2001 Vieux Chateau Certan, Pomerol 1x750ml

Robert Parker 93

Tasted from bottle at Mark Walford’s annual lunch at Waterside Inn. Alexandre described 2001 as a “merlot year” and certainly on the nose the oak is not becoming fully enmeshed. There is plenty of succulent red berry fruit that has a candied sweetness and precocity that is perhaps not the typical character you expect apropos VCC. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins lending the ’01 a rigid structure and there is certainly superior tension compared to the ’02 and lovely tobacco-infused red fruits and spice towards the long finish. This Pomerol appears to be on an upward curve. Tasted May 2013. [Neal Martin, 05/01/2013]

Vinous 90+

Saturated ruby-red. Pure but reticent nose hints at plum, raspberry and chocolate. Juicy and sweet but rather closed in the middle palate. Very serious merlot here: this has terrific penetration and structure for a 2001 from the Right Bank. Finishes long and gripping. A very good showing, but this wine really needs seven or eight years of additional cellaring. St. Emilion [Stephen Tanzer, 01/05/2004]