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2014 Vieux Château Certan, Pomerol, Bordeaux

  • Red
  • Dry
  • Full Bodied
  • Merlot
Not ready
18.5/20
Jancis Robinson MW
18.5/20
Neal Martin MW
96/100
Jane Anson MW
94/100
Product: 20141016082
2014 Vieux Château Certan, Pomerol, Bordeaux
Colour Red
Sweetness Dry
Vintage 2014
Maturity Not ready
Grape List Merlot
Body Full Bodied
Producer Vieux Château Certan

Critics reviews

18.5/20
Classic blend of 80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet. Real personality. Elegant, perfumed nose with blueberry, violet and chocolate notes. Refined tannins provide a velvety texture as well as persistence and length. Lovely fruit, fine structure. Vibrant, fresh finish.
Decanter.com
Jancis Robinson MW 18.5/20
Multi-dimensional. Intense and super-healthy nose. Intense and wonderfully round and fresh. Lifted and frisky. Wonderful undertow. His just-deceased oenologue (since 1962/63) would be delighted with this wine of haute cuisine, racy but round and properly full of complex fruit. Complete. jancis_robinson_mw MW - JancisRobinson.com - Apr 2015
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2015)
Neal Martin MW 96/100
The 2014 Vieux Chateau Certan is a blend of 80% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Franc and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon, picked in three stages: 19-20 September, 29 September to 2 October, and 7 and 8 October. The yields came in at 38.7 hectoliters per hectare with 13.4% alcohol. It was one of my stars of the vintage and now in bottle, I find no reason to change that. It is endowed with an exquisite bouquet, really one of the best I encountered throughout my tastings: perfumed blackberry, wild strawberry, cold stone and wilted rose petals. Like in barrel, it is not powerful, yet it is blessed with wondrous precision. The palate is medium-bodied with crisp acidity and fine tannin, a slightly masculine VCC due to its linearity and precision. There is tension here from start to finish, a sophisticated and cerebral Pomerol that transcends the growing season. It is a totally different kettle of fish to the 2015 (and doubtless the pre-natal 2016). This is unashamedly classic in style, fanning out towards the mineral-rich finish with great frisson and energy. A cellar without the 2014 Vieux-Chteau-Certan would be a great pity.Neil Martin - 31/03/2017
Neal Martin MW, (Mar 2017)
Jane Anson MW 94/100
Enjoyably full of rich dark fruits, pretty serious in feel and in tannic hold that supports without crushing the fruit. Overall the layers are starting to peel back and show cassis, blackberry, earth, cigar box and tobacco smoke. Plenty of pleasure on offer here.Drink 2022 - 2038jane_anson_mw, Decanter.com (November 2020)
Jane Anson MW, Decanter.com (Nov 2020)

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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