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Vieux Château Certan centenary vertical: tasting notes
db’s Bordeaux correspondent Colin Hay joined Jacques Thienpont and a select group of eminent wine critics for an exclusive taste of a unique vertical to celebrate the occasion. Here are his tasting notes.
The vast majority of the wines were double-decanted two to three hours before the tasting and served in three series of flights (the second over dinner). To capture a little my immediate reaction to these exceptional wines, I have edited my initial notes only very lightly and simply to aid ease of reading.
Overall, VCC has never made wines better than those it makes today, but there are plenty of vintages that run the stars of the last decade very close indeed.
The true greats: 1945, 1947, 1983, 1990, 2010, 2020
Exceptional: 1934, 1948, 1961, 1966, 1982, 1988, 2005,2006, 2009, 2019
Remarkable: 1943, 1948, 1962, 1964, 1971, 1985, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2011, 2012.
Flight 1: 2000-2020
Vieux Château Certan 2000 (Pomerol; 70% Merlot; 20% Cabernet Franc; 10% Cabernet Sauvignon). Mildew pressure was considerable during the growing season, though the near mythic status of the vintage seems to have stripped this from our collective memories. 2000 was a vintage essentially saved by the return to warm and dry conditions in June. Gorgeous and seamless aromatically. Redolently plateau Pomerol. Leather. Crushed desiccated rose petals. A touch of crushed rock, cedar and truffle – but not too much. A slightly hint of the dusty path. Mocha. Pleasing in its freshness. Tender, with grippy tannins cut the initial amplitude, making this stricter and more chiselled than the attack leads one to imagine. Tannic still and seemingly rather younger on the palate than aromatically. Not as dense as the 2001 and quite chewy on the finish. Needs plenty of aeration. 95.
Vieux Château Certan 2001 (Pomerol; 75% Merlot; 20% Cabernet Franc; 5% Cabernet Sauvignon). Fresher, brighter and more aerial. Aromatically, this is much younger and with a more evident leafiness to the Cabernet elements. It’s more saline too. Coffee bean. Heather. A darker florality. Less the rose petals of the 2000 and more peony and lilac, even lily. Softer, plusher and with svelte tannins. There’s more amplitude and greater density, or at least a similar density over a wider frame. There’s a pleasing granularity too to the tannins. Lithe and limpid, fresh and minty on the lifted and aromatic finish. 96+.
Vieux Château Certan 2002 (Pomerol; 70% Merlot; 20% Cabernet Franc; 10% Cabernet Sauvignon). More evolved and lacking the precision of the previous two vintages. A little blitzed in its fruit and aromatic profile. Slightly oxidised at first, though this slowly dissipates. Quite sweetly scented. A wine that doesn’t really benefit from the double-decanting. Saline and with a ferrous character to its minerality. Rosemary, lemon thyme, liquorice. A certain refinement. Charming. But fresh and quite herbal. The tannins are grippy, slightly harsh and a little aggressive on the finish. One senses the difficulty of the vintage, but this has an impressively dense if more slender central core that comes from the sheer quality of the terroir. Sapid on the finish. 93.
Vieux Château Certan 2004 (Pomerol; 70% Merlot; 30% Cabernet Franc). Not entirely unlike the 2000 aromatically with a slightly dusty note to its earthy minerality, a touch of red rose petal alongside the predominantly red-berry fruits, with a little wild strawberry. Lilac. Lavender. Creamy. More cedar notes with aeration. The complexity comes from the expressive Cabernet Franc. Fresh and bright on the attack, without the volume or density of the 2001. But this fills out nicely in the mid-palate – more and more with aeration. Balanced, harmonious and impressive in the context of the vintage. The salinity and almost a note of iodine return on the liquorice-infused finish, where the oak is just a little obvious. Long. 95.
Vieux Château Certan 2005 (Pomerol; 80% Merlot; 20% Cabernet Franc). A vintage characterised by a lot of hydric stress in St Emilion and Pomerol. Creamy in a way that one senses immediately from the aromatics. Quite sunny and warm at first (‘solaire’ as the French would say) but very pleasingly so. Refined and relaxed. Cedar with aeration. The amplitude of the mid-palate seems to build in the glass to accommodate and absorb the solarity. Grand and quite opulent in its plateau Pomerol signature. Harmonious. Dried floral elements, mocha, red liquorice, cinnamon and nutmeg. A little toasted brioche. Very VCC. Ample but well packed with dark and red berry fruits and nicely pixilated by the fine yet still quite grippy tannins. A vintage of high expectations that sometimes disappoints. Not here. Very well-sustained with an aerial lift right on the finish – mint and eucalyptus. 96.
