Chateau Vieux Chateau Certan 2023

Not harvested until after the rains in the middle of September, the 2023 Vieux Château Certan is based on 82% Merlot and 18% Cabernet Franc that was brought up in roughly 60% new oak. It's another ripe, medium to full-bodied, aristocratic, beautifully textured Pomerol that has ample black cherry, mulberry, chocolate, and tobacco-like aromatics, medium to full-bodied richness, flawless overall balance, and ripe tannins, as well as a certain salinity on the finish. Checking in at 14% alcohol and a pH of 3.74, it should surpass the 2014 and is a beautiful, elegant, classic wine that every reader would love to have in their cellar.

• Nombre del Crítico: Jeb Dunnuck

The 2023 Vieux Château Certan is like a drug. Its exotic aromatics, deeply layered fruit and sublime textures are just captivating. I tasted the 2023 from an assembled base blend and four core components. Every wine was nothing short of breathtaking. When I think of the archetypes of greatness in Bordeaux, VCC is one of them. The 2023 is a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Like all producers, Alexandre and Guillaume were forced to decide whether to pick their Cabernets before or after the September rains. As it turned out, none of the lots picked before the rain made it into the Grand Vin. Only those picked later were deemed of high enough quality.

• Ventana de Consumo: 2031 - 2063
• Nombre del Crítico: Antonio Galloni

Fresh floral heights to the aromatics, then dark berry fruits and a core of muscles of the palate, classically-weighted with grip and texture, white pepper spice and salted cracker salinity on the finish. Stretches out through the palate, feels gloriously old school, full of hidden depths and pleasures. 43hl/h yield, harvest September 18 through to 29. Youngest vines here are 1988, which helps give the complexity that is so celebrated at VCC.

• Ventana de Consumo: 2030 - 2048
• Nombre del Crítico: Jane Anson

The 2023 Vieux Château Certan bursts from the glass with demonstrative aromas of dark berries, pencil shavings, violets mingled with notions of burning embers, iris, crushed mint and black tea. Medium to full-bodied, velvety and sensual, with a gourmand attack that segues into a layered, enveloping mid-palate, it's polished and perfumed, with a sweet core of fruit and a long, gently oak-inflected finish. This year's blend of 82% Merlot and 18% Cabernet Franc checks in at 14% alcohol and a pH of 3.74.

• Nombre del Crítico: William Kelley

The 2023 Vieux Château Certan was picked from September 18 to 29. This year, there is no Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend as the fruit did not reach full ripeness, according to winemaker Guillaume Thienpont. The fruit was cropped at 43hL/ha as they suffered no mildew, there were one-third fewer pump-overs, and this vintage matured in two-thirds new oak. It has a well-defined bouquet, a little sultry at first: black cherry, iodine, violet flower and a touch of crushed stone. This unfurls beautifully in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins. Broader in the mouth compared to the Le Pin that I tasted right before, this is slightly more savory in style thanks to the 18% Cabernet Franc, landing gently on the finish. This is an elegant, slightly earthier VCC that will age beautifully in the bottle.

• Ventana de Consumo: 2029 - 2055
• Nombre del Crítico: Neal Martin