Vieux Château Certan

Vieux Château Certan, Pomerol, 2021

Name: Vieux Château Certan, Pomerol
Brand: Vieux Château Certan
Price: 830.41 GBP

94/100

Inside Bordeaux

94-96/100

The Wine Independent

96/100

Vinous

Available Vintages

delivery

in bond

portfolio

Last Few
2021
3x75cl
DP
£830.41
2021
6x75cl
DP
£1,660.82
Last Few
2021
6x75cl
DP
£1,660.82

Broking

2021
6x75cl
DP
£1,093.22

Justerini & Brooks Tasting note

Alexandre Thienpont describes 2021 as a "A return to Bordeaux. Aromatic, elegant and persistent". Succinct and honest as ever. This is exactly the sort of claret we all want to drink. It's impeccably mannered, complete and very moreish. It's gentile, aristocratic and cheerful. The youngest vines used in the grand vin hail from a Merlot plot planted in 1982. Guillaume explained that there bring a smile and a roundness to the wine. The oldest vines were planted in 1932. Initially it is the Cabernet that you notice. Classic aromas of iris, violets cassis, red berries, and lovely leafy tobacco notes emerge from the glass. Noble crystalline flavours follow on the palate, there's a wonderful freshness and tension here with a florality that flows right through to its gorgeous saline finish. A wonderfully transparent VCC with all components integrated immaculately. 77% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon.

delivery information

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

94/100

Jane Anson,

Inside Bordeaux

Skilful winemaking, with fragrant curling aromatics, gunsmoke, cigar. This is a year for taking the pleasure in aromatics, so make sure you give it time to open up, as there is a lovely structure here that curls around red roses, raspberry puree, full of joy. No chaptilisation, very light fining. 65% new oak, 3.63ph. Harvest September 24 to October 6.

drinking window 2028 - 2040

date of review 03/2024

96/100

Neal Martin,

Vinous

As I mentioned during en primeur, the 2021 Vieux-Château-Certan is driven by the Cabernet components that represent 23% of the blend. Graphite, pencil shavings, tobacco and light gravelly scents percolate through the black fruit. This is unapologetically classic in style. The palate has exquisite balance and harmony—very poised with a perfect line of acidity. There is a linearity that suits VCC's style of Pomerol and wonderful salinity on the finish that lingers. This transcends the limitations of the growing season. Outstanding.

drinking window 2028 - 2058

date of review 02/2024

94-96/100

Lisa Perrotti-Brown,

The Wine Independent

The 2021 Vieux Chateau Certan is composed of 77% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon. Deep garnet-purple colored, it slowly grows on the nose to reveal vibrant, perfumed notes of black raspberries, fresh black plums, and redcurrant jelly, plus suggestions of cast-iron pan, lilacs, rose oil, cinnamon stick, and aniseed with a waft of forest floor. The medium-bodied palate is very tightly wound, featuring loads of layers of red and black fruits intertwined with mineral sparks, supported by very fine-grained tannins and bold freshness, finishing on a lingering fragrant earth note. A wine that shimmers from start to finish. The alcohol is 13.3% and the pH is 3.62.

drinking window 2028 - 2049

date of review 05/2022

product details

Specifications

Country:

Region:

Appellation:

Producer:

style:

Grape Variety:

Merlot Cabernet Franc

abv:

14%

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.