Vieux Château Certan

Vieux Château Certan, Pomerol, 2012

Name: Vieux Château Certan, Pomerol
Brand: Vieux Château Certan
Price: 1586.66 GBP

96/100

Inside Bordeaux

98/100

The Wine Independent

91/100

Vinous

Available Vintages

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Broking

2012
6x75cl
DP
£790.33
2012
6x75cl
DP
£832.33
2012
6x1.5L
DP
£1,586.66

Justerini & Brooks Tasting note

Alexandre Thienpont describes 2012 as a 'typical Bordeaux year climatically... Following a particularly cold and dry winter... A cool and wet spring brought about an early reduction in the potential crop size. A hot and dry summer was a welcome arrival. Thanks to low yields and meticulous selection on the vines of the best quality bunches, the ripening process was completed very homogeneously'. Produced from 87% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon from yields of 33 hl/ha, the 2012 VCC is charm personified. Initially perfumed, with fragrant floral notes, morello cherries, raspberries and fine herbs. The Merlot plots next to Petrus have produced wonderfully silky, svelte fruit with a cashmere, velvety texture and plushness. The Cabernets add complexity and a touch of freshness and bring total harmony to the blend. This is a really refined, marvellous Vieux Chateau Certan from a 'great Merlot vintage'. Paradoxically classical yet decadent.

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GUARANTEED PROVENANCE

Provenance in fine wine

When it comes to purchasing wine, provenance is of upmost importance. A wine’s history – where it’s sourced from and how it’s been stored – can have an enormous influence on the eventual enjoyment it provides. At Justerini & Brooks, we can trace nearly every case back to the domaine, estate or Château it originally came from; we ship from over 200 wine producers throughout the world.

Wines not bought directly from the vineyard are either sourced from trusted suppliers, with whom we share the same philosophy and rigour in buying, or from our own network of Cellarers customers. These customers’ wines are stored in optimal conditions in Octavian Corsham and, in the vast majority of cases, have been stored by us since the wine was first shipped. We do not purchase wine from auctions.

We feel it is equally important to for our customers that the case they buy and leave in storage with us is exactly the same case they subsequently have delivered. This may sound obvious and straightforward, yet we are one of very few merchants to have taken measures to ensure this.

We have created a system where every case is independent, thereby ensuring a trail of ownership and peace of mind for every customer.

The Journey

Justerinis ensures that every case of wine stored with Cellarers (Wines) Ltd has a unique identifier and customer’s name, almost unheard of in the industry as it is expensive to administer. These details are printed and placed on every case which is logged and recorded under your account name and kept in the world’s most renowned storage facility, Octavian Corsham.

This information is sent from our systems to the warehouse every day to ensure the trail of ownership is verified and upheld.

While customer reserves are stored in Corsham, our physical stocks are kept in Hoddesdon, further providing a geographical separation between customers’ wines with Cellarers and Justerinis’ own stock.

Further Reassurance

Cellarers (Wines) Ltd is a legally separate limited company from Justerini & Brooks which currently holds approximately £450 million worth of customer reserves. It is fully insured to catastrophic loss. Many merchants will state that wine in their care is fully insured, but in reality this is on an individual case basis with insufficient cover for total loss as this is prohibitively expensive. The cover provided by Octavian and Justerini & Brooks is unmatched.

Cellarers (Wines) Ltd is audited by PwC every year.

Critic Reviews

91/100

Neal Martin,

Vinous

The 2012 Vieux Château Certan comes from a late harvest picked from October 1. The Cabernet is potent on the nose, not dissimilar to the 2008 with Montecristo cigars and undergrowth infusing the black fruit. Certainly, this is pretty Left Bank in style. The palate is well-balanced with a slightly herbaceous, peppery entry. Espresso notes infuse the black fruit with a structured finish. I just feel the oak a little here and find more composure on the 2011 by direct comparison. Tasted at the VCC vertical in Etikhove, Belgium.

drinking window 2024 - 2040

date of review 07/2024

96/100

Jane Anson,

Inside Bordeaux

Tasted at the Duquesne club in Pittsburgh during a wonderful event to celebrate their 150th anniversary. Still young at 13 years old, but the tannins are beginning to melt into the raspberry and redcurrant fruits, and the violet aromatics that you can spend years searching for in Pomerol uncurl out of the glass with barely a coaxing. Fine but plentiful tannins suggest this has decades ahead of it. Particularly special because George Thienpont bought the estate in 1924, meaning that next year in 2024 they are celebrating their 100th anniversary in the family. 50% new oak.

drinking window 2023 - 2042

date of review 12/2023

98/100

Lisa Perrotti-Brown,

The Wine Independent

The 2012 Vieux Chateau Certan is medium to deep garnet-purple colored. It charges out with impressively pure, laser-precise, and intense scents of blueberry compote, chocolate-covered cherries, and warm plum, plus hints of cinnamon toast, dried roses, and forest floor. Medium to full-bodied, rich, and oh-so-classy in the mouth, the palate delivers velvety tannins and compelling tension, finishing very long and opulent. The blend this year is 87% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon.

drinking window 2022 - 2049

date of review 02/2023

product details

Specifications

Country:

Region:

Appellation:

Producer:

style:

Grape Variety:

Merlot Cabernet Franc

abv:

12.5%

allergen information

This product may contain sulphites. Full allergen information is available upon request, please call our Customer Relations Team on +44 (0)20 7484 6430.