Vieux Chateau Certan 2016

The old Certan

Vieux Chateau Certan is one of the oldest named growths in Pomerol, though how old depends on whom you ask. The estate's own history says the Demay family, arriving from Scotland, founded it at the beginning of the 16th century, and that it appears as "Sertan" on Belleyme's map of 1785. A U.S. importer's fact sheet dates the same map entry to 1745. The critic Jeff Leve places the founding in the mid-1700s under Jean Demay de Certan, with the original chateau built closer to 1770, and the geographer Henri Enjalbert, as cited in one reference, also estimated an origin around 1770.

The Demays were negociants and wine merchants, and the wine was first sold under the name Sertan. The estate gave its name to the whole Certan area of Pomerol. Its vineyards were once much larger: the land was split after the French Revolution and through later sales, giving birth to Certan de May and other estates that still carry the Certan name. In 1858 Charles de Bousquet became the owner and built the chateau buildings that stand today.

For a long time Vieux Chateau Certan was regarded as the leading estate of Pomerol. According to one reference, it yielded that position to its neighbor, Petrus, in 1875. Like every Pomerol, it has never been classified, because the appellation has no official classification; its standing rests entirely on reputation, and many tasters place it on a par with Petrus.

The Thienponts and the pink capsule

In 1924 the property was bought by Georges Thienpont, a Belgian (the estate says Flemish) wine merchant who already owned Chateau Troplong Mondot in Saint-Emilion. The purchase marked the start of his family's presence in Bordeaux. The timing was poor. With the Depression and bad weather, Vieux Chateau Certan made no wine at all in 1931, 1932 and 1933, and Georges was forced to choose between his estates. He sold Troplong Mondot and kept the Pomerol vineyard.

Georges also gave the bottle its signature: a pink capsule. As Jeff Leve tells it, Thienpont wanted to know which of his clients were buying the wine without having to ask, and a pink top stood out in any cellar; pink was also fashionable with Parisian designers at the time. He sold most of the wine through his own Belgian negociant business, which kept it out of the wider Bordeaux trade for decades. Only in the 1980s did Vieux Chateau Certan begin selling en primeur through the Place de Bordeaux with the other top wines. During the 1950s the estate began bottling its whole production at the chateau.

After Georges died in 1962, other family members ran the estate until his grandson Alexandre Thienpont took charge. Sources differ on the year: one reference and an interview with his son give 1985, while Leve says Alexandre took control in time for the 1986 vintage. Alexandre renovated the winery in 1988 and again in 2003, pulled out the old Malbec, reduced the Cabernet Sauvignon, introduced green harvesting and lower yields, and created a second wine, La Gravette de Certan, which Leve dates to the 1986 vintage and says is named after a parcel the family bought in 1946.

His son Guillaume Thienpont studied agricultural engineering and enology at Bordeaux University and worked at Ornellaia in Tuscany, Chateau Margaux, Domaine Jean Grivot in Burgundy and Swanson Vineyards in Napa before formally partnering with his father in 2011. By Guillaume's account, Alexandre manages the estate and works outside with the team at harvest while Guillaume concentrates on the cellar, and the two blend together. The family's reach in Pomerol goes further: in 1979 Marcel and Gerard Thienpont founded the tiny estate Le Pin nearby, now owned by Alexandre's cousin Jacques, and Alexandre also manages Le Pin's vineyards.

A single block on the plateau

The vineyard covers about 14 hectares (35 acres) in one block, which Leve calls one of the largest single-block vineyards on the Right Bank; he notes that about 13.3 hectares are usually in production. It sits on the Pomerol plateau, directly across the road from Certan de May, with Petrus, Lafleur, L'Evangile and La Conseillante close by. At its highest point, 37.5 meters, it meets the vines of Petrus, and there the soil holds a lot of blue clay. Guillaume Thienpont describes the iron-rich subsoil, the 'crasse de fer,' as particularly unique to this part of Pomerol.

