2021 | Vieux Château Certan

Grandfather Georges Thienpont bought Vieux Château Certan with his wife Josephine in the spring of 1924. The 14 hectares of vineyards have remained virtually unchanged since the purchase, with the exception of a small parcel of 11.48 ares that Alexandre Thienpont added later. The vineyard comprises 23 individual plots: the clay soils are planted with 70% Merlot, the clay-gravel plots with 25% Cabernet Franc, and the gravel soils with 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. The average age of the vines is over 50 years.

In June 2024, we celebrated the 100th anniversary of this exceptional estate's Thienpont ownership with a vertical tasting of 58 vintages, many of which were bottled in the cellars of the family home, Hof te Cattebeke in Etikhove. Over the decades, the vinification has been carried out by successive members of the family: Georges Thienpont, then his son Léon, his grandson Alexandre, and today it is Alexandre's son Guillaume who vinifies the wine. Vieux Château Certan has reached its golden age and is recognised the world over for its purity, elegance and fruity character, typical of the supple, complex style of the Pomerol plateau. Our selection

Vieux Château Certan is certainly the most beautiful and historic château in Pomerol. The name is said to date back to the 12th century where it was recorded as “Sertan”. The estate was created in the 16th century by the Scottish family de May while the name “Vieux Château Certan” has existed since 1745. The Château is a magnificent “chartreuse” situated in the heart of the famous Pomerol plateau. In 1858, the estate was sold to Charles de Bousquet who completely renovated the château. It’s appearance has remained unchanged ever since – even with its odd towers that flank the north and south sides of the château; one with a slate roof and the other with terracotta tiles.

Vieux Château Certan has been owned by the Thienpont family since 1924. After the death Georges Thienpont in 1962, the estate was run by one of his sons, Léon Thienpont. During this period the vineyards were completely renovated and much replanting was carried out after the Great Frost of 1956. In 1972 a new chai was installed with large oak fermentation vats made by the Seguin Moreau cooperage which are still in use at the château and were greatly responsible for the return to wooden fermentation vats in many of Bordeaux’s grands crus.

Upon the untimely death of Léon Thienpont in 1985, his son Alexandre took over the estate and moved with his wife and four children into the château. Alexandre’s education was completely dedicated to wine. Apart from oenology studies, Alexandre had worked at Château la Gaffelière in Saint Emilion to gain valuable wine making experience.

Helped by continued investments from the family, Alexandre has continued to improve and build on the Thienpont tradition of winemaking excellence. His modesty and unassuming manner hide the pride and sense of deep responsibility he has in running Vieux Château Certan. He lives and works for his wine and is known in Bordeaux as the manager who intimately knows each vine in his 14 hectare vineyard. Two things can lure him away from Pomerol – gliding and endurance cycling in the Pyrenees Mountains. .

Today, Alexandre has been working closely with his son Guillaume whose winemaking studies have taken him all over the world. Guillaume brings a modern vision to Certan and a technical discipline (he has recently built a wine laboratory at Certan) which has permitted the estate to understand the difference in their vineyard parcels more precisely and adapt the winemaking to each terroir.

Today the vineyard comprises 14 hectares in one contiguous plot. The vineyard is planted with 60% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. The high proportion of Cabernet is unusual in Pomerol and belies Certan’s proximity to Château Cheval Blanc which is located just across the road that divides the appellations of Pomerol and Saint Emilion. The terroir at Vieux Château Certan is a mixture of gravel, clay and sand on an ancient plateau which contains a high content of “crasse de fer” (iron oxide). This explains the presence of the three major Bordeaux varieties. Strict pruning leaving only six buds per vine, limited spraying and treatments, green harvest and leaf stripping are part of the vineyard management program at Certan. Harvesting takes place around the middle or end of September with a team of 40 local pickers.

In the cellar, the crop is hand sorted, destemmed and lightly crushed before being fermented in close-top wooden vats with fermentation and maceration lasting around three weeks. Ageing is carried out in new French oak barrels for 18 months. The wine is gently fined with egg whites but never filtered.

Alexandre and Guillaume take great care in the blending of the wine according to the vintage conditions. In years such as 1996 or 2000, the Cabernets ripened beautifully making up the full compliment in the blend. In vintages such as 1998, it is the Merlots that dominate. Barrels that are not judged of sufficiently high enough quality for the “Grand Vin” are used to produce a second label, “La Gravette” or sold off as generic Pomerol. Approximately 45,000 to 60,000 bottles are produced each year.

Under Alexandre, Vieux Château Certan has reached its golden age. For centuries, considered among the top châteaux of Pomerol, the wines have received world wide acclaim for their purity, elegance and rich fruit character, typical of the supple and complex style of the Pomerol plateau. Our selection

Pomerol is one of the smallest appellations in Bordeaux and the only major one that does not have a classification system. This has given the wines of Pomerol a certain liberty, and today it is the price that the international wine trade is prepared to pay that creates the hierarchy in Pomerol. Three wines lead the listing: Lafleur, Pétrus and Le Pin with wines such as La Conseillante, L’Eglise Clinet, Trotanoy and Vieux Chateau Certan following closely behind.

The three leading wines are located on the limestone plateau of Pomerol, close to one another. This small plateau is home to the best wines and forms the epicenter of this 800-hectare appellation. Only three kilometers wide by four kilometers wide, there are about 150 different Pomerol chateaux but around 50 of them have less than one hectare of vines. There are a couple of exceptions, Chateau de Sales, one of the oldest and most beautiful estates with a real “chateau” has 47.5 hectares of vines and both Pétrus and Vieux Chateau Certan have over 12 hectares.

Pomerol remains however a peasant appellation with small houses and cellars and a confusing network of country lanes in which to get lost. It is not the most beautiful corner of Bordeaux, in spite of the worldwide fame of its wines. There is a little village of Catusseau with a decent restaurant, Michel Rolland’s wine laboratory and wine shop and a tobacconist; and the Wine Syndicate, Church and Primary School on the center of the plateau. After its makeover, Pétrus is easier to spot these days but if you do not have inside information, you could spend some frustrating time trying to find Lafleur, L’Eglise Clinet or Le Pin.

Pomerol developed much later than St. Emilion, with the first planted vines dating back to the 18th century. It was on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostella as evidenced by the Scallop shell of St. James found on several markers and the region’s wine guild, the Hospitaliers of Pomerol. Thanks to its proximity to the major town of Libourne, Pomerol wines were shipped all over Europe (they are still particularly popular in Belgium) but did not gain the cachet that they hold today until after the Second World War.

The soils of Pomerol are on a bedrock of limestone with sand and gravel top soils. To the north and the west of the appellations, the vineyards are planted on alluvial soils, sand and gravel. Only Pétrus has the anomaly of a basin of blue clay that is unique to the domain. The main grape variety is Merlot (Pétrus and Le Pin are made only from Merlot grapes) with Cabernet Franc as the second most important grape. Cabernet Franc plays an important role in the wines of Lafleur and Vieux Chateau Certan especially.

The wines of Pomerol are prized for their rich fruit flavours, round structure, soft tannins, flavours of chocolate and coffee and their ability to age well. They pair well with game, pork, Ahi tuna, cep mushrooms and of course truffles. Our selection