornede. Medium pluss lengde. Etter 4t i åpen flaske; blåbær, noe rød paprika. I munnen, ganske stram, ren frukt, ikke like mye fruktsødme som i 86. Strukturert.

2023	No priceNot available	Extraordinary
2022	No priceNot available	Extraordinary
2021	No priceNot available	Outstanding
2020	€ 3 852,40Not available	Extraordinary
2019	€ 2 832,90Available	Extraordinary

Category	Red wine
Vinmonopolet no.
Producer	Vieux Chateau Certan
Vintages	2021
Country	France, Bordeaux, Pomerol
Bottle	75 cl

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Sugar	g/l

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