The estate divides the vineyard into 23 plots managed separately by soil, grape and vine age. By its own description, a very clayey part is planted mainly with Merlot (70%), a gravel-clay part with Cabernet Franc (25%) and a very gravelly part with Cabernet Sauvignon (5%), and the vines average 50 years old. Leve gives the plantings as 65% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, mentions a Merlot plot planted in 1932, one of the oldest in the appellation, and old vines from 1948, and counts about 70,000 vines in all.

Fermentation takes place in temperature-controlled vats; the estate says its oak vats are held at 28 degrees Celsius for a gentle extraction. Leve describes 21 vats in all, eight of oak bought in 1972 and 13 of stainless steel, with the oldest vines fermented in wood. Typical production of the grand vin is given as 4,000 to 5,000 cases by Leve, and as about 5,000 cases on average by another reference.

The blend changes sharply with the year. Leve sorts recent vintages into Merlot years and Cabernet Franc years: 2015 had 19% Cabernet Franc and 2003 a record 80%, while 2016, at 85% Merlot, he calls a Merlot vintage.

2016: a wet spring, a dry summer, a late harvest

Across Bordeaux, the winter of 2015-2016 was the warmest in France since 1900, and January brought more than twice the usual rain. From June 23 the weather turned hot and dry, with only 13 mm of rain over 80 days, until about 40 mm fell on September 13 and 14. In mid-June, according to several growers, the vintage had looked like a disaster in the making.

The estate's own account puts the wet spring to good use: the rain restored the soil's water reserves, which carried the vines through a very sunny, extremely hot summer. A few rare days of fine weather in mid-June let flowering go quickly and evenly, and because the grapes stayed healthy, the Thienponts could push the harvest back as far as possible, letting late showers rehydrate the vines. The team removed leaves from July 26 to August 2 and again on September 21 and 22, thinned the crop from August 8 to 12, and picked in three stages: October 3 to 7, October 10 and 11, and October 17 and 18.

The result is 85% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon at 14.5% alcohol, bottled from June 4 to 8, 2018. The estate gives the yield as 40 hectoliters per hectare; Neal Martin's barrel note gives 40.50, with a pH of 3.77. A U.S. importer's sheet says the grand vin was aged 18 to 22 months in 100% new French oak, while a Decanter note quoted by a U.S. merchant says 70% new oak and adds that the estate now bottles the wine itself rather than using a mobile bottling line. The sources do not reconcile the oak figure.

Alexandre Thienpont's own guidance for the vintage: the first bottles could be enjoyed at eight to ten years, and the rest kept for twenty years or more.

A run of perfect scores

From barrel in spring 2017, critics were enthusiastic but not unanimous. Neal Martin, then at The Wine Advocate, gave 95-97 and called it 'another outstanding wine,' though he regretted the smaller share of Cabernet Franc; James Suckling gave 98-99 and called it 'quite simply turbocharged at the end.' Jane Anson gave 95 and Jancis Robinson 19 out of 20 in April 2017.

In bottle, the scores climbed. Lisa Perrotti-Brown gave 100 in The Wine Advocate in November 2018, writing that she was 'struck by the incredible harmony and seamlessness of the 2016.' At Vinous, both Antonio Galloni and Neal Martin gave 100 in January 2019. Jeb Dunnuck gave 100 in February 2019, calling it 'another legendary wine from this estate' to drink over the coming 30 to 40 years, and Jeff Leve gave 100 after tasting it on September 21, 2019, calling it 'hedonism at its best.'

Not everyone went that high. Suckling settled at 99, Roger Voss of Wine Enthusiast gave 98, and James Molesworth of Wine Spectator gave 97, calling it 'a horse of a different color among its peers in this vintage.'

Release and market

Vieux Chateau Certan was the last major wine released in the 2016 en primeur campaign, on June 15, 2017. In London it was offered at 1,200 pounds per six-bottle case, a 28% increase in euros on the 2015. A year later the 2017 was launched at 168 euros a bottle from the negociants, 13% below the 2016's release price.

