Vieux Château Certan

Vieux Château Certan, Pomerol, 2014

Name: Vieux Château Certan, Pomerol
Brand: Vieux Château Certan
Price: 838.33 GBP

95/100

Inside Bordeaux

97/100

The Wine Independent

94/100

Vinous

Available Vintages

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delivery

in bond

Broking

2014
6x75cl
DP
£838.33

Justerini & Brooks Tasting note

Alexandre Thienpont's fiche technique describes his 2014 Vieux Chateau Certan as 'charming and delicious', a classically unpretentious statement from one of Bordeaux's most modest vignerons. Yes it is utterly charming and delicious, but this is also ravishing and gorgeous, sexy and seductive and has been touted as one of the wines of the vintage. This is serious stuff. Produced from 80% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Franc and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon; gentle, noble, leafy, floral flavours emerge from the glass. These mingle with notes of wood spice, cedar, gravel and gorgeous nervy Cabernet fruit. There is real intensity to the fruit with plenty of substance and density. Polished fruit and spice notes linger on the palate - this is big, but it is refined and gentle at the same time. Serious, persistent and complex; pure fruit flavours endure over the suave yet grippy tannins. This is an understated masterpiece.

delivery information

GUARANTEED PROVENANCE

Provenance in fine wine

When it comes to purchasing wine, provenance is of utmost 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

94/100

Neal Martin,

Vinous

The 2014 Vieux Château Certan comes from two bottles, the first out of condition. The second has a potent Cabernet Franc-driven nose, which is no surprise, as it comprises 30% of the blend: bell pepper and black pepper infusing the black fruit. There is almost a Loire-like scent. The palate is medium-bodied with granular tannins, fine acidity and grip with truffle and raspberry. It's earthy with just a touch of dark chocolate on the finish. This Pomerol is surfeit with character and is just about to enter its drinking window. Tasted at the VCC vertical in Etikhove, Belgium.

drinking window 2025 - 2050

date of review 07/2024

97/100

Lisa Perrotti-Brown,

The Wine Independent

Deep garnet-brick in color, the 2014 Vieux Chateau Certan is a little shy to start, offering up faint notes of candied violets and licorice opening out to a core of preserved plums and Christmas cake plus a waft of sandalwood. The full-bodied palate delivers a refreshing backbone and fine-grained tannins to support the taut, powerful black fruits, finishing long and earthy.

drinking window 2024 - 2049

date of review 03/2024

95/100

Jane Anson,

Inside Bordeaux

Well judged, a more serious Pomerol than many, so subtle and beguiling in its construction, truffles, white pepper, cranberry, smoked earth, violet flowers, attractive floral edge and this is just gorgeous, grilled and wrapped up in caressing VCC tannins, with an intellectual edge, or rather an edge that keeps you engaged and wanting more.

drinking window 2024 - 2042

date of review 02/2024

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.