2016 Vieux Chateau Certan (Pomerol)

The 2016 Vieux Chateau Certan is a blend of 85% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon that was picked at 40.50 hectoliters per hectare, in three stages of picking: 3-7, 10-11 and 17-18 October. It has a high IPT of 82 and a pH of 3.77. It has a very refined bouquet with blackberry, briary and morello cherries that are tightly wound at first, but open gradually with aeration. The Merlot is fully in control aromatically; this is not a VCC governed by the Cabernet Franc this year, consistent with the 2016 vintage. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grain tannin. There is plenty of dark berry fruit laced with hints of earl grey and bay leaf, a complex and cerebral Pomerol with a long, precise and (to put it banally) delicious finish. This is another outstanding wine from Alexandre and Guillaume Thienpont. 95-97 points

This is a muscular, big wine, more so than in some years, but it is so precise and intellectual, and one of the more austere takes on the vintage at this ea rly stage. The 2015 was more of a crowd-pleaser perhaps, but this has such a gripping, thrilling sense of well drawn out fruit wrapped up in fresh, floral layers. The tannins have an IPT of 82, but are extremely ripe, totally delicious and beautifully constructed. They found more difference between young and old vines compared to the previous year, because of the stress in the summer, so 66% of production made it into the grand vin compared to 75% in 2015. 95 points

The 2016 Vieux Chateau Certan is a wine of extraordinary beauty. Rich, seamless and voluptuous in the glass, it exudes sensuality in all of its dimensions. Tasted as a hypothetical blend, the 2016 is less expressive than the separate lots were when I tasted them a few months ago. A rush of dark cherry, inky blue/purplish fruit, crushed rocks, lavender and rose petal infuses the creamy, voluptuous finish. The 2016 manages to be dense and rich, but with no excess weight. It is quite simply a remarkable wine. 97-100 points