In October 2026, U.S. merchants listed the 2016 at $399.99 a bottle, on a pre-arrival page showing it out of stock, and at $438.28 a bottle with a six-bottle minimum. These are asking prices, not sales.

The numbers

Vineyard

About 14 ha (35 acres) in one block, 23 plots; about 13.3 ha usually in production (one critic)

Plantings

About 70% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon (estate); 65/30/5 (one critic)

Average vine age

50 years

Typical production

4,000 to 5,000 cases of the grand vin (one critic); about 5,000 (another reference)

2016 production

3,750 cases (U.S. importer's fact sheet)

2016 yield

40 hl/ha (estate); 40.50 hl/ha (Neal Martin)

The Wine Advocate (Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Nov 2018)

100

Vinous (Antonio Galloni; Neal Martin, Jan 2019)

100; 100

Jeb Dunnuck (Feb 2019)

100

Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider (2019)

100

James Suckling

99

Wine Enthusiast (Roger Voss)

98

Wine Spectator (James Molesworth)

97

Timeline

1. 1785

   The estate appears as "Sertan" on Belleyme's map, per the estate (an importer's sheet says 1745).

2. 1858

   Charles de Bousquet buys the estate and builds the chateau buildings that stand today.

3. 1875

   Neighboring Petrus overtakes Vieux Chateau Certan as Pomerol's leading estate, per one reference.

4. 1924

   Belgian wine merchant Georges Thienpont buys Vieux Chateau Certan.

5. 1931

   First of three straight years, 1931 to 1933, with no wine made; Thienpont later sells Troplong Mondot.

6. 1932

   A Merlot plot is planted that is still in the vineyard, one of Pomerol's oldest.

7. 1946

   The family buys the parcel that later names the second wine, La Gravette de Certan.

8. 1962

   Georges Thienpont dies.

9. 1976

   Labels switch from 'Grand Cru' to 'Grand Vin.'

10. 1985

    Alexandre Thienpont takes over management (one critic says from the 1986 vintage).

11. 2011

    Guillaume Thienpont formally joins his father at the estate.

12. Oct 3, 2016

    Harvest of the 2016 begins; it ends October 18 after three passes.

13. Jun 15, 2017

    The 2016 is released en primeur, closing the campaign.

14. Jun 4, 2018

    Bottling of the 2016 begins, ending June 8.

15. Nov 2018

    The Wine Advocate scores the 2016 100 points.

16. Jan 2019

    Antonio Galloni and Neal Martin of Vinous each score it 100.

17. Sep 21, 2019

    Jeff Leve tastes the bottled 2016 and scores it 100.

The world in 2016

• Apr 3, 2016

  The Panama Papers are published.

• Jun 23, 2016

  The United Kingdom votes in a referendum to leave the European Union, the same day Bordeaux's long dry summer begins.

• Jul 6, 2016

  Pokemon Go is released and breaks records worldwide.

• Jul 13, 2016

  Theresa May becomes prime minister of the United Kingdom.

• Aug 5, 2016

  The Summer Olympics open in Rio de Janeiro.

• Nov 2, 2016

  The Chicago Cubs win the World Series.

• Nov 8, 2016

  Donald Trump is elected president of the United States.

Price record

This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.

By reference price, Vieux Chateau Certan 2016 is number 75 of 100 in the wine entries of the FLOAT 100. 12 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (54 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• The Certan place-name in Pomerol was taken from this estate.
• Vieux Chateau Certan made no wine at all in 1931, 1932 or 1933.
• The pink capsule began as a way for Georges Thienpont to spot, at a glance, which clients had his wine in their cellars.
• Until the 1975 vintage the label called the wine a 'Grand Cru'; from 1976 it says 'Grand Vin.'
• One Merlot plot still in the vineyard was planted in 1932.
• For decades the wine was sold mainly through the family's own Belgian negociant business; only in the 1980s did it join the en primeur market in Bordeaux.
• The 2016 was the very last major release of the 2016 Bordeaux en primeur campaign.