Vieux Château Certan 2006 (Pomerol; 75% Merlot; 25% Cabernet Franc; 5% Cabernet Sauvignon). Picked in two phases, either side of two major rainfall events, with 100mm of rain falling after the young vine Merlot was picked. Patience was rewarded. Closed at first. But one sense immediately the softness of the tannins and the amplitude and the considerable frame of the wine. Cedar and graphite notes emerge with aeration. More VCC than Pomerol in a way with a dark and enticing berry and stone fruit. Full and broad, pushing out the cheeks. Very fresh and very different in its cool, subtle, calm authority and slight austerity from the 2005. Pure and with a lovely crystalline core. Rippling and dynamic. Vivid. This is to the 2005 what 2001 is to the 2000. A wine of very great potential if still a little strict at this stage. A revelation – but somehow I expected it to be so. 97.
Vieux Château Certan 2008 (Pomerol; 65% Merlot; 25% Cabernet Franc; 10% Cabernet Sauvignon; a small crop with a final yield of just 34 hl/ha). Late-picked. Very expressive, with a lovely Cabernet signature to the fruit. Great harmony and elegance. This is quite cool aromatically, with a very evident Cabernet character to the fruit profile, a little blackcurrant leaf hinting at the distinctive varietal composition. Rose petals crushed in a pestle and mortar. Coconut. Pure, focussed, quite taut and tight at the core but with a relaxed and generous aspect at the same time. Very saline on the finish. Liquorice. Pleasing now and less of a vin de garde than the wines either side in the line-up. Accessible and crowd-pleasing. 95+.
Vieux Château Certan 2009 (Pomerol; 88% Merlot; 6% Cabernet Franc; 6% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 40 hl/ha). Gorgeous aromatically. Cedar and graphite, as if stripped from the nuclear reactor core! A little touch of white truffle, dark stone and berry fruits. Quite gamey – if you’ve ever had it, lièvre à la royale. Orange blossom. Blood orange. Quite cool and refined. The most juicy and succulent of the decade. Limpid and glossy, with lovely layering, the exquisite tannins entering between the layers more than defining the extremities. Chewy on the finish. Superb. The best of the flight, at least at this stage. 97.
Vieux Château Certan 2010 (Pomerol; 86% Merlot; 8% Cabernet Franc; 6% Cabernet Sauvignon; 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! 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. 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 (1950, 2010 … 2070?). 99.
Vieux Château Certan 2011 (Pomerol; 80% Merlot; 19% Cabernet Franc; 1% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 40 hl/ha). The first vintage made by Alexandre and Guillaume together. Sweeter in its floral aromatics than the 2010 and with a distinct black tea leafiness. More cedar than graphite here. Slightly sweeter fruited too, perhaps more vertical aromatically because less dense and compact, more open and immediately expressive. Vivid. A lovely combination of freshness and acidity finely interwoven. Lithe and limpid, glacial and crystalline at the core. A revelation and better than you expect – both because you tend to underestimate the vintage and because this is as good a 2011 as I have ever tasted. Accessible which is not exactly what you expect to write given the reputation of the vintage; but this is a wine that has changed in character recently and is much more approachable than it was. 97+.
Vieux Château Certan 2012 (Pomerol; 87% Merlot; 12% Cabernet Franc; 1% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 40 hl/ha). The most distinctive aromatically. A hyper-expressive vintage for the appellation and a hyper-floral vintage in that expressivity. Black cherries, violet and the parfumier’s essence of violet, open and glorious. Green Szechuan peppercorn too. A lovely touch of cedar and a hint of pencil-shaving. The fruit is beautifully à point. There’s only 12% Cabernet Franc; you’d think more. I love the tension here. I love the plunge-pool coolness of the mid-palate too. And the beautifully tactile texture to the tannins. Not massive but the more restricted frame accentuates the sense of density and concentration, giving this a deceptive sense of power. Not the length of the 2009 or 2010, but gloriously seductive Pomerol that is, for me, perfect drinking now. 97.
