2006 Vieux Château Certan, Pomerol, Bordeaux

  • Red
  • Dry
  • Full Bodied
  • Merlot
Ready - at best
Neal Martin MW
96/100
Product: 20061016082
2006 Vieux Château Certan, Pomerol, Bordeaux

Description

The modest, but enormously talented Alexandre Thienpont has produced a sublime 2006 VCC (as it is known) with a finesse and silkiness rarely found outside top Grand Cru Red Burgundy. As usual, this is no blockbuster but has a piercing intensity, alongside great balance and harmony. Its attractive, pure, perfumed nose is followed by round, but very fine, crisp, sweet, crushed raspberry fruit, silky tannins and a lovely lively creaminess. Only 3000 cases of this wine have been made so we suggest you get your hands on one toute de suite before they sell out. A magnificent Pomerol.
Colour Red
Sweetness Dry
Vintage 2006
Maturity Ready - at best
Grape List Merlot
Body Full Bodied
Producer Vieux Château Certan

Critics reviews

Neal Martin MW 96/100
Tasted blind at Farr Vintners' horizontal, the 2006 Vieux Chteau Certan remains an outstanding proposition. It has an airy red cherry and raspberry bouquet, a hint of bergamot tea in the background, succinctly defined, even if the fruit needs some encouragement from the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin. The acidity is well judged, harmonious in the mouth, quite smooth with hints of truffle oil and white pepper towards the composed, quite sensual finish. Give this a couple of more years in bottle and then it should drink well for at least a couple of decades. Tasted April 2016.Neil Martin - 30/05/2016
Neal Martin MW, (May 2016)

About this wine

Merlot

The most widely planted grape in Bordeaux and a grape that has been on a relentless expansion drive throughout the world in the last decade. Merlot is adaptable to most soils and is relatively simple to cultivate. It is a vigorous naturally high yielding grape that requires savage pruning - over-cropped Merlot-based wines are dilute and bland. It is also vital to pick at optimum ripeness as Merlot can quickly lose its varietal characteristics if harvested overripe.
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Vieux Chateau Certan

The Vieux Château Certan estate, which in 1745 already figured on Bellayme's famous map under the name of  "Sertan", is located in the heart of the Pomerol plateau. Covering 14 hectares (35 acres) in one single block, the Vieux Château Certan vineyard is the fruit of a century of painstaking work and careful decision-making. The estate vineyard is today made up of 65% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon.This varietal mix enables the best possible balance to be sought in each vintage between the Merlot and the Cabernet Franc. The latter performs exceptionally well in this terroir and reaches perfect ripness levels. The grapes are picked by hand and sorted meticulously at the end of each row of wines. After a gentle crushing they are put into oak vats, by variety. Those vats destined to make up the blend of the Grand Vin are run off into 100 % new French oak barrels and aged for 18 to 22 months. Vieux Château Certan is regularly ranked by the world's press and international tasting panels among the very top wines.
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