Recommended

IN BOND

Delivery 2027

Appellation – Pomerol

Owner – Alexandre Thienpont

The 2024 yield here was down to 30 hl/ha and the blend is 71% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 9% Cabernet Sauvignon.

Second wines La Gravette de Certan

Annual production 70,000 bottles

TASTING NOTES

The 2024 Vieux Chteau Certan contains a higher proportion of Cabernet this year (23% Sauvignon and Franc combined) that was picked at 30 hl/ha between September 20 to October 2. That Cabernet is articulated on the nose: graphite and light tobacco scents percolating through the mainly black fruit. This has plenty of freshness and more fruit than some other Pomerol cuves. The palate is medium-bodied, but there is much more weight and density on the back palate than nearly all of its peers. Distinctly peppery and quite spicy in style, this is one of the few to transcend the strict limitations of the growing season. In some ways, it is an uncompromising VCC that does not have the finesse of the greatest vintages I have tasted over the years, yet there is flavour and substance packed inside this nascent wine. Deeply impressive. This is one of the very few ’24s that will oblige bottle age. 2032 – 2075
95/97
Neal Martin, vinous.com, May 2025

A blend of 71% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 9% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2024 Vieux Chteau Certan opens in the glass with brooding aromas of dark berries, cedar, cigar wrapper, crushed mint and loamy soil. Medium to full-bodied, with good density for the vintage and sweet structuring tannins, it concludes with a sapid, slightly earthy finish. Yields after annual sorting came in at 30 hectoliters per hectare, and the wine is being matured in two-thirds new barriques.
91/93
William Kelley, Wine Advocate, April 2025

A really classic VCC with such delicious, crunchy fruit, showing blackberries, blueberries, violets and dried spices. Medium-bodied, vivid and lively, it has very fine tannins as well as energy and brilliance. So balanced and harmonious. A blend of 71% merlot, 20% cabernet franc and 9% cabernet sauvignon.
97/98
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, April 2025

Deep garnet-purple colored. Swans out of the glass with gregarious notes of Morello cherries, juicy blackberries, and fresh raspberries, plus hints of lilac, pencil lead, and mossy tree bark. The medium-bodied palate delivers a sturdy structure of ripe, rounded tannins with seamless freshness and bags of red and black berry flavors, finishing with great length and plenty of minerally sparks.

71% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon. 3.7 pH.
94/96+
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent, May 2025

Violet ruby with a vibrant rim, reflects the savoury vivid quality of the vintage in the wines that deliver. Clear chamomile tea, fragrant white blossom, redcurrant, blueberry, a touch of austerity and reserve compared to the past few vintages, but with purity and finesse, mouthwatering finish, 30hl/h yield, 3.7ph, harvest 20 September to 2 October. 3.70 pH, and a high Cabernet character in the final blend (despite one block less of Cabernet Franc after replanting), 66% new oak. An enjoyable wine from Alexandre Thienpont.
94
Jane Anson, JaneAnson.com, April 2025

The 2024 Vieux Chteau Certan is a delicate, elegant wine driven by its strong floral component from the significant presence of Cabernets in the blend this year. Silky tannins add to an impression of restraint. I can’t remember tasting a young VCC with this equilibrium, one that approaches a Burgundian textural feel, for lack of a better word. The 2024 opens with a bit of time in the glass, but it is a decidedly understated, calm VCC. I can’t wait to see how it ages. 2034-2054.
93/96
Antonio Galloni, vinous.com, April 2025