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Vieux Chateau Certan
The Winery
Vieux Château Certan
"Everyone likes barbecue, but haute cuisine needs more knowledge to appreciate."
- Alexandre Thienpont
Celebrated as one of the great growths of Pomerol, View Château Certan has long been creating wines on par with its neighbor, Château Pétrus. Heritage of the estate traces back to 1770, making it one of the eldest Bordelais producers in existence. Surrounded by powerhouses including Le Pin and Lefleur, Certan’s 35 acres are comprised of 65% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon.
The oak program is French, 100% new, and the grapes are hand harvested and sorted in the vineyards before being brought back to the winery. The vineyards are all on one block, meaning no room for error and difficult reaping. Currently, Certan is run by Alexandre Thienpont, son of well known Belgian wine merchant Georges Thienpont. Le Pin is also run and owned by the Thienponts, clearly success and fine wine runs in the family. Alexandre created sophisticated, sexy wines with fines that are also age worthy.
Tasting Notes
- WA96
- One of the top wines of the vintage is the exquisite 2006 Vieux Chateau Certan. A blend of 83% Merlot and 17% Cabernet Franc, it is a stunningly rich effort boasting an inky/blue/purple color as well as a gorgeous nose of forest floor, coffee, toast, and extravagant levels of black currants and blackberries. Hints of charcoal and flowers add to the wine's exquisite character. What’s remarkable in this full-bodied wine is that nearly 100% new oak is used, yet the oak is largely drowned out by the wine's concentration and complex personality. This full-bodied Vieux Chateau Certan should be reasonably approachable in 3-4 years but last for at least three decades. This great success merits kudos to proprietor Alexandre Thienpont.
- WSM95
- A beauty from the moment it's first poured, this wine is one of the few in the vintage with the power to awe. Alexandre Thienpont cares for these cabernet franc and merlot vines at the top of the Pomerol plateau, and shepherds them into a wine of subtlety and reserve. There's no blast of power, just a clarity and brightness, as if the door were opening to a sunny field of wild strawberries. There's something darker as well, like the cool forest floor at the edge of the field, and the ripe black cherries that grow above it. The wine has a natural surety, the beauty and finesse of a great terroir.
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