Wine Advisor
Certan de May 2006
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Full, deep red-ruby. Sexy aromas of roasted raspberry, plum liqueur, coffee, smoke, mocha and chocolate. Enticing and exotic Pomerol, with lush flavors of roasted plum and musky coffee leavened by a medicinal reserve. In spite of its enticing sweetness and fullness, this is rather backward today, with the dusty, substantial tannins calling for at least a few years of patience. But the wine's firm backbone and excellent breadth and length suggest it should age well.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Full ruby-red. Deep, brooding aromas of dark fruits and bitter chocolate, with liqueur-like suggestions of plum and raspberry. Fat, thick and layered but not heavy. Densely packed but airy and classically dry, in the way of so many of Michel Rolland's wines. Finishes with a serious tannic spine and excellent length.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
This property, which has come back strongly over recent vintages, has fashioned a tannic, virile, muscular, impressively endowed 2006 revealing a dense plum/ruby/purple hue, a distinctive earthy/licorice-scented nose, and plenty of black cherry, cassis, cedar, and spice notes. After 5-6 years of cellaring, it should keep for two decades or more.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at the chateau. Those nose demands some coaxing from the glass, so I wait for 5-10 minutes for it to unfurl. Ripe blackberry, wild hedgerow, touches of blueberry and black plum. Just a hint of cedar coming from the Cabernet that gains a seaweed scent with time. The palate is full-bodied, wonderful balance, very focused with firm structure but also a sense of femininity. Slightly grainy texture, great purity, lovely ripe blackberry, minerally, black plum and white pepper tinged finish. Ridiculously fine. Tasted September 2009.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at JP Moueix. This is a Pomerol chateau that has really upped the ante in the last 2-3 years. This is another superlative wine that ranks alongside its neighbour, Vieux-Chateau-Certan. A beautiful, floral nose wafts from the glass with black cherries, plum and hedgerow. Wonderful definition. The full-bodied palate is powerful like Hosanna but with far more nervosity and minerality. Sinewy, poised and completely harmonious with mouth-coating tannins. Raspberry, blueberry and boysenberry. Great length. Sublime. Tasted April 2007.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
This property is finally hitting on full cylinders and has returned to the form it had in the late 1970s and mid-1980s. This is a deep ruby/purple-colored wine with notes of graphite, menthol, licorice, and truffle. The fruit character verges between black cherry and creme de cassis notes. The wine exhibits noble and complex aromatics, moderately high tannins, but a full-bodied, firm, muscular structure that will require some patience. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2028.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at the chateau. Those nose demands some coaxing from the glass, so I wait for 5-10 minutes for it to unfurl whereupon it reveals ripe, blackberry, wild hedgerow, touches of blueberry and black plum. There is just a hint of cedar coming from the Cabernet that gains a seaweed scent with time. The palate is full-bodied, wonderful balance, very focused with firm structure but also a sense of femininity. Slightly grainy texture, great purity, lovely ripe blackberry, minerally, black plum and white pepper tinged finish. This is a great wine. Tasted September 2009.
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.
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