Vieux Château Certan

Vieux Château Certan is among the oldest known growths in Pomerol. According to the estate's own account, it was founded at the beginning of the 16th century when the Demay family arrived from Scotland and settled there. The property appeared on Belleyme's 1785 map under the name 'Sertan,' and the Certan place-name used elsewhere in Pomerol was taken from this estate. In 1858, Charles de Bousquet became the owner and built the château buildings seen today. In 1924, Georges Thienpont, a Flemish wine merchant, purchased the property. 'In 1924, my grandfather Georges Thienpont, purchased Vieux Château Certan,' his grandson Alexandre Thienpont has said.

• Estate origins traced by the property itself to the early 16th century and the Demay family
• Recorded on Belleyme's 1785 map under the name 'Sertan'
• Charles de Bousquet, owner from 1858, built the château buildings that stand today
• Georges Thienpont's 1924 purchase began continuous Thienpont family ownership

By the family's own account, the 1924 purchase was driven by Georges Thienpont's wife: 'In 1924, Josephine Billiet asked her husband Georges Thienpont if she could use her own money to purchase the beautiful estate of Vieux Château Certan,' Fiona Morrison has written on the family's behalf. Georges had purchased Château Troplong Mondot in 1921, but the Wall Street crash and the Great Depression of the 1930s forced him to sell it; he kept Vieux Château Certan, making wine there through the difficulties of the Second World War and the Great Frost of 1956. Upon his death in 1962, his son Léon, who held an agricultural degree, took over the running of the château. Léon's son Alexandre has made the wine at Vieux Château Certan since 1986, and Alexandre's son Guillaume joined him as co-winemaker in 2012. A cousin from a different branch of the family, Jacques Thienpont, became owner of the small Pomerol estate Le Pin in 1979. In 2024 the family marked the 100th anniversary of the 1924 purchase with a two-day vertical tasting, attended by 14 people in the Flemish village of Etikhove, that included the 1923 vintage; it was held at the Thienpont family's historic Belgian home, Hof te Cattebeke in Etikhove, which has served as the base of the family's wine merchant business since 1842.

• Georges Thienpont (1924-1962), then his son Léon, then Léon's son Alexandre (winemaker since 1986), then Alexandre's son Guillaume (co-winemaker since 2012)
• Georges owned Château Troplong Mondot from 1921 until the Depression-era sale forced by the Wall Street crash
• Cousin Jacques Thienpont, of a different branch of the family, became owner of Le Pin in Pomerol in 1979
• 2024 centenary vertical tasting in Etikhove drew critics including James Suckling's Aldo Fiordelli, Neal Martin of Vinous, Jancis Robinson, and writers from La Revue du Vin de France and Bettane & Desseauve; it included the 1923 vintage

The vineyard covers 14 hectares (35 acres) in a single unbroken block on the Pomerol plateau, divided into 23 individually managed plots. According to the estate, the soils are subtly varied: a clayey portion is planted mainly with Merlot (70%), a clay-gravel portion with Cabernet Franc (25%), and a very gravelly portion with Cabernet Sauvignon (5%). Average vine age across the property is 50 years. 'Vieux Château Certan is the result of a very special eco-system in which the soil, the vines and the climate blend harmoniously together to produce exceptional wine,' the estate says. Reporting from the 2024 centenary vertical tasting for JamesSuckling.com, Aldo Fiordelli noted that Alexandre Thienpont attributes part of the wine's character to iron in the clay subsoils, which reduces vine vigor, and to the clay's moisture retention, which slows ripening of the early-maturing Merlot.

