Vieux Chateau Certan 2006
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
The high quality of Vieux Chateau Certan 2006, displayed in its fruit, finesse and pedigree, makes it one of the estate's truly outstanding vintages. It is very close to the 2005 but with a more suave style. When serving, it should be decanted well beforehand if it is still young and at the last moment when it is older.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
One of the top wines of the vintage is the exquisite 2006 Vieux Chateau Certan. A blend of 83% Merlot and 17% Cabernet Franc, it is a stunningly rich effort boasting an inky/blue/purple color as well as a gorgeous nose of forest floor, coffee, toast, and extravagant levels of black currants and blackberries. Hints of charcoal and flowers add to the wine's exquisite character. What’s remarkable in this full-bodied wine is that nearly 100% new oak is used, yet the oak is largely drowned out by the wine's concentration and complex personality. This full-bodied Vieux Chateau Certan should be reasonably approachable in 3-4 years but last for at least three decades. This great success merits kudos to proprietor Alexandre Thienpont.
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Wine & Spirits
A beauty from the moment it's first poured, this wine is one of the few in the vintage with the power to awe. Alexandre Thienpont cares for these cabernet franc and merlot vines at the top of the Pomerol plateau, and shepherds them into a wine of subtlety and reserve. There's no blast of power, just a clarity and brightness, as if the door were opening to a sunny field of wild strawberries. There's something darker as well, like the cool forest floor at the edge of the field, and the ripe black cherries that grow above it. The wine has a natural surety, the beauty and finesse of a great terroir.
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Wine Spectator
Shows complex and subtle aromas of dried dark fruits and blueberry. Full-bodied, with silky tannins and a long, refined finish. Very fine. Solid and balanced, with lovely sweet fruit on the finish. All in place for the vintage. Best from 2014 through 2020. 3,255 cases made.
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One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
A source of exceptionally sensual and glamorous red wines, Pomerol is actually a rather small appellation in an unassuming countryside. It sits on a plateau immediately northeast of the city of Libourne on the right bank of the Dordogne River. Pomerol and St-Émilion are the stars of what is referred to as Right Bank Bordeaux: Merlot-dominant red blends completed by various amounts of Cabernet Franc or Cabernet Sauvignon. While Pomerol has no official classification system, its best wines are some of the world’s most sought after.
Historically Pomerol attached itself to the larger and more picturesque neighboring region of St-Émilion until the late 1800s when discerning French consumers began to recognize the quality and distinction of Pomerol on its own. Its popularity spread to northern Europe in the early 1900s.
After some notable vintages of the 1940s, the Pomerol producer, Petrus, began to achieve great international attention and brought widespread recognition to the appellation. Its subsequent distribution by the successful Libourne merchant, Jean-Pierre Mouiex, magnified Pomerol's fame after the Second World War.
Perfect for Merlot, the soils of Pomerol—clay on top of well-drained subsoil—help to create wines capable of displaying an unprecedented concentration of color and flavor.
The best Pomerol wines will be intensely hued, with qualities of fresh wild berries, dried fig or concentrated black plum preserves. Aromas may be of forest floor, sifted cocoa powder, anise, exotic spice or toasted sugar and will have a silky, smooth but intense texture.