Vieux Château Certan 2023

82% Merlot, 18% Cabernet Franc Vieux Château Certan displays freshness and fruit at the entrance! The freshness is not due to the Cabernet Sauvignon this year, because the arid episode blocked its development. Alexandre Thienpont preferred to concentrate on Merlot and Cabernet Franc. The wine has substance, depth, with a salty touch which revitalizes the finish and which completes the charm of the tannins. The wine is powerful and elegant, fine and imposing. He owes it to his pedigree, to his terroir, to his clays. A linear, strict, but still charming wine with tensions that act as a buffer zone. A very great wine with great visions for the future and, above all, for keeping! 2030-2068

Alexandre and Guillaume, a father-son team, started harvesting on September 18, which is almost two weeks later than most Pomerol estates. I was expecting to find a VCC with exceptional maturity, but to my surprise, it had an abundance of violet fragrance accompanied by a refined and smooth palate. Sometimes, one cannot help but admire their mastery of elegance. The 2023 vintage encapsulates many of VCC's recent characteristics such as juicy berry aromas, fine tannins, a seamless taste experience, and the elegance of violet fragrances. When it comes to elegance, VCC ranks either first or second in the Pomerol, beyond any dispute.

A very fine and polished young VCC with subtle density and a racy backbone of tannins. Compact with well-toned muscles and a persistent finish. Very silky. Really grows at the end. 82% merlot and 18% cabernet franc.

The 2023 Vieux Château Certan bursts from the glass with demonstrative aromas of dark berries, pencil shavings, violets mingled with notions of burning embers, iris, crushed mint and black tea. Medium to full-bodied, velvety and sensual, with a gourmand attack that segues into a layered, enveloping mid-palate, it's polished and perfumed, with a sweet core of fruit and a long, gently oak-inflected finish. This year's blend of 82% Merlot and 18% Cabernet Franc checks in at 14% alcohol and a pH of 3.74.