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  • Country ranking ?

    152
  • Producer ranking ?

    4
  • Decanting time

    3h
  • When to drink

    now to 2040
  • Food Pairing

    roasted game with mushrooms

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The Story

Vieux Chateau Certan is one of Pomerol's oldest and most exalted estates, having produced wine since at least the mid 1740s. On the Belleyme Map, published in 1785, the property was listed as "Sertan" and was owned by the Demays, a family of established Bordeaux negociants. A century later, ownership passed to a banker, Charles de Bousquet, who sold it to George Thienpont in 1924.

The family diversified in 1979 when Marcel and Gérard Thienpont founded nearby microcuvée estate Château Le Pin. In 1985, management of Vieux Château Certan came to Alexandre Thienpont.

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Wine Information

The Bordeaux wine faculty never ceases to remind us: « to make a perfect vintage in red wine, the vine growing season must fulfil five successive conditions. »

In the 2009 vintage, each of these conditions was fulfilled, one after the other, with clockwork precision. A real winter and then a superb spring, neither too hot nor too wet, brought about an even and normally early budding of the vines. The summer was hot and dry, but never excessively so, helping the grapes to remain in excellent health at an expectedly quite small crop size. Then, one week before the harvest was due to start, heavy rain fell, enabling the skins of the berries to complete ripeness and increasing the potential crop size to a satisfactory level.

The 2009 is balanced, concentrated and warm without being powerful. The Merlot is dense, rich, smooth and full and shows breed. It rolls around the tongue. The small amount of Cabernet Franc chosen to go into the first wine is all finesse and delicacy. It is ripe, complex, packed with flavour and very long on the palate.

The Cabernet Sauvignon is lively, delicious and savoury. Even though the proportion in the blend is small, it brings a touch of freshness that is essential to the final blend.

The 2009 Vieux Château Certan, with a yield of slightly over 40 hectolitres per hectare, resembles in its blend composition, the excellent VCC 1998.

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Vintage 2009

Right up there with 1947, 1961, and 2005, 2009 is a year of almost exaggeratedly (for Bordeaux) flamboyant, opulent wines with elevated ripeness and low acidity. The tannins are unusually ripe, while the wines are quite voluptuous in style. The Left Bank recorded more sunlight hours than legendary vintages such as 1947 and 1982, and grapes had higher sugar concentrations than 2003 and 2005. The key was significant diurnal temperature swings that allowed grapes to handle the hot daytime temperatures. An exceptional vintage across the board.

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Latest Pro-tasting notes

<10 tasting notes

Tasting note

color

Full and Purple

ending

Endless and Pure

flavors

Blackberry, Blueberry, Licorice, Pepper, Coffee and Cedar

nose

Youthful, Seductive and Generous

recommend

Yes

taste

High alcohol content, High tannin, Perfectly balanced, Concentrated, Well-structured, Full-bodied, Firm, Ripe and Elegant

Written Notes

2009 Vieux Chateau Certain - Off the hook! This is so sexy, sensual and hedonistic, it is probably illegal in some countries. The fruit is dripping with velvet, the wine coats your mouth, filling your palate with layer after layer with opulently textured, perfectly ripe fruit. Hints of flowers, truffle and chocolate are all over the place. Even in its youth, it is impossible not to be wowed by this stunning wine. It is going to age for decades. But if you have a case and want to take an early look, pop a cork and enjoy the ride. 100 Pts

  • 100p

This wine has an alluring, exotic nose and a myriad of spices and dark berry fruits. It is a stunning wine with mouthfilling flavours that are generous and complex. It is full-bodied without being heavy and the openness of the fruit at this young stage is really impressive. This is a wine destined for my cellar.

  • 98p
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Information

Origin

Pomerol, Bordeaux
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