Vieux Château Certan 2014 (Pomerol; 70% Merlot; 30% Cabernet Franc; 40 hl/ha). This too is beautifully expressive aromatically, with a slightly more complex but less intense character to the plateau Pomerol florality. There’s almost a slight ‘bulby’ character to the floral, hyacinth and peony, notes. Dark berry fruit, a little cherry. Lithe, plump, plush, broader shouldered than the 2012 and a wine that is still very youthful. Very VCC. Less aromatically explosive but with greater impact and density on the palate. More classic in a way. Another excellent bottle. 96.
Vieux Château Certan 2015 (Pomerol; 80% Merlot; 19% Cabernet Franc; 1% Cabernet Sauvignon; 42 hl/ha; 15% alcohol; 15% vin de presse). La force tranquille. A last minute addition to the tasting. Solaire, like the 2009. Clove. Cinnamon. Nutmeg. Chewy and substantial. Not quite the focussed precision of the very best vintages here. Slightly baked in its fruit profile – a little confituré. Also a little smudgy at first though that actually settles as one focusses in on the detail of the mid-palate. I sense the alcohol too. If I’m honest, this is a wine that impresses me more than it is a wine that I love. Overtly ripe and opulent. It really needs time and this not the easiest moment to taste it. Lots of liquorice. The vintage triumphs over the vineyard just a little at this stage. With time the structural freshness will come through. (According to Alexandre, this a ‘barbeque’ vintage rather than a vintage of three stars cuisine). 96.
Vieux Château Certan 2016 (Pomerol; 85% Merlot; 14% Cabernet Franc; 1% Cabernet Sauvignon – which is essentially co-planted in and amongst the CF; a final yield, again, of around 40 hl/ha). Very impressive. More and more floral with aeration. Not quite at the level of the 2010 perhaps and a little more open and expressive aromatically. Lilac. Thyme. Candle wax. A hint of flint. Patchouli. Black cherry. Blueberry. Playdough (really!). I love the plunge-pool clarity in the mid-palate. Complex, compact, concentrated. Such grippy, chewy tannins, but where they grip they release freshness. Sapid and incredibly long. And so redolently VCC. Wonderful. 98.
Vieux Château Certan 2017 (Pomerol; 80% Merlot; 15% Cabernet Franc; 5% Cabernet Sauvignon). The vineyard escaped the frost by half a degree. A wine that’s not flattered by coming between the 2016 and the 2018. A redder side to the fruit profile here – raspberries and redcurrant alongside the darker berries and stone fruit of the 2016. Somewhat less floral to start with but the violets arrive with aeration. The classic ‘croquant’ fruit of the vintage. Pure. Focused. But less pixilated than other vintages of this period. Well-managed nonetheless. More austere than the wines either side. And less complex too. Not much density and much shorter on the finish, though it builds nicely with aeration, whilst always remaining a little monotone. But fresh and lithe. The 2021 is I suspect much stronger. 93.
Vieux Château Certan 2018 (Pomerol; 70% Merlot; 30% Cabernet Franc). Lithe and aromatically explosive, vertical, aerial and maybe not as easily picked as 2018 as you’d imagine. Impressive in the context of the vintage, with a lovely natural freshness, a fruit that is more crunchy and bright and fresh than you might expect. The tannins are considerable and this really needs time to bed in, but all the ingredients are there. Very fine. I am not always the greatest fan of this vintage even on the plateau but this is superbly well-managed. Light on its feet. Vivid. As I have said before, one of the most tense wines of the vintage, this is cool and composed with lovely compact, dense filigree tannins and very great precision. The nose and palate are in perfect harmony – with fresh raspberries and a compote of red berry fruit accompanied by violets, crushed rose petals, verbena, freesias and even camomile and menthol, with just a hint of green tea. It is beautifully poised, elegant, balanced and energetic without being in any way boisterous or brash – a lovely tight-rope walk. Sublime and so lithe and tender. Manages to be very VCC in a vintage of excess. 97.
Vieux Château Certan 2019 (Pomerol; 78% Merlot; 15% Cabernet Franc; 10% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 40 hl/ha). A little more closed than when last tasted. Almost Médocain aromatically. Classical and elegant and a wine that feels very defined by its old-vine character. This is glorious. With aeration and patience, damsons and sloes, black and red cherries, lily of the valley, violets, dried petals and saffron, cumin and curry leaf too – and then cedar and graphite from the Cabernet, the cedar building with further aeration. This is cool and fresh and lifted with cashmere tannins and a plunge-pool depth and elegance. Wonderfully harmonious, it flows across the palate in the most luxuriant way. Lovely cedary interwoven with the berry and stone fruit in the midst of the palate. Maybe just a little less complex than the 2020. 98.
