The 2022 Vieux Château Certan is a wine of tremendous sophistication and polish. I expected to see a more opulent VCC, but the 2022 is surprisingly delicate and nuanced. The blend is 75% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, which means all the Cabernets at the château were used in Grand Vin. Perhaps that explains the wine’s construction, favoring length, persistence and aromatics more than size. Crème de cassis, lavender, spice and licorice hints linger on the super-expressive finish. There’s really not much more to say except that the 2022 is magical. “Real heat started in June," explained Alexandre Thienpont. “We had 15mm of rain over two days in mid-August that really helped. Even so, yields were 35 hectoliters per hectare, so lower than 2020. Berries weighed less athan a gram and juice yields were low.”Vinous Media | 98-100 VMOne of the wines of the vintage, without a doubt, the 2022 Vieux Château Certan comes from healthy yields of 38 hectoliters per hectare and is 75% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Jaw-droppingly good in every sense, its deep purple hue is followed by a massive array of black cherries, violets, red plums, chocolate, and violets. This carries to a full-bodied Pomerol with a voluptuously layered mouthfeel, perfect tannins, and a great, great finish. I never find Vieux Château Certan to have the overt power and structure of Petrus, or the feminine elegance of Conseillante, but it’s unrivaled in its texture, seamlessness, and purity. If this doesn’t put a smile on your face, I don’t know what will. And I’ll be a buyer.Jeb Dunnuck | 98-100 JDGreat expressiveness on the nose; perfumed blackcurrants, black cherries, strawberries, notes of dark chocolate, graphite and liquorice - smells serious. Supple and taught on the palate but with a really juicy core that gives life and energy. Tannins are excellent, giving weight and texture - a combination of chewy and fleshy but with a crushed stone and spiced edge. Lively, bright, intense, concentrated and suave. It’s rich, broad, muscular, complex and nuanced but at the same time stylish with lots of life, balance and freshness. This leaves the most gorgeous lingering expression and a sense that it’s going to be both extremely accessible in its youth and have great ageing potential. 3.78pH. A yield of 35hl/ha.Decanter | 98 DECThe freshness and dynamic sense to the wine is so surprising. Minerally and salty. It’s full yet racy. Black ink and oyster shell. Excellent length. 25% cabernet franc, 5% cabernet sauvignon and the rest, merlot.James Suckling | 98-99 JSA blend of 75% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon with a yield of 35 hl/ha, the 2022 Vieux Chateau Certan is deep garnet-purple in color. After a swirl or two, notes of black cherry preserves, black raspberries, and juicy black plums rocket out of the glass, followed by suggestions of star anise, lilacs, rose oil, and truffles with a waft of fertile loam. The full-bodied palate slowly grows in the mouth with layers of emerging mineral, floral, and exotic spice nuances intertwined with concentrated black fruits, supported by super-plush tannins and perfectly knit freshness, culminating in a very long-lasting firework display of floral and spice notes. pH 3.78.The Wine Independent | 98-100 TWIA blend of 75% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon (very similar to the 2019), the 2022 Vieux Château Certan is a magical wine of exemplary harmony and balance. Offering up complex aromas of dark berries and cherries mingled with notions of exotic spices, licorice, iris, violets and loamy soil, it’s full-bodied, supple and seamless, its sweet structuring tannins entirely concealed by a multidimensional core of pure, vibrant fruit. This sensual, perfumed Pomerol is likely to rank alongside the 2019 and 2016 in the pantheon of recent Vieux Château Certan vintages.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97-99 RPA beautifully dense wine blending Merlot and 23% of both Cabernets, with black spice and cedar aromas. There is a straight line of acidity and tight spice followed by pure black-currant flavors. Drink from 2028. Wine Enthusiast | 96 WE
