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On the twelfth day of Christmas
Colin Hay’s gift suggestions for the twelfth day of Christmas might be tricky to acquire, consisting as it does, of bottles from one of the most unique tastings of the year, celebrating 100 years since the Thienpont family acquired Vieux Château Certan.
The wines: 100 years of the Thienpont family at Vieux Château Certan
Format: A six bottle mixed case, presumably an original wooden case from the Château itself, containing one bottle each of the following vintages of Vieux Château Certan: 1945, 1947, 1983, 1990, 2010 and 2020.
Unique selling point: Without doubt the most memorable tasting of my entire life took place this year at the glorious Hof te Cattebeke in Belgium. It was hosted by Jacques Thienpont and Fiona Morrison MW and offered all of those lucky few to be invited an exclusive and unique vertical on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the acquisition of Vieux Château Certan. These are, quite simply, my personal favourites from that tasting.
Yours for: It’s impossible to say and really rather vulgar even to attempt to begin to try to put a price on this. We are in the realm of fantasy here as we have arguably been since we began our festive vinous journey. But that’s what this is all about. I’d be just as delighted as you to find this case alongside my stocking on Christmas morning. But let’s not kid ourselves!
Tasting notes:
While I am unlikely to be able to share these wines with anyone ever again (especially the first 4), I can at least share my tasting notes and hope that you can take at least in some vicarious pleasure from the description.
Vieux Château Certan 1945 (Pomerol, the bottle reconditioned at the property in 1995). Toasty. Aromatically very interesting. Complex. Profound. But lighter and more aerial than the 1943. Younger and more vibrant still. So fresh in the mouth. Chiselled in its (considerable) structure. A little fresh mint, espresso coffee. An almost crunchy berry fruit. A lovely aniseed element that builds in and through the mid-palate. Wonderful. This comes together more and more with aeration. Still with tannins to resolve too. The 2020 of another epoch, according to Alexandre – and I can see why. 99.
Vieux Château Certan 1947 (Pomerol). Extremely hot, with temperatures up to 39 degrees, inviting comparisons with some recent vintages. Magical. Delicate, refined, elegant, harmonious and fantastically integrated, exuding equilibrium. Slow to open, and almost reluctant to reveal all of its charms. Tender, lithe and limpid. Almost a little intimate and reticent on the nose, but everything is there. Voluptuous, opulent, yet slightly timid and tense in the interrelationship between the two. So fresh and cool and youthful. This could be a wine from the (best vintages of the) 1980s. Very fine-grained tannins delicately structure the exterior parameters of this as it glides over the palate. Not too ample, not to strict, just very relaxed and engaging. Pure pleasure and with amazing length. [Somewhat like the 2015]. 98.
Vieux Château Certan 1983 (Pomerol). Cooler, even fresher in a way [when tasted after the 1982], with the fruit a shade darker. Marginally less ample in its frame and with more cedar and less pencil-shaving notes. More compact and dense with quite a fair bit of unresolved tannin. A lovely pink rose petal florality from the Cabernet Franc, with violets and lilacs coming through with aeration. Almost a hint of saffron too. Just a touch more austerity than the more voluptuous and sensuous 1982. Very impressive. A nice menthol lift on the finish bringing an incredibly direct and vibrant freshness. Very elegant. More concentrated than the 1982. Wow. 98.
Vieux Château Certan 1990 (Pomerol; 60% Merlot; 30% Cabernet Franc; 10 % Cabernet Sauvignon; tasted from magnum). More aromatically engaging and expressive, more vertical and lifted [than the 1989] with more fresh fruit character – crunchy ripe berry fruits and more florality. Vivid, vibrant and again lifted on the attack with lots of dynamic energy coursing through its veins in the mid-palate. Tender and succulent, juicy and sapid on the finish. Very much one of the stars of the tasting; I much prefer this to the 1989 on today’s showing. 99.
Vieux Château Certan 2010 (Pomerol; 86% Merlot; 8% Cabernet Franc; 6% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 35 hl/ha). According to Alexandre, this is rather like the 1950. By this time tomorrow, I think to myself, I too will have an opinion on the subject [he was right]! Either way, it’s fabulous. Lovely aromatics, exuding a cool florality. So complete, delicate and harmonious – the proverbial iron fist in the velvet glove. More graphite than cedar, but both are present. Intimate, introvert but seductive – very Pomerol and very VCC. Lavender. Rosemary. Violet. This pushes at the cheeks, like the 2006. Cool perfection. The texture is sublimely refined but with such great density and concentration too. Rippling in its freshness. So sumptuous and succulent. Juicy and highly sapid on the finish. The wine of the flight, but one for the ages. 99.
Vieux Château Certan 2020 (Pomerol; 85% Merlot; 15% Cabernet Franc). An emotional wine and a fitting culmination to the flight. A little more confected than I was expecting aromatically but only at first. Fabulous harmony. Violet. Parfumier’s pink rose extract. Texturally so lithe and limpid, fluid, energetic, vivacious. Alexandre says it’s like the 1945 in its darkness (again, I think to myself, by this time tomorrow I’ll be able to make that comparison [and, once again, he’s right]). Tranquil. Closed at first. Intimate. A wine that demands one’s attention and that is captivating immediately, but never obvious. Glorious pink and purple flowers – violet and peony and freshly crushed rose petals. A little almond and even frangipane. Subtle. Plunge-pool and crystalline but more the babbling mountain stream than the lake. So ultra-soft and caressing. Polished granular tannins – like shiny polished glass beads. Brilliant freshness which seems to darken the shade of the fruit – towards damson and sloe from plum and bramble and blackberry. Incredible clarity and definition. Less pixilated in its sense of detail as this is more ethereal than that would imply – less pointillist in a way than impressionist with that almost soft-focused sense of integration and the complexity that comes with it. Refreshing and sapid. Gracious and slightly austere; tense and charged with great depth but with so little sensation of weight. Fabulous! Great dark concentrated exclusively berry fruit. Texturally fabulous and the softness gives the impression of cool, calm serenity. Up there with the 2010. 99.
*The 12th day of Christmas, or Twelfth Night actually falls on 6th January December, but as the db offices are shut between Christmas and New Year, we thought we’d publishing it in advance so you have time to get organised and stock up before the festivities begin!
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