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). 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.
Flight 2 Highlights
(served with dinner, so my tasting notes are more sketchy!)
Vieux Château Certan 1946. Remarkably dark in the glass for its age. Gracious and poised and very ‘VCC’. White truffle; a hint of rose petal; meaty charcuterie notes too; hoisin; blood orange; aniseed. A lovely cedar element too. Fabulously intact. Apparently the last bottle. 92.
Vieux Château Certan 1953. Fresh. Cool. Lithe, with a lovely menthol element to the aromatics. Cedar and graphite. Iodine and sea-spray (a signature of some of these older vintages). Black tea. No dryness to the tannins, or at least not until right on the finish, and impressively crystalline in and through the mid-palate. 94.
Vieux Château Certan 1955. Again, archetypally ‘VCC’. Fresh and lifted aromatically. Coffee bean. Delicate truffle notes. Coconut. A touch of candyfloss. Gracious, impressively full and with depth, roundness and impressive length. 94.
Vieux Château Certan 1961 (a little frost). Remarkable in its depth, richness, purity and crystalline. Fresh and dynamic. Classic black truffle and cedar, a delicate hint of florality too and a plush and plump, almost succulent, mid-palate. Quite saline. 96.
Vieux Château Certan 1962. Not at all upstaged by the 1961 and, if anything, fresher still. Wild strawberry, eucalyptus, spearmint, aniseed, a grating of coconut. There’s a lovely sense of lift on the finish. 95.
Vieux Château Certan 1964. Perhaps the highlight of this little flight and something of a revelation. Full and rich, like all of the great vintages of the decade at VCC. Ample and generous yet also fresh and vivid and with a beautifully fluid sense of structure. 95.
Vieux Château Certan 1966. Soft, plump and generous with black truffles and girolles, dried flowers and patchouli. Red berry fruits and a hint of mocha. Lithe and seductive. Fresh, cool in the mid-palate and a wine that builds in the glass with aeration. Remarkable. The wine of the decade here. 97.
Vieux Château Certan 1970. Delicate. Light. Refined. Lifted. Minty freshness – spearmint. Red cherry. Cough sweets. A touch austere and a little tannic, but very impressive for the vintage and for its age. 94.
Vieux Château Certan 1971. More saline in its minerality and less immediately fresh in personality than the 1970, but more classical in a way. Cedar. Blood orange. A little truffle. Lithe, supple and quite glacially fluid in the mid-palate, impressively so, with a little cool menthol lift on the finish. 96.
Vieux Château Certan 1988 (from magnum). A yield of 50 hl/ha or so. Cool, glacial and gorgeously succulent, this is one of the stars of the entire tasting. Blood orange and a touch of violet florality. Not unlike the 2008. Gorgeously full and ample, yet gracious, fresh and cool. What harmony! 96.
Flight 3
Vieux Château Certan 1923 (Pomerol). Dusty. Sweet-scented. A touch balsamic. Slightly musty and funky. Hay. Tomato consommé. A slightly lactic note. Mocha and coffee bean. On the palate this is still tender, chewy, and creamy too, above all as it aerates. Generous in its slight sucrosity. There’s a hint of dryness to the tannins, but it’s well distributed over the palate. Here I prefer the palate and the suppleness of the mouthfeel to the aromatics. 90.
Vieux Château Certan 1925 (Pomerol). Brighter, fresher, more structurally intact. Aromatically rather engaging and distinct. Fennel and aniseed, almost a suggestion of cola. Sour cherry. Incredible for what is a fairly mediocre vintage reputationally at 100 years of age! A little cedar with aeration. Quite aerial in fact. Quite acidic at first but it seems to relax, or one’s palate adjusts; though it returns quite quickly (oxidation quickly destabilises this). Nice crystallinity. Lean but with a well-defined central spine. Slightly dusty on the finish. Here I prefer the aromatics to the palate. A bit of a revelation nonetheless. 92.
Vieux Château Certan 1926 (Pomerol). (From magnum, but low shoulder). A high-priced and much reputed vintage of the day. Michael Broadbent gives the vintage 5*. Tomato purée. Farmyard. Wet bark. Bracken. Leaf mulch. Green tea. Again, I find this a little lactic. Distinct and a little strange. Straw. Impressive in its richness and amplitude, but unstable and oxidising quickly even in the mouth. Fragile. Sweet-tinged and rather in its death-throes. Dry on the finish. N/s.
