Vieux Château Certan - Pomerol 2020

Vinous

100

par Neal Martin le 09/08/2024

The 2020 Vieux Château Certan was picked from September 14 at a low yield of 30hl/ha. The nose might be even better than the 2019 with blackberry, black truffle, pencil shavings and a touch of sous-bois. The aromatics are heavenly, perhaps even more complex than the 2016. The palate is medium-bodied with a satin-textured entry and fabulous delineation. This is a Pomerol whose engine purrs like a vintage Rolls Royce. Maybe the 2019 has a touch more edginess on the finish but this is the real deal. It's a sensational, multi-dimensional Pomerol for the ages. Tasted at the VCC vertical in Etikhove, Belgium.

Alexandre Ma

97

par Alexandre Ma le 18/04/2023

Wine Advocate

97

par William Kelley le 06/04/2023

A blend of 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc, the 2020 Vieux Château Certan bursts with aromas of blackberries, sweet spices, rose petals, orange zest, burning embers and violets framed by a deft application of creamy new oak. Medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, it's rich and layered, with a more broad, unctuous profile than the pure and refined 2019, concluding with a long, resonant finish. This is more immediate out of the gates than the 2019, and I suspect it will not prove quite as long lived, but it is a terrific effort from the Thienpont family.

The Wine Cellar Insider

100

par Jeff Leve le 22/03/2023

An extraordinary effort, the wine is almost opaque in color. The haunting perfume offers a bouquet of flowers, black, red and blue fruits, chocolate, spice, espresso and hints of truffles on the nose. Incredibly concentrated, but equally light on its feet, the wine is effortless to taste. With polished, velvet textures and fruits that express purity coupled with spice, chocolate, wet earth and sensuality, the finish crosses the 60 second mark and keeps on going! This is a youthful look at one of the future legendary vintages for Vieux Chateau Certan. If this is your thing, and if you have the extra income, buy it now as prices will only rise from here. Drink from 2027-2065.

Alexandre Ma

97

par Alexandre Ma le 15/03/2023

Vinous

99

par Antonio Galloni le 24/02/2023

The 2020 Vieux Château Certan is a wine of total harmony and finesse. Absolutely nothing is out of place. Supple and seamless, the 2020 is an infant, but it is so impressive. Crème de cassis, lavender, mocha and licorice are some of the many notes that emerge from the glass, but more than anything else, the 2020 is a majestic Pomerol that will thrill those lucky enough to own it. There's not much else to say. The 2020 spent 18 months in barrel, 65% new.

Vinous

97

par Neal Martin le 15/02/2023

The 2020 Vieux Château Certan was showstopping from barrel sample and, now, in bottle? The nose is exquisitely delineated with perfumed black fruit, crushed rock, hints of pencil box, and a very faint licorice scent in the background. Wonderful focus. The palate has marvelous definition, surfeited with tension from the start. It is a little granular in texture, reminiscent of the 2010 at this same early juncture, magnificent, life-affirming salinity and pepperiness fanning out beautifully on the lace-like finish. It's a profound Pomerol that will age effortlessly over many years. Super-bon. Alexandre Thienpont compared it to the 1945. This is cheaper and easier to find.

Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux

96

par Jane Anson le 16/01/2023

Tension, structure, complexity, waves of violet, rose petals and slate A serious VCC with tension and poise, this inches open to show graphite, pencil lead and sweet raspberry, blueberry and savoury cassis bud, almost an edge of petrol, elegant and balanced, and with a personality that is going to power through the decades. 50% new oak.

TASTED

100

par Andreas Larsson le 06/07/2021

Pure and intense with high ripeness yet with the notion of fresh dark berries, black cherry, cassis, violet and finely tuned oak already well integrated. Excellent density and vigour with powerful and concentrated fruit with a millefeuille of very ripe and silky tannin adding freshness leading to a very long and persistent finish with great purity and nuance.

Vinous

96-98

par Antonio Galloni le 01/06/2021

A powerful, vertical wine, the 2020 Vieux Château Certan is endowed with tremendous intensity right out of the gate. Everything about the 2020 is dialed up. The fruit is huge, as are the tannins. Black cherry, licorice, new leather, spice and bittersweet chocolate saturate the palate in a wine that conveys opulence from start to finish. Yields were just 30 hectoliters per hectare, well below the norm of 40-42. The blend is 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc, in other words a high percentage of Franc. There is no Cabernet Sauvignon in the final blend this year, the result of dehydration on the vine. The 2020 is fabulous. I can't wait to taste it from bottle.

Jeb DUNNUCK

97-99

par Jeb Dunnuck le 28/05/2021

Always one of my favorite wines in just about every vintage, the 2020 Vieux Château Certan is another magical wine in the making, revealing a dense purple hue as well as stunning notes of cassis, bright cherries, chocolate, and flowers. It hits the palate with full-bodied richness, perfect tannins, a dense, layered mid-palate, and one blockbuster of a finish. This is unquestionably one of the biggest, richest, sexiest wines in the vintage, and my money is on it flirting with perfection and delivering 30-40 years of prime drinking. The blend is 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc, harvested all in September, and hitting 14.5% natural alcohol with a pH of 3.77.

