Wine Advisor
Certan de May 2015
View analysis
Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2015 Certan de May is deep, powerful and imposing. Dark blue/purplish fruit, lavender, spice and mint are some of the many notes that fill out the wine's frame. Vertical in feel, with potent tannins, the 2015 needs time to fully come together. Even so, it does not appear to be an especially refined wine. The blend is 80% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Franc and 4% Cabernet Sauvignon.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2015 Certan de May is a powerful, imposing wine with notable tannic clout and plenty of energy. White pepper, blood orange and mint give the 2015 an attractive upper register of aromatic nuance, but it is the wine's sinewy, tense personality that is its most distinctive attribute. Readers will have to be patient, as the 2015 is going to need time to fully express. The blend is 80% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Franc and 4% Cabernet Sauvignon.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2015 Certan de May is a blend of 70% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. It is a little leaner on the nose when I compared it directly to the Latour-à-Pomerol, much more reserved and personally, I was seeking more expression from the Cabernet components in the blend. The palate is medium-bodied with gently gripping tannin, quite "solid" in the mouth with a spicy finish following through, although it feels just a little static at the moment. It needs more animation to come through by the time it is in bottle.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2015 Certan de May was a perplexing wine out of barrel. In bottle it has a muted earthy bouquet that demands encouragement from the glass, dried herbs and undergrowth a little too conspicuous at this early stage given the vintage. The palate is pretty with supple tannin, fresh red cherry mixed with crushed strawberry and raspberry, just thinning out a little on the finish. It is a satisfying Pomerol but not a great Certan de May given what this vineyard can achieve.
Reviewed by: Lisa Perrotti-Brown
The 2015 Certan de May is composed of 80% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Sauvignon and 16% Cabernet Franc, displaying a medium garnet-purple color and nose of warm red cherries, mulberries, crushed red and black plums and raspberry leaves with nuances of wild thyme, dried roses, cloves and eucalypt. Medium to full-bodied and boasting great harmony in the mouth, the palate delivers loads of red and black fruit layers interspersed with floral and herb accents and framed by a firm, ripe, fine-grained backbone, finishing with wonderful length and freshness.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2015 Certan de May is a powerful, imposing wine with notable tannic clout and plenty of energy. White pepper, blood orange and mint give the 2015 an attractive upper register of aromatic nuance, but it is the wine's sinewy, tense personality that is its most distinctive attribute. Readers will have to be patient, as the 2015 is going to need time to fully express. The blend is 80% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Franc and 4% Cabernet Sauvignon.
Reviewed by: James Suckling
Wow. What a wine with incredible depth of fruit and generosity here. Walnut, chocolate, black olive and dark fruits. Full and rich. It goes on for minutes. Velvety texture. Best in decades. A majority of merlot with some cabernet franc and a touch of cabernet sauvignon.
Reviewed by: James Suckling
This has a darker sheen of fruits in the blackberry and blood-plum spectrum with sweetly spicy and earthy aromas and some violets to boot. The palate has quite a forthright tannin firmness. A very long, linear wine with a full body and a smooth, fresh, blueberry/plum finish. An impressive wine that rolls endlessly through the finish. This has plenty of ageing potential. Try from 2023.
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)2005(6)2006(3)2008(7)2009(1)2010(5)2011(2)2014(3)
Package Size
