Wine Advisor
Certan de May 2005
View analysis
Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
This great terroir sandwiched between Vieux Château Certan, Petrus and La Fleur Petrus, on the high plateau of Pomerol, has been owned for many years by the Barrau-Badar family. Beautiful coffee, cedar wood, Christmas fruitcake, black cherry and blackcurrant fruit jump from the glass of this full-bodied, rich, multi-layered, and very impressive Certan de May. I don’t remember it showing this well in barrel and post-bottling, but it is strutting its stuff at age 10, and has a good 20 years of upside left to it. This is a beauty. I especially admire the layered, textural style of the wine. Drink it over the next 20 years.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
A brilliant effort, the 2005 is unquestionably the finest Certan de May since the decade of the eighties. A deep ruby/purple hue is accompanied by scents of cedar, menthol, blueberries, raspberries, cherries, and cassis. The complex, fruit-filled aromatics are backed up by a full-bodied, rich palate with layers of fruit, firm structure, formidable tannin, and a backward style. This sensational Pomerol should prove to be very long-lived. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2035.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Although treading water in recent years, this wine stood out for me at the Moueix tasting, as the 2004 did last year. A stunning, floral nose with baked cherries, pomegranate and minerals. Brilliant definition. Beautifully balanced on the palate, very feminine, supple, and harmonious with ripe pure raspberry and black cherries. Very focused on the long finish. On par with Vieux-Chateau-Certan over the road. Sublime. Tasted Aprile 2006.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The finest Certan de May in many years (thanks to the intervention of famed wine consultant Michel Rolland), the dense purple-colored 2005 exhibits notes of camphor, creosote, plums, black cherry liqueur, currants, licorice, and pain grille. Full-bodied, powerful, and concentrated, with good freshness, moderately high tannin, and tremendous persistence as well as depth, this wine should “rock and roll” between 2010-2025.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
This property has returned to form following a listless period of irregularity that began after a brilliant succession of top wines in the eighties (1982, 1985, 1986, and 1988). Perhaps the finest wine since that outstanding quartet, the deep ruby/purple-tinged 2005 offers up scents of menthol, black cherries, raspberries, cassis, coffee, and a hint of new saddle leather. Full-bodied and powerful with a firm structure and high, but sweet, well-integrated tannin, this is not a Pomerol for near-term gratification. Anticipated maturity: 2017-2035.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at the chateau. The 2005 Certan-de-May has a deep garnet core. It has a deep, rich, compelling nose with cassis, black plum, black cherries, that essence of minerality that inflects the 2004, gaining in intensity all the time. The palate is full-bodied with firm, slightly chewy tannins with notes of black fruit infused with tobacco, tar and smoke. The texture is grippy and there is great depth. At the moment, it does not quite have the poise and the elegance of the 2004, but like say the 1989 or 1990, this will is a Certan-de-May for the long-term. Tasted September 2009.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Deep red. Initially sauvage aromas of plum, leather, game and earth, with higher-pitched blueberry and blackberry emerging with aeration. Sweet, concentrated and densely packed, with a youthfully medicinal character to the dark fruit flavors. Finishes with firm, dusty tannins. Impressively constituted but seems less pure than it was from barrel the spring after the harvest. This will need a good seven or eight years of cellaring. (A second bottle, which I liked far less, was distinctly wilder on the nose and more leathery in the mouth, finishing with drying tannins.)
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Medium red-ruby color. Quintessential Pomerol nose offers black raspberry, mocha, caramel and sexy oak. Very suave on entry, then lush, fleshy and sweet but with excellent spine to the highly complex flavors of black cherry, tar, iron, mocha, caramel and rose petal. Finishes with noble, horizontal tannins and superb sneaky persistence. Wonderfully sweet but not at all overripe. This will need a good seven or eight years of bottle aging and should last well.
About the Producer
Château Certan de May (or to use its full name, Château Certan de May de Certan) is a critically well-regarded wine estate in Pomerol on the Right Bank of Bordeaux, known for its highly sought-after Merlot-based red wine. The De May (or Demay) family were said to be of Scottish origin, but had lived in France since the Middle Ages, and in Pomerol since the late 1500s. The family became masters of the fief of Sertan, the oldest vineyard in the district. This area also covered the modern vineyards of Vieux Château Certan (which lies just over the road from the winery building) and Château Certan-Giraud (since renamed Château Hosanna), but was divided up after the French Revolution. Since the death of the last de May in 1925, the estate has been owned by the Barreau-Badar family and is currently managed by Jean-Luc Barreau. The vineyard covers five hectares (12 acres), with 70 percent planted to Merlot, 25 percent Cabernet Franc and 5 percent Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine is aged for 12 to 14 months in French oak barrels, with 60-80 percent new oak. Around 2000 cases are produced each year.
1967(1)1988(1)1990(3)2000(1)2001(1)2004(3)
Package Size
