2021 Certan De May
Buying options
Tasting Notes
Distinctly more earthy and mineral than the Ch. Bourgneuf tasted alongside. The Certan de May has greater precision, a leaner, linear-styled Pomerol. The tannins are supple, soft but not without structure and build effortlessly on the palate bringing good depth to the palate. Earthy blackberry, tobacco and light iodine notes add complexity.
Critic Scores
Average Score
William Kelley, Wine Advocate
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The 2021 Château Certan De May is also solid, offering darker cherry and assorted darker fruit to go with notes of iron, scorched earth, and ripe herbs. Nicely structured, medium-bodied, focused, and certainly in the elegant, mid-weight style of the vintage, it's going to drink well with just a year two of bottle age and shine for a decade.
The 2021 Certan de May is powerful, burly and hard to read at this stage. I am not sure if the formidable tannins will ever soften, but we will see once the wine is bottled. For now, Certan de May is an enigma.
The 2021 Certan de May was picked from September 27 to October 11. There is a touch of herbaceousness on the nose here, a leitmotif of recent vintages that has left me perplexed in warmer growing seasons, though it’s more understandable in this vintage. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins and modest depth; no greenness here, but there is a welcome touch of pepper toward the finish. This is an improvement for a Pomerol that can hit the ball out of the park if so inclined.
