2025 Vieux Chateau Certan
Buying options
Tasting notes
The 2025 Vieux Château Certan was picked from September 8 to 15 at 22 hl/ha and includes two conjoining parcels normally used for the La Gravette. It is raised in two-thirds new oak, the remainder one-year-old. The Merlot sculpts the bouquet with perfumed red cherries, raspberry, cassis and pressed violet scents that gain intensity in the glass. The oak is seamlessly integrated. The palate is medium-bodied, with powdery tannins on the entry. This must be one of the most peppery VCCs that I have tasted, poivre noir from the Cabernet Franc component. Quite structured, with chalky tannins on the finish, almost as if it came from more limestone soil. Not a crowd pleaser like the 2022, but an intellectual, vertical VCC that will flesh out in barrel. 14.01% alcohol.
Critic scores
Average Score
Neal Martin
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Deep purple-hued, the 2025 Vieux Château Certan is a blend of 80% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon that's being raised in 66% new French oak with the balance in once-used barrels. Harvested from yields of just 22 hectoliters per hectare, it hit 14% alcohol with a pH of 3.75. The aromatics are powerful and concentrated, with ripe black and blue fruits, graphite, scorched earth, and violets all defining the nose. It's medium to full-bodied on the palate, with a balanced, layered mouthfeel, rock-solid mid-palate depth, and a great finish. It's a serious Vieux Château Certan that's going to be great, but it's going to need time.
The 2025 Vieux Château Certan is not in the mood to show all its cards. Today, the 2025 shows tons of textural richness and body, but not quite the delineation or energy of the best vintages. Black-toned fruit, gravel, incense, mocha and chocolate are generous in the glass. Ripeness feels pushed to the edge, with fruit perhaps picked a bit later than ideal. But this is a barrel sample, with the wine racked just three weeks prior to my visit. I won't be surprised if this shows better from bottle, but today, this is my impression.
Bursting with aromas of violets, crème de cassis, dark berries and creamy new oak, the 2025 Vieux Château Certan is medium- to full-bodied, rich and concentrated, with a sun-kissed core of fruit, ripe acids and a dense, unctuous palate, concluding with a heady finish. A blend of 80% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, it is quite serious and structured, with sweet tannin, and it checks in at 14% alcohol.
About the producer
The original Château at Vieux Château Certan dates back to around 1770 but the modern history of the estate begins in 1924 - the year that Belgian wine merchant Georges Thienpont purchased the property.