TN: 1989 Vieux Château Certan (France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol)

[DavidG]

Tom (briefly again) in DC stopped by to cheer me up so it only seemed right to pop a cork.

• 1989 Vieux Château Certan - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol (11/10/2017)
  The second of three bottles purchased from Benchmark Wine Group in 2014. Fill just into neck, spongy soft cork stained halfway up comes out in 1 piece. One oz poured off to check for taint and the bottle left open for 2 hours before drinking.
  
  Red core, bricking at rim, very pretty and complex nose with dried herbs/flowers and iron, medium/light-medium body, excellent balance, nice complexity, medium finish. Probably at peak but in no danger of decline. Excellent.

Posted from CellarTracker

[Nicklasss]

Vieux Chateau Certan is not a wine we see that often, so always interesting to read a comment about it. This 1989 seems like a good treat, but I guess it was not a "challenger" to the top Pomerol then, compare to now.

Nic

[DavidG]

Not a top Pomerol Nic, agreed. I liked it better than Parker, who gave it 87 points and said in 2002:

The last two tastings have been better than early tastings, suggesting I underrated the wine. It is still somewhat austere, with a rather evolved dark garnet color already revealing some amber. The wine shows some sweet plums, currants, with some dusty earth overtones and a hint of dried herbs. The wine is medium-bodied, sweet on the front end, but a bit astringent at the rear. The wine could probably benefit from several more years of cellaring. Anticipated maturity: 2004-2016. Last tasted, 1/02. (drink 1996-2016)

I didn’t find it "austere," but maybe a bit lean compared to the top Pomerols. It’s also past Parker's drinking window. I think it’s drinking just fine right now, but I like them old. Maybe not as old as John Gilman, who says drink from 2015 to 2060.

[AKR]

2060 seems very optimistic

[DavidG]

You think? Gilman probably won’t be around to hear the criticism in 2060...