Vieux Château Certan 1928 (Pomerol). (From bottle, recorked in 1998 with the addition of a little sulphur which may have destabilised this). By reputation the longest lasting vintage of the decade. There’s a natural and delicate sweetness to the fruit signature here. Coconut. A citrus freshness – lemon thyme perhaps. Menthol. Eucalyptus. Quite a punchy acidity. A little sweet spicing too. Quite ample and gently tapering. More and more mentholated on the finish almost like a mint tea. Very pure and linear. Something of a singularity, but pleasing (and, according to our hosts, perhaps not entirely representative of the best this wine can produce in this vintage). 92.
Vieux Château Certan 1934 (Pomerol). Generally regarded the best vintage of the decade, from a very hot summer. Delicate, refined, rather elegant and harmonious and the pick of the flight up this stage. Slight hints of the dusty path, a pleasing natural sweetness, a touch of white truffle and a lovely graphite and cedar note. Evolved fruit. Fresh. Very classic. On the palate, very clean and pure, quite crystalline and limpid. Not the most ample of frames but enough to give space for the fruit to circulate, brining ripples of freshness despite the touch of dryness on the finish. Impressive. 97.
Vieux Château Certan 1936 (Pomerol). A 1* vintage according to Michael Broadbent, but reputedly capable of surprising positives. This, I guess, is one of those. Rather more oxidative, with a little volatile acidity at first, giving this a very balsamic personality. But it settles and then we get a little hint of graphite. Quite saline with that slightly ferrous edge to its minerality. Cool with some density to the admittedly slender mid-palate. Drying out on the finish, but with a little sapidity still. Etiolated. Better than you’d imagine from the reputation of the vintage. One suspects one’s not going to find a better bottle of this. 91.
Vieux Château Certan 1940 (Pomerol). Impressively dense at the core. From a clearly difficult period with widespread and understandable neglect of the vineyards. Classic and with a pleasing sense of harmony and integration. Toasted brioche, interestingly, and with a gentle natural sweetness to the fruit. TCP, almost a hint of Lagavulin – iodine and wet bandages. A little coconut and even hazelnut. With aeration, a lovely note of cedar. Quite ample and gently tapering with still quite grippy tannins which turn just a little dry by the finish. Lovely aromatically and very VCC. An excellent start to the famous decade that is the 1940s. Quite vivid. Remarkably intact. It’s amazing to relate this to what was going on in and around Pomerol in 1940. 94.
Vieux Château Certan 1942 (Pomerol). (From magnum). We don’t have much to go on in terms of this, a vintage that is very rarely tasted and of which little remains. Very sweet-scented and with a fair degree of volatile acidity. Toast. Yet tense, too, with a growly dark berry character to the fruit. Bracken. Aniseed. Sous bois. Cool and fresh, with quite an ample frame accentuating the crystallinity of the mid-palate which remains full and plush. A lot of VCC character. Youthful – if rather more so on the palate than aromatically. Pleasing, surprising, impressive. This comes together with aeration and it surely helps that this is tasted from magnum. 93.
Vieux Château Certan 1943 (Pomerol). Reputationally, after 1945, perhaps the vintage of the war years and close, according to Michael Broadbent, to the 1945. Impressively full. Classic. Very toasty. Old confiture. Again, that little iodine, peat and TCP note. Nice integration. A bit punchy and macho. A little like an old Barolo. Chewy, dense. Quite impressively concentrated and compact for a wine of this ilk. Still some vibrant tannins, pixilating the outer reaches of the wine. It’s incredible to taste this. 95.
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. 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 vintage 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 1948 (Pomerol). Darker at the core than the 1947. A little more effusive and burly, punchy, dark rich and plump. The aromatics are more evolved. A little more toasty. This almost feels slightly hotter as a vintage (though that says a lot for the freshness of the 1947) – but still with loads of natural terroir-resourced freshness. A big wine. Medicinal notes once again. Lots of puissance. Mentholated on the finish – more like the 1928 at least in that respect. Youthful, with tannins still to resolve and with great freshness. [The parallels here are with the 2009]. 96.
