Tasting Notes
JancisRobinson.com 16+
60% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. Still quite dark crimson. Quite firm and reticent on the nose. Round and without obvious tannins but with great concentration and composition. Tastes as though it should be served a degree or too cooler to emphasise its definition. Lots of Cabernet influence! Middle-aged rather than a charmer at the moment. Not an expressive bottle; a great disappointment in view of how well it has tasted in the past.
Anticipated maturity: 2022-2035
Vinous 93
The 2008 Vieux Château Certan has a timid bouquet at first and demands a lot of coaxing from the glass. I wonder if this is in the middle of a closed down phase? This VCC seems to leave all the action on the palate: filigree tannin, a silver bead of acidity, very pure and complex towards the finish with truffle and smoke infusing the red berry fruit. Wonderful persistence (as usual for VCC). Keep it for a few more years is what Alexandre Thienpont suggests and who am I to disagree. (Tasted at BI Wine & Spirit’s annual 10-Year On tasting.)
Anticipated maturity: 2023-2040
Robert Parker 94
This bottle is consistent with previous examples. The nose is very generous, though not ostentatious with plenty of vibrant, here quite glossy red fruit mixed with a touch of oyster shell. The palate is medium-bodied, more foursquare than I recollect but still with that classic sense of symmetry and poise towards the finish. Alexandre Thienpont created a superb VCC in 2008, one destined for longevity. Tasted June 2013.