• 23 individually managed plots within one contiguous 14-hectare (35-acre) block
• Soil-matched planting: Merlot on the clayiest ground, Cabernet Franc on clay-gravel, Cabernet Sauvignon on the most gravelly plots
• Average vine age across the vineyard is 50 years
• Pomerol's subsoils are rich in iron oxide, known locally as 'crasse de fer,' a signature of the appellation's plateau soils

Fermentation takes place in temperature-controlled oak vats, regulated at 28°C for gentle, measured extraction. 'Materials and equipment have been chosen with meticulous care in order to provide the best possible conditions for both the wine and the environment,' the estate says of its cellars. Alexandre Thienpont describes a minimal-intervention philosophy: 'It’s my conviction that the best wines are those that are the most natural ones –wines that are subject to as little technical intervention as possible. They should be the most genuine and faithful expression of what nature has given us.' He credits his son in continuing the family's work: 'Following on from my father, and now aided by Guillaume, my son, I have perpetuated the family line, exercising my highest standards of work in the service of a wine, the style of which delights connoisseurs all over the world.'

• Fermentation in oak vats regulated at 28°C
• Alexandre Thienpont describes the estate's approach as minimal, natural intervention
• 'The wines of Vieux Château Certan have their own character ; they have their own story to tell -not ours,' Alexandre Thienpont says

Vieux Château Certan produces two wines. The First Wine, Vieux Château Certan, is a blend selected each year from the estate's best lots, drawn mainly from the vineyard's oldest vines; the estate describes it as needing a few years of cellaring and capable of being enjoyed after 10 to 15 years of age. The Second Wine, La Gravette de Certan, is made after the blending tastings for the First Wine are complete, from younger vines, and is intended to offer 'a more accessible character in its youth,' as a wine 'with very fine precision that faithfully mirrors the pedigree of the vineyard.' Besides Merlot, the estate says its wines carry an 'exceptionally high proportion of Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon' relative to Pomerol norms, with Cabernet Franc credited for bringing 'unequalled finesse, elegance and pedigree' to the blend.

• First Wine: Vieux Château Certan, built from the estate's best lots each vintage, mainly from the oldest vines
• Second Wine: La Gravette de Certan, from younger vines, made after the First Wine blend is set
• Estate says the First Wine rewards 10 to 15 years of cellaring
• The realized blend varies by vintage: Decanter lists the 2020 release as 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc, at 14.50% alcohol

James Suckling awarded the 2009 vintage 100 points, writing that Vieux Château Certan 'now is making as good or better wines' than its celebrated 1940s and 1950s vintages, and describing the 2009 as 'always racy and complex... never a blockbuster,' impressing 'with its combination of strength and finesse.' Pomerol itself has never had an official classification system, unlike neighboring Saint-Emilion. 'Pomerol has never attempted an official classification of its wines. The hierarchy can be inferred from the reputation and price of the appellation’s leading wines,' Bordeaux.com, the Bordeaux wine region site, notes.

• James Suckling: 100 points, 2009 vintage
• Pomerol has no official classification; hierarchy among its estates is informal, set by reputation and price
• Pomerol's subsoil is rich in iron oxide, known locally as 'crasse de fer' (ironpan), which Bordeaux.com says is 'the key to Pomerol’s distinctive character'

Primary sources (producer's own site, fetched as raw page text via curl and tag-stripping, not a summarizing tool): http://www.vieuxchateaucertan.com/en/home.html, .../the-estate-vieux-chateau-certan.html, .../the-vineyard-pomerol-vieux-chateau-certan.html, .../the-cellars-vieux-chateau-certan.html, .../the-method-vieux-chateau-certan.html, .../great-wines-pomerol.html, .../great-wines-pomerol/vieux-chateau-certan.html, .../great-wines-pomerol/la-gravette-de-certan.html, .../vintages-vieux-chateau-certan.html, .../contact-vieux-chateau-certan.html. Secondary sources (also fetched as raw page text): Decanter (2020 vintage data page), The Drinks Business (Colin Hay, 'Vieux Château Certan celebrates with unique tasting,' 6 August 2024), JamesSuckling.com ('100 Points for Vieux Château Certan' and 'Vieux Chateau Certan Vertical Tasting: A Century of Power and Grace'), and Bordeaux.com (the Bordeaux wine region site's Pomerol appellation guide). Last verified 2026-09-09. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs; see conflicts.json for the 1923-versus-1924 purchase-year discrepancy and the Cabernet Franc percentage discrepancy.