2017 Vieux Château Certan
France
Pomerol
Bordeaux
Red
71% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon (2024 vintage)
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2027 - 2060
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2027 - 2047
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2024 - 2050
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2023 - 2050
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I made two visits to Vieux Château Certan to see Alexandre and Guilhaume Thienpont, partly because I endeavor to obtain two readings during en primeur and partly because I liked the wine so much the first time that I wanted to taste it again. “We were not touched by the frost,” Alexandre Thienpont explained. “I saw the frost coming on my car, but it didn’t turn white, so I knew we would be O.K. If you pruned early than it accelerated the growing cycle in the season. We picked in three passages through the vineyard, commencing with the young Merlot vines, then the older Merlot and finally the Cabernets. Now we work within each parcel to pick at the right time, so we might go into the same plot two or three times. It was one of the earlier pickings in the last 20 years but the wine has amazing color with great freshness.” Readers will know that for this writer, a great “VCC” will contain a proportion of Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Twenty percent or thereabouts and I’m a happy man. It is the alchemy between the varieties that makes VCC so special, mainly with bottle age. So given there is 19% in the 2017, it delivers just what I am looking for. It is a complex and cerebral Pomerol, but what really struck me on both tastings is the enthralling precision and detail on the finish. It is a masterclass in eschewing power and delivering a discrete intensity and frankly, few wines in the entire world have mastered this like Vieux Château Certan, as attested by the litany of spellbinding wines from the 1940s up to the present day. Yeah – it’s a great wine. I also tasted Le Pin on two occasions, once next to Vieux Château Certan, always a fascinating comparison. I am on record as stating that Vieux Château Certan is more my personal style, a more cerebral Pomerol not least due to the combination of grape varieties. On the other hand, I have been smitten by recent vintages made by Jacques Thienpont. There is purity and tension embroidered into the wines and the 2017 seduces by its silky texture and length. Like Pétrus, it seemed to develop more backbone between first and second showing. It will appeal to those with a penchant for opulence in their Pomerols, but do not wish to stint on sophistication.
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