VIEUX CHÂTEAU CERTAN

Just as it was en primeur, the 2017 Vieux Château Certan is regal and soaring right out of the glass. Inky blue and purplish fruit, chocolate, licorice, lavender, spice and mint come together in a dense, dark and powerful Pomerol. The 2017 is an explosive, vivid wine of monastic beauty. In this vintage, VCC is especially dark and somber, which adds to a real feeling of mysterious beauty. It is a towering achievement from Alexandre and Guillaume Thienpont. Drinking range: 2027 - 2047 Rating: 98 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Mar 2020)

The 2017 Vieux Château Certan was bottled at the end of May. It has a perfumed, slightly tertiary bouquet with blackberry, wild heather and just a touch of menthol. The palate is medium-bodied with fleshy ripe tannins on the entry, mainly dark black fruit, rather introverted at the moment that just needs bottle age to show what it can be. Veins of dark chocolate towards the finish, I appreciate the structure of this VCC and the freshness it shows towards the overtly saline, Japanese nori tinged finish. Alexandre and Guillaume Thienpont have overseen a very assured and captivating Pomerol that will age gracefully over many years. Drinking range: 2024 - 2050 Rating: 94 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Feb 2020)

This delivers a terrific rush of raspberry ganache and steeped plum fruit that holds center stage throughout, flanked by singed apple wood and dried anise notes and backed on the finish by hints of Lapsang souchong tea, warm fruitcake and mineral. A step ahead of the pack in this vintage. Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Best from 2022 through 2040. 3,666 cases made. Drinking range: 2022 - 2040James Molesworth, The Wine Spectator (Jan 2020)

It is the first vintage to contain Cabernet Sauvignon for several years. It has a very pure, Merlot-driven bouquet with black cherries, redcurrant and wild strawberry scents, just a hint of iris and incense in the background. The 70% new oak is nicely integrated here. The palate is medium-bodied with edgy tannin, a deep well of black and red fruit interwoven with allspice, truffle, white pepper and a little sage. This Vieux Château Certan manifests more complexity and profundity as it aerates, delivering genuine, spine-tingling mineralité on the persistent finish. It gains even more precision when I return to the property to re-taste it again. Drinking range: 2023 - 2050 Rating: 94-96 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2018)

Composed of 81% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, the deep garnet-purple colored 2017 Vieux Château Certan gives up gorgeous black raspberries, crushed black currants and warm black berries on the nose with chocolate-covered cherries, violets and star anise suggestions plus black truffles and wood smoke. The palate is medium to full-bodied with wonderful concentration in the mid-palate and firm, very finely pixelated tannins, with seamless freshness and fantastic length. Rating: 96-98 Lisa Perrotti-Brown, RobertParker.com (Apr 2018)

Extremely bright, dark fruit aromas are joined by hints of gooseberry and redcurrant in the mouth, but a deeper, richer cassis comes through on the mid-palate. The high level of acidity emphasises a floral note, yet this has an austerity that is more pronounced than in recent vintages, which should settle in over time. This is a fairly concentrated vintage at VCC, more than at many properties, and was their fifth earliest harvest in the past 20 years, similar to 2011 in terms of dates, although this time it was in three stages, from 12 September to 2 October. This is different in profile to the 2016, with more Cabernet Sauvignon (planted in 2012). It's an elegant style with pure fruit; an extremely focussed and linear wine that's far from exuberant. No frost here, so a final yield of 37hl/ha. 3.75pH. IPT 73. Drinking range: 2025 - 2038 Rating: 93 Jane Anson, Decanter (Apr 2018)

Good yields here for old vines (mostly 1932–82 and a small parcel of younger Cabernet Sauvignon planted in 2012, Cabernet Franc planted 1959). 81% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc, 5% (young-vines) Cabernet Sauvignon, which they included for aromatic lift. According to Alexandre Thienpont, it is 'un Bordeaux de référence’ (benchmark bordeaux). Deepest crimson with black core. Not much aroma at first because the sample is cool. Rich, firm, dark and more savoury than usual, darker-fruited. Great freshness. Has impressive depth without weight. Very fine shape, great refinement even now. Feels like it is coiled tightly for the future. Dark beauty with just a very slight char on the finish and a long graphite aftertaste. Cool nights kept the freshness. Drinking range: 2027 - 2047 Rating: 18.5 Julia Harding MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2018)

This is a dense and compact center palate with a solid and pointed intensity. Full body, firm and silky tannins and an energetic finish. Complete. Harmonious. Rating: 97-98 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2018)

This was picked in three stages, September 12th and 13th, 18th and 19th, and 25th until October 2nd. The yield is 37 hl/ha, the blend 81% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. This is more Cabernet Sauvignon than in some recent years, the Thienponts having replanted recently on gravel soils. In 2015 and 2016, both warmer years, they did not do so well, but in 2017 the quality is good enough for the grand vin. The alcohol is 14.2%, the IPT 73 and the acidity 3.4 g/l. There was no frost here at all here, and the rest of the growing season went smoothly. It has a fresh, ripe, dusty lift on the nose, showing some fine Cabernet character but in a riper and more harmonious style than some right bank wines, with some very pure and restrained damson fruit, tense rather than plush, but with a floral perfume, very complete in style. This character comes through on the palate, fresh and pure, very tense, with dried and desiccated fruits, pressed flowers, fresh and very complete. It is so fragrant and floral, with a wrapping of perfumed oak, and it comes framed by some very ripe, dense, tightly knit and dense tannins. A very composed wine this year, with a wonderfully broad structure. Impressive. Rating: 96-98 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2018)