2021 Vieux Château Certan, Pomerol, Bordeaux

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Description

Merlot 77%, Cabernet Franc 20%, Cabernet Sauvignon 3%.

Alexandre Thienpont beautifully summed up the 2021 vintage with the word “aromatic” – which certainly encapsulates this wine. The nose is extremely perfumed, with dried violets, dried herbs, sweet spice and black fruit. The tannins are refined and fully ripe. The wine feels luscious, but the acidity is fresh – each structural component is individually crafted. The palate gently evolves, starting with a pure blackcurrant core, a little bell pepper and ending with sweet spice. The fruit is at peak ripeness and incredibly concentrated. This is a truly special wine, quintessentially VCC.

Our score: 18.5/20

Berry Bros. & Rudd

Colour Red

Sweetness Dry

Vintage 2021

Alcohol % 13.5%

Maturity Not ready (2027 - 2048)

Grape List Merlot (77%), Cabernet Franc (20%), Cabernet Sauvignon (3%)

Body Full Bodied

Producer Vieux Château Certan

Critics reviews

Antonio Galloni 96-98/100

The 2021 Vieux Château Certan is a spectacular tour de force from Alexander and Guillaume Thienpont. What a wine. Vibrant and magnificent in its precision, the 2021 races across the palate, revealing seemingly endless layers of nuance over time. Dark blue/purplish fruit, cinnamon, new leather, graphite, lavender and crushed rocks all build effortlessly. The Cabernets are dialed up in 2021 and that comes through in the wine's flavor profile and overall feel. The purity of the flavors is just mind-bending. Harvest took place between September 25 and October 4. The blend is 67% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon. Readers who can find the 2021 should not hesitate, as it is truly magical.

Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com

Georgie Hindle 96/100

Ripe juicy strawberry, this has a gorgeous intensity on the nose, really fragrant and expressive, in a rich deep, heavily-scented way. You get the ripeness here with smooth, silky tannins giving depth and intensity on the palate. Succulent with a sharpness, that hit of freshly picked strawberry and cherry juice - electric and bright with tension and direction. It’s softly spoken in one way, so quietly confident, yet showing so much detail in another, saying; "looking at how charming I can be". It has freshness and tension - ‘a cool climate VCC’ said Alexandre Thienpont. Bright acidity through delivered gracefully and sensitively with a gentle persistence. I love the delicacy, it has body no doubt, but it’s the detail that’s so captivating. A wonderful wine and one of the best from Pomerol in 2021. 3.63pH. A yield of 38hl/ha. Drinking Window 2027 - 2050

Drink 2027 - 2050

Georgie Hindle, Decanter.com (Apr 2022)

About this wine

Pomerol

With 150 or so producers and roughly 740 hectares of vineyards, the smallest of Bordeaux's major appellations is home to myriad bijou domaines – many making little more than 1,000 cases per annum. If the topography and architecture of Pomerol are typical, the style of its wines is anything but. The best vineyards are planted on a seam of rich clay extending across the raised plateau of Pomerol from the boundary of St Emilion.

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