2022 Vieux Chateau Certan - Pomerol AC

Decanter.com – 98 pts – GH: *Great expressiveness on the nose; perfumed blackcurrants, black cherries, strawberries, notes of dark chocolate, graphite and liquorice - smells serious. Supple and taught on the palate but with a really juicy core that gives life and energy. Tannins are excellent, giving weight and texture - a combination of chewy and fleshy but with a crushed stone and spiced edge. Lively, bright, intense, concentrated and suave. It’s rich, broad, muscular, complex and nuanced but at the same time stylish with lots of life, balance and freshness. This leaves the most gorgeous lingering expression and a sense that it’s going to be both extremely accessible in its youth and have great ageing potential. 3.78pH. A yield of 35hl/ha.* - 04/2023

Falstaff Magazin – 100 pts – PM: *Tiefdunkles Rubingranat, opaker Kern, violette Reflexe, zarte Randaufhellung. Intensive Nuancen von reifen Brombeeren, Zwetschken und schwarzen Kirschen, zartes Nugat, ein Hauch von Edelholz und Orangenzesten, floral unterlegt. Stoffig, elegant, schwarze Waldbeeren, stoffig, reife, seidige Tannine, schokoladig und lange anhaftend, gute Frische, tolle Balance, enorme Länge, würziger Nachhall, sicheres Reifepotenzial. (14,4 %, 75 % ME / 20 % CF / 5 % CS).* - 01/2023

WeinWisser – 19,5+/20pts – GL, TW: *75 % Merlot, 20 % Cabernet Franc, 5 % Cabernet Sauvignon, pH 3.78, 14.4 Vol.-%, 35 hl/ha. Betörendes Bouquet, Veilchenparfüm, edle Cassiswürze, Grether Pastillen, Graphitnoten. Am sublimen Gaumen mit seidiger Textur, balancierter Rasse, tiefgründig und elegant zugleich, engmaschiges Tanningerüst. Im konzentrierten, perfekt balancierten, nicht enden wollenden Finale schwarzbeerige Konturen, Wildkirsche, dunkle Schokolade und erhabene Adstringenz. Alexandré meint kurz und knapp: "A great Wine"! Für Sohn Guillaume ist der Jahrgang ein Paradox, weil man sich viele Dinge nicht erklären kann, die aufgrund des trockenen Verlaufs hätten passieren müssen. Wird dank des hohen Lagerpotenzials noch zulegen!* – 04/2023

JancisRobinson.com – 18/20pts – JL: *75% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Cask sample. Powerful but elegant at the same time. Floral notes with a hint of violet. Enticing, juicy extract and tannins that are present but plush and smooth. Long and well balanced with grip on the finish.* - 04/2023

Vinous.com – (98-100) pts – AG: *The 2022 Vieux Château Certan is a wine of tremendous sophistication and polish. I expected to see a more opulent VCC, but the 2022 is surprisingly delicate and nuanced. The blend is 75% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, which means all the Cabernets at the château were used in Grand Vin. Perhaps that explains the wine’s construction, favoring length, persistence and aromatics more than size. Crème de cassis, lavender, spice and licorice hints linger on the super-expressive finish. There’s really not much more to say except that the 2022 is magical. “Real heat started in June," explained Alexandre Thienpont. “We had 15mm of rain over two days in mid-August that really helped. Even so, yields were 35 hectoliters per hectare, so lower than 2020. Berries weighed less athan a gram and juice yields were low.”* - 04/2023

Vinous.com – (97-99) pts – NM: *The 2022 Vieux Château Certan was picked between 6 and 21 September at 35hL/ha and matured in two-thirds new oak. Alexandre Thienpont thinks it is a combination of the 2019 and 2020 and said that the Cabernet Sauvignon, from younger vines, lowered the alcohol (14.4%) and lent perfume. The aromatics are spellbinding with brilliant delineation and a surfeit of freshness. Blackberry, briary, crushed stone and light iris flower scents, vivacious and so energetic. The palate is medium-bodied with fine, very supple tannins, and lashings of cracked black pepper, pencil box and tobacco infusing the black fruit. As Thienpont said, persistent on the finish and gently lacquering the vines. The Cabernet is very expressive this year and so while it is a real Left Bank/Right Bank hybrid, it is, at the same time, quintessentially Pomerol. /Chapeau/ Alexandre et Guillaume Thienpont.* - 04/2023

Thewinecellarinsider.com – (97-99) pts – JL: *Dark in color, and equally dark in fruit, you already find truffles, violets, roses, lilacs, black plums cherries. The palate is sensuous, supple, and silky, with a vibrancy to the fruits, a mild of touch of salt, and a refreshing hint of mint that shines at the back end of the finish. Refined, and elegant, this is going to age and evolve for decades. The wine blends 75% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. 14.4% ABV, 3.78 pH. The harvest took place September 6 - September 21. Yields were 35 hectoliters per hectare. Drink from 2027-2060.* - 05/2023