Yvesbeck.wine

99-100

par Yves Beck le 27/05/2021

85% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc
Très beau millésime, explique Alexandre Thienpont, avec la richesse des Merlots de 2010 et
l'excellent niveau des Cabernet Francs de 2011 ! La plus jeune vigne a plus de 25 ans. L'élevage se fait dans 2/3 de bois neuf et durera entre 18 et 22 mois.
Le bouquet est complexe, subtile et révèle des nuances florales et épicées. Beaucoup de fraîcheur avec des parfums de cassis et de mûres. Notes de violettes, de camomille et de glycines suivies de nuances de réglisse. Attaque vive et fruitée. Beaucoup d'énergie dans ce vin avec une très belle symbiose entre la race de l'acidité et la profondeur des tannins. Ceux-ci sont puissants et dotés d'un grain fin. Ce VCC est massif et imposant mais il dispose de la substance nécessaire pour gérer ceci.
Il entrera certainement dans l'histoire des grands VCC. La finale est d'une exceptionnelle intensité et d'une longue persistance. Quand subtilité, puissance et grandeur créent une telle harmonie, on se trouve dans une logique de très grand vin. 2027-2060 99-100/100

Vinous

96-98

par Neal Martin le 27/05/2021

The 2020 Vieux Château Certain is a blend of 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc (no Cabernet Sauvignon this year). Drought retarded vigor, particularly with respect to the older vines, and picking was carried out September 14–24 for the Merlot and September 28–29 for the Cabernet Franc. Examined over a couple of hours, it delivers intense and quite opulent black cherries, blueberry and shavings of black truffle and iodine, becoming increasingly floral with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with impressive structure and bags of freshness. There is plenty of sappy black fruit, lip-smacking underlying salinity and a finish that is a doppelganger for Lafleur (despite containing less Cabernet Franc). A gorgeous VCC that exudes both density and refinement.

Decanter.com

95

par Jane Anson le 25/05/2021

Concentrated and complex flavours with a silky, velvety and supremely seductive texture, alongside a ton of energy, freshness and juice. It has dense muscular tannins, and is going to age beautifully. As it opens you get the aromatics coming out, and the Merlot fleshy fruits become generous and welcoming, opulent without being tiring. A little less Cabernet Franc in the blend than normal because one of the three plots has currently been pulled up before replanting. Harvest September 14 to 29. 3.77pH. A yield of 30hl/ha because of the dry weather through the summer followed by the flashes of heat in September, among lowest ever (similar to 2010).

The Wine Cellar Insider

98-100

par Jeff Leve le 21/05/2021

Inky dark in color, it takes no time to discover the truffle, violets, black plum liqueur, Valrhona chocolate, spice, espresso bean, black raspberry and hints of blue fruit on the nose. Full-bodied, and incredibly concentrated, the wine feels like polished velvet as it caresses your palate. Dense, rich and powerful, yet weightless, balanced and fresh, the finish crosses the 60 second mark and keeps on going! The level of purity, concentration and depth of flavor here is matched by its sensuality. If Caligula were serving wine, this would be his choice. This is better than the 2009, 2016 and probably 2018. This will be one of the legendary vintages for Vieux Chateau Certan. It is a serious contender for wine of the vintage! The wine blends 85% Merlot with 15% Cabernet Franc, 14.5% ABV. The harvest took place September 14-September 24 for the Merlot. Cabernet Franc was picked September 28-September 30. Yields were low at only 30 hectoliters per hectare. 98-100

Wine Advocate

98-100

par Lisa Perrotti-Brown le 20/05/2021

The 2020 Vieux Château Certan is a blend of 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc, picked on the 14th to the 24th of September for the Merlot, then on the 28th and 29th of September for the Cabernet Franc. The pH is 3.77 and the alcohol is 14.5%. Deep purple-black colored, it needs considerable coaxing, swirling and a lot of patience before it finally lets rip an intoxicating perfume of ripe, juicy black plums, Morello cherries, candied violets, black truffles and crushed rocks, giving way to hints of black tea, molten licorice and Sichuan pepper, plus a waft of dusty red soil. The medium to full-bodied palate delivers achingly ripe, silt-like tannins and shimmering freshness that melds with the black fruits and earthy layers with jaw-dropping seamlessness, finishing with layer upon layer of mineral and savory suggestions and, finally, a gorgeous floral whisper. There are going to be two ways to approach this: 1) Just let the remarkably sensual, inexplicable beauty of it wash over you or 2) Try to unravel all those intricate layers and have it blow you mind. Either way, this is simply an incredible achievement—bravo Alexandre and Guillaume Thienpont!

Jamessuckling.com

98-99

par James Suckling le 12/05/2021

Extraordinary clarity and brilliance on the nose with ink and iodine, blackberry and blueberry. Really perfumed already. Full-bodied with fine tannins and superb depth and length. I love the complexity and the great texture. Energetic finish.

Anthocyanes

96-98

par Yohan Castaing le 11/05/2021

Éclat de fruits noirs, d'épices, de mure et de cassis avec une fraicheur mentholée. Violette, lys et légèrement iris. Superbe d'élégance. Bouche droite, grosse densité, de l'allonge avec des tanins structurants et d'une réelle race. Persistance de fin de bouche aérienne et magnifique de délicatesse. Graphite et réglisse en bouche. Très beau grain de tanin même si la fin de bouche est légèrement austère. Ciselé. Admirable de race. Un VCC parti pour une très longue garde et très cabernet dans sa construction.

Falstaff

97-99

par Peter Moser le 10/05/2021

Strahlende Frischfrucht, Waldbeeren, pfeffrige Töne, beeindruckend klar, nuanciert und intensiv. Perfekt reifer Cabernet franc. Im Mund ultraseidige Gerbstoffe, cremig eingebunden, kultivierte, perfekt integrierte Säure, die Extraktspannung wird saftig aufgelöst. Der ganze Wein ist fein und intensiv in einem, mineralisch grundiert, mit integriertem Alkohol, Ein Wein mit Dichte und Druck, aber komplett auf Finesse angelegt, sehr lang.

My Bettane + Desseauve

96-97

par Bettane & Desseauve le 07/05/2021