Vieux Chateau Certan 1995

robert_parker91

Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.

This low acid, dark ruby/purple-colored wine offers up a sweet, jammy, black fruit-scented nose, with evidence of Asian spices and new oak. Made in a fleshy, lush, easy to understand and appreciate style, this forward 1995 will require drinking over its first 12-14 years of life. Anticipated maturity: 2000-2012.

robert_parker90

Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.

This low acid, dark ruby/purple-colored wine offers up a sweet, jammy, black fruit-scented nose, with evidence of Asian spices and new oak. Made in a fleshy, lush, easy to understand and appreciate style, this forward 1995 will require drinking over its first 12-14 years of life. Anticipated maturity: 2000-2012. Last tasted 11/97

robert_parker93

Reviewed by: Neal Martin

This bottle is not quite in the same league as ones tasted two or three years ago, but the ’95 remains one of Alexandre’s standout wines of that decade. Here, it has a haunting bouquet whereby the Cabernet Franc component is more conspicuous than before, essentially with more Pomerol character developing. There are touches of blackberry, mint and cassis with a meaty element developing in the glass. The palate has plenty of sweet red cherry and boysenberry on the entry, the oak now completely absorbed and with a slightly unruly, almost Rioja-like finish! Hedonistic VCC! Drink 2017-2035. Tasted October 2012.

robert_parker91

Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.

The 1995 is similarly made to the 1994, with more color saturation and ripe fruit, as well as lower acidity and less grip. The dark ruby/purple color is followed by a bouquet of smoky, red and black-currants, licorice, and cedar. It is a lush, rich, medium to full-bodied wine with extremely low acidity and an open, pleasing, easy to understand style. It should drink well for 12-15 years. If it gains weight or exhibits more extract, it will move into the 90-point category. All of the wines in this segment were tasted between March 19 and March 28 in Bordeaux. Most of the important wines from both the 1994 and 1995 vintages were tasted three separate times during my ten-day stay in Bordeaux.

robert_parker95

Reviewed by: Neal Martin

Tasted at the Bipin Desai’s VCC vertical in Los Angeles. Now this is a wine destined for great things (not that I feel everyone realizes yet.) Amazingly youthful in colour, ditto the nose with very ripe blackberry and cassis, complemented by subtle notes of smoke and mint, a little sandalwood. The new oak is very present, too much at this stage lending it a showy veneer, but give it time and that will integrate. The palate is full-bodied, still rather unresolved, sinewy, very structured with oak dominating. But there is sufficient fruit concentration to suggest that this could be a real long-term VCC like those of old. Don’t say I did not tell you...but cellar it long-term. Drink 2018-2040. Tasted November 2008.

vinous93

Reviewed by: Neal Martin

The 1995 Vieux Château Certan is a very capable wine that is now reaching its peak. The Cabernet Franc has always been the key component, imparting a lovely ferrous, undergrowth note on the nose that neatly counterbalances the intense red and black fruit laced with mint. The palate is ripe and generous with kirsch and red plum, quite saturated and maybe even "glossy". Maybe my one criticism is the toastiness of the oak on the finish that lends it a Rioja-like personality, but otherwise this is very fine. Taken from the Pomerol book authored by Neal Martin.

vinous90

Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer

Medium red. Sweet aromas of redcurrant, plum and smoky oak. Lush and sweet in the mouth, with a softer texture than the '96. Round and fairly full. Expressive red fruit and sweet oak flavors. The crop was bigger in '95 than in '96 but I find this wine equally concentrated. Finishes with thoroughly suave tannins and sneaky length.

robert_parker88

Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.

Frightful bottle variation left me perplexed about just where this wine fits in Bordeaux's qualitative hierarchy. I tasted the wine three times since bottling, all within a 14 day period. Twice the wine was extremely closed and firm, with an evolved plum/garnet color, high levels of tannin, sweet black currant, prune, and olive-tinged fruit, and astringent tannin in the medium-bodied finish. Those two bottles suggested the wine was in need of at least 5-7 years of cellaring, and would keep for two decades. The third bottle was atypically evolved, with a similar color, but it was far more open-knit, displaying Provencal herbs, black cherry, and cassis fruit in a medium-bodied, jammy, lush style. I expect marginal bottle variation, but while the quality was relatively the same in all three bottles, the forward, open-knit example left me puzzled. I will report again on this 1995 after further tastings.

vinous92

Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer

The 1995 Vieux Château Certan is a very capable wine that is now reaching its peak. The Cabernet Franc has always been the key component, imparting a lovely ferrous, undergrowth note on the nose that neatly counterbalances the intense red and black fruit laced with mint. The palate is ripe and generous with kirsch and red plum, quite saturated and maybe even "glossy". Maybe my one criticism is the toastiness of the oak on the finish that lends it a Rioja-like personality, but otherwise this is very fine. Taken from the Pomerol book authored by Neal Martin.