Vieux Château Certan

Vieux Château Certan, Pomerol, 2015

Name: Vieux Château Certan, Pomerol
Brand: Vieux Château Certan
Price: 1391.92 GBP

97/100

Inside Bordeaux

91/100

Vinous

Available Vintages

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in bond

Broking

2015
3x75cl
DP
£695.95
2015
6x75cl
DP
£1,391.92
2015
3x1.5L
DP
£1,379.92
2015
3x1.5L
DP
£1,391.92

Justerini & Brooks Tasting note

Alexandre Thienpont described his 2015 as 'gentle strength'. An apposite appraisal of yet another masterful VCC. Produced from 80% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Franc and just 1% Cabernet Sauvignon, this is very definitely a Merlot vintage for Alexandre. The Merlots bring power, structure and provides the framework; the Cabernets lend a freshness, fragrance and balance. As with Petrus, VCC is quietly authoritative. It is all about poise and balance. This is almost inconspicuous such is the harmony and gentleness of touch. It is beautifully fragrant with aromas of bilberry, mulberry, sensual damsons, cassis, incense and red cherry. The palate is texturally superb; a sumptuous, sleek array of floral fruit and spice. It is so graceful, one doesn't even detect the 14.6% of alcohol. Wonderful!

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Provenance in fine wine

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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.

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Critic Reviews

97/100

Jane Anson,

Inside Bordeaux

Understated brilliance, with restraint shown in its precisely carved cassis and bilberry fruit on the opening, softening through the mid palate to show creamier raspberry and damson fruit, with black truffles and cocoa bean delivering the Pomerol caress. Expert construction, tannic architecture fully in focus but overlaid with the succulence of the vintage, such a good wine that has decades of it. . 50% new oak for ageing. Alexandre Thienpont owner.

drinking window 2025 - 2042

date of review 02/2025

91/100

Neal Martin,

Vinous

The 2015 Vieux Château Certan is a wine that Alexandre Thienpont described as being "easy to understand." He was rather negative towards this vintage and likened it to a barbecue rather than haut cuisine! It was picked in three waves through the vines between September 17 and October 2 at 42hl/ha. This has a comparatively high alcohol at 15%. It has a slightly oxidative bouquet with spice box and white pepper scents, but there is also some evidence of VA here. The palate is static and lacks vibrancy. It's savory, with some warmth on the finish. A second bottle is poured, and it is consistent, There is nothing faulty here, but it feels hot and smudged on the finish. Alexandre Thienpont had to have his arm twisted to add this to the line-up, and I can understand why. It tasted so well a few years ago…is this a vintage tripping over its shoelaces? Tasted at the VCC vertical in Etikhove, Belgium.

date of review 07/2024

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.