2018 Vieux Chateau Certan - Pomerol AC

Decanter.com – 98 pts – JA: *Deep and richly spiced notes of cinnamon and smoked butterscotch along with Cabernet Franc-dominant savoury fruits. Expands in all directions, showing precision and delicately brushed tannins. They carried out extremely careful selection from their 23 plots to ensure nothing at all raisined or over-concentrated made it into the wine, and certainly there is not a trace of the drought in the flavours here, just a seductively rich texture to the body of the wine. A brilliant VCC - one to savour. Harvest from September 19 to October 9, with leisurely picking over three weeks. 3.75pH.* - 11/2020

Falstaff Magazin – 98 pts – PM: *Tiefdunkles Rubingranat, violette Reflexe, zarte Randaufhellung. Einladende frische Herzkirschen, feines Brombeerkonfit, zarte Edelholzwürze. Stoffig, extraktsüß, dabei hochelegant, feine, tragende Tannine, mineralisch-salzig, zitroniger Touch, angenehme Frische, überzeugende Länge, sicheres Reifepotenzial für viele Jahrzehnte, vermittelt eine ungemeine Trinkfreudigkeit.* - 05/2019

*The 2018 Vieux Château Certan is a blend of 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc. Yields were 40 hectoliters per hectare. The wine has a pH of 3.78, 14.4% alcohol and an IPT (total polyphenol index) of 77. Medium to deep garnet-purple—it has a very vibrant color—it drifts effortlessly out of the glass with wonderfully intense, beautifully delineated scents of red roses, black raspberries, kirsch and Darjeeling tea before the powerful, profound black fruits kick in: baked plums, wild blueberries, molten licorice and mulberries with touches of cigar box, cinnamon stick, tapenade and truffles. Full-bodied, rich, densely packed and revealing layer upon layer of red and black fruits with an incredible array of floral and spicy sparks, it has a high level of super ripe, incredibly fine, velvety soft tannins and fantastic freshness (not just from acid but from bright, crunchy fruit). It finishes very long, marvelously layered and with such jaw-dropping brightness from the fruit, the end is almost electric. Incredible.* (97-100/100)

Vinum Magazin – 19/20pts: *Immense aromatische Komplexität, Tannin mit Schliff, grosse Länge und Frische, dicht, mit Tiefe... komplizierte Jahrgänge gelingen hier immer ganz besonders gut! Gehört zu den besten Weinen des Jahres.* - 06/2019

WeinWisser – 19,5/20pts - WL: *70 % Merlot, 30 % Cabernet Franc, 40 hl/ha, 14,4 % vol. Purpurgranat mit violettem Rand. Ein verspieltes Heidelbeerbouquet, dahinter duftige Veilchen, helle Malznoten, belgische Nougatpralinen. Im zweiten Ansatz dunkle Edelhölzer und würziges Cassis. Am Gaumen mit seidiger Textur und stützenden, konzentrierten Tanninen. Geniale Frische und Komplexität. Im katapultartigen, nicht enden-wollenden Finale ein Crescendo von blauen Beeren, Lakritze und Wildkirschen. Die magische Rasse macht für mich den Unterschied. Für Alexandre ist es schlichtweg: "An amazing vintage."* – 04/2019

JancisRobinson.com – 17,5/20pts – JR: *Tasted blind. Deep ruby colour. Dried cherry and leathery spice on the nose here. Kirsch. Full bod Tasted blind. Intense nose. Sweet start but fragrant. Lots of alcohol on the end but some subtlety in the middle. Real concentration. And quite a bit of fine, dry tannin on the very end.* - 01/2022

JamesSuckling.com – 99-100pts - JS: *This is a significant VCC with masses of fruit and juicy tannins. It’s fresh, but impresses you with the rich and powerful fruit. A tower of a wine. Incredible depth and density. Thick and muscular. It is 30 per cent cabernet franc, the rest merlot.*

Vinous.com – 97+ pts – AG: *The 2018 Vieux Château Certan is delicate, silky and understated, just as it was in barrel. Inky blue/purplish berry fruit, mint, lavender, spice and wild flowers all open in the glass. The 30% Cabernet Franc, which is high for present-day standards, adds tons of aromatic lift as well as freshness, while bright, saline-infused notes extend the finish. Fine tannins and mid-weight structure give the 2018 an air of finesse that is impossible to miss. If I had to bet on one 2018 that could very well surprise 10-20 years out, it might very well be VCC.* - 03/2021

*While the tannins give this wine a firm character, it is the perfumed, ripe Cabernet Franc that is so expressive and gives the wine its structured, complex character. Spice from the wood aging shines through, but the weight of the fruit is impressive and adds elegance. There’s long aging potential for this fabulous wine.* (98-100/100)

Vinous.com – 96 pts – NM: *The 2018 Vieux Château Certan is deeply impressive. It possesses one of the most intense aromatics that I can remember on a nascent VCC, bursting from the glass with intense black cherries, cassis and violets that are even more pronounced than when I first tasted this from barrel. The palate is exuberant, racing out of the blocks with precocious, intense black fruit wrapped up with a silky texture that makes it deceptively easy to drink. You would not pick this out as the subtlest VCC; instead, it is a long-term proposition, a comparatively opulent wine that may ultimately be feted as one of the appellation’s finest wines. Chapeau, Alexandre et Guillaume Thienpont!* - 03/2021