Vieux Chateau Certan 2019
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Robert -
Suckling
James - Vinous
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Dunnuck
Jeb - Decanter
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Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Vieux Château Certan combines savoir-faire with exceptional soils. Coming mainly from the vineyard’s oldest vines, Vieux Château Certan is every year a blend of the most excellent lots produced at the estate. The brilliance of the wine’s hue, the richness of its aromas and the subtlety of its flavor bring it inimitable style. The wines of Vieux Château Certan possess natural concentration and require a few years’ cellaring before the first bottles can be opened. As with the greatest Bordeaux wines, they can be enjoyed after 10 to 15 years of age.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
One of the wines of the vintage, the 2019 Vieux Château Certan unfurls in the glass with a striking bouquet of cassis and cherries mingled with notions of violets, loamy soil, sweet spices and incense. Full-bodied, ample and layered, it's seamless and enveloping, with a fleshy core of beautifully vibrant fruit, lively acids and ripe, powdery tannins. Concluding with a long, resonant finish, this perfumed, sensual Vieux Château Certan is a remarkable achievement from Alexandre and Guillaume Thienpont. Best after 2029.
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James Suckling
Subtle and complex with blackberries, violets, lilacs, roses and hints of ink. So floral, yet subtle on the nose. Full-bodied with incredible polish and beauty, the silky tannins running the length of the wine and going on and on. It builds with sheer elegance and structure. A blend of 78% merlot, 15% cabernet franc and 7% cabernet sauvignon.
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Vinous
The 2019 Vieux-Chateau-Certan has a fabulous bouquet with stunning delineation, a complex array of red and black fruit, sous-bois, truffle and Seville orange marmalade. The palate is medium-bodied and very precise, with fine-grain tannins, a superb bead of acidity and a peacock's tail on the finish lingering long in the mouth. I knew this was an awesome Pomerol...but maybe not this awesome! Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting.
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Jeb Dunnuck
A wine I wasn't able to taste from barrel, the 2019 Vieux Château Certan is an awesome expression of Merlot that's as singular as they come. Revealing a deep purple hue as well as a prodigious, deep, layered bouquet of blackcurrants, black cherries, tobacco leaf, cedar pencil, and sappy spring flowers, it hits the palate with a full-bodied, multi-dimensional texture, a great mid-palate, no hard edges, perfectly integrated acidity, and a blockbuster of a finish. It shows the more ethereal, nuanced, elegant style of the vintage, both in its aromatics as well as on the palate, but it has classic Vieux Château Certan opulence and power. This heavenly wine is clearly in the same ballpark as the 2015, 2016, and 2018 and will probably merit a triple-digit rating at maturity. A decade of cellaring is advised, and it should be a 40-, 50-, if not 60-year wine. Rating : 98+ Best After 2032
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Decanter
A wonderful wine, great depth of black fruit but extremely balanced, lace and satin. The aromatics open up almost immediately to show raspberry and redcurrant fruits. It's extremely complete; but mainly it just makes you want to enjoy it - no aggression to these tannins. 66% new oak, all the estate's Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc grapes are here (with the 2nd wine 100% Merlot), and it surely helps give this sapidity and flavoursome savoury character.
Barrel Sample: 97 -
Wine Spectator
Allows glorious plum sauce, boysenberry puree and black cherry compote flavors to unfurl over a bed of velvety tannins, while subtle black tea, violet, alder and sweet tobacco notes flirt in the background. The finish is underscored by a subtle warm earth note, which adds latent length. A beauty. Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Best from 2025.
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Wine Enthusiast
With a small percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend, this wine is solidly tannic, with intense acidity to balance the ripe berry flavors and structure. The wine is destined for long aging with its structure and powerful tannins. At the same time, juicy acidity gives vibrancy. Drink from 2024. Cellar Selection
Barrel Sample: 96
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Dunnuck
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James - Decanter
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Enthusiast
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