Vieux Château Certan 1982 (Pomerol). A high yielding vintage at around 50-55 hl/ha estimates Alexandre. Just what a great claret looks like. So gracious. The 1982 and 1983 couplet are a little like the 2000 and 2001 pairing, with the sense that the more serious 1983 will become ever more competitive and reach a later peak. So much elegance and grace here. This is aromatically beautiful, especially with additional aeration. Graphite and pencil-shavings. Quite bloody and gamey. Dark berry fruits. A delicate florality reveals itself with aeration. Violet. Fresh and cool. A little brioche, a little wood smoke too. Limpid, lithe and quite plump. Ample, full, rich but limpid and crystalline. So tender. Creaminess without sucrosity. A lovely harmony and a delicate sweetness. Still a little tannin to resolve but very much à point at this stage. Extraordinary length and composure on the finish. 97.
Vieux Château Certan 1983 (Pomerol). Cooler, even fresher in a way, 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 and incredibly direct and vibrant freshness. Very elegant. More concentrated than the 1982. Wow. 98.
Vieux Château Certan 1985 (Pomerol; there was significant frost; the first vintage of La Gravette this was made by Alexandre’s uncle, Georges; a very cold winter bringing back some of the fears of 1956; 11.8% alcohol). Gracious, soft, expressive, enticing and enveloping, incredibly youthful, quite bloody with that hint of Pomerol ferrous minerality and with a lovely dark berry fruit, a little cherry and a slowly-encroaching florality. This perhaps lacks a little density in comparison with the greatest vintages of the decade. More cherry fruit notes here than the 1983 and a little less austere, the tannins less considerable and less invasive on the finish. Cedary. Cool, quite Médocain (we could almost be in St Julien) with a gracious clear, limpid crystallinity. This has lovely precision and purity and crumbly, grippy tannins. Long and gently tapering, with great freshness on the finish. Not unlike the 1983 and more in the style of 1983 than 1982 definitively. 95.
Vieux Château Certan 1989 (Pomerol; 60% Merlot; 30% Cabernet Franc; 10% Cabernet Sauvignon; hot and dry vintage). A little charred toast. Roasted hazelnut, fresh leaf tobacco, oak smoke and venison. Soy sauce. The bottle is less than perfect (is that a touch of brett?). Less floral than the previous wines in the series and the fruit’s a little restrained, dominated a little today by the sweet spices. Ample on the attack but the tannins grip the fruit and pull it back to the spine. Lovely structure. Impressive density and compactness. Maybe it’s the bottle, but I find this a little flatter than I anticipated (not least from the other wines in the flight). Quite chewy on the finish with tannins still to resolve, but they pinch the fruit flow just before the end to give this a lifted and aerial finish. 94 (but, I suspect, not representative).
Vieux Château Certan 1990 (Pomerol; 60% Merlot; 30% Cabernet Franc; 10 % Cabernet Sauvignon). More aromatically engaging and expressive, more vertical and lifted 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 1996 (Pomerol; 60% Merlot; 30% Cabernet Franc; 10% Cabernet Sauvignon). Slow to open. Soft and generous on the attack, but the tannins are still quite considerable and they grip the fruit quite aggressively, pulling and massaging the palate in the process. Quite burly though never strict, significantly structured and very much a wine for the ages. But energetic in its freshness. Lots of liquorice and a wine that reminds me of the number of those tasted in the 2000s flights. Dense, compact, less crystalline and limpid. Substantial. Very young and powerful. 95.
Vieux Château Certan 1998 (Pomerol; 90% Merlot; 10% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 34 hl/ha). Interesting. Slightly bretty (like the 1989 bottle). Quite saline too, with that oceanic hint of iodine, sea-spray and kombu seaweed that I find in some more recent vintages. I have wonderful memories of this, but I find this bottle not quite replicating them. Aromatically a little closed at first, though the florality and crunchy berry fruit comes through with aeration. Creamy and cool, fresh and quite lifted, a lovely slightly sinuous texture. Needs time and a decanter. Almost the most difficult wine in the series to appreciate fully. N/s.
Vieux Château Certan 1999 (Pomerol; 85% Merlot; 10% Cabernet Franc; 5% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 38 hl/ha). The similarity here is with the 1985. Gracious, soft, enticing and enveloping. Quite dark fruited. A little austere, but I like that. Very youthful (even accepting that this is the youngest wine in the flight). There’s a meatiness that I rather like – a hint of offal and that Pomerol ferrous minerality and with a lovely dark berry fruit, a little cherry and a slowly-encroaching florality. A touch of cedar. Nicely finely-grained tannins. Maybe lacks a little density. Cool, quite Médocain. Underrated as a vintage. 95.
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