La Gravette de Certan, Pomerol 2016

Lovely finesse and clarity of ripe fruit, leather, spice and leaves on the nose and palate. Medium body, elegance and balance. It just floats on the palate. One of best ever of the second wine of Vieux Chateau Certan. Drinkable now, but even better in 2023.

Darker and denser than the 2015, the 2016 La Gravette de Certan reveals a similar profile yet has more obvious structure as well as full-bodied notes of smoked tobacco, black fruits, earth, and spice box. Deep, powerful, and shockingly good for a second wine, it’s well worth your time and money. Drink it over the coming 20+ years.

Made up of 75% Merlot, 18% Cabernet Franc and 7% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2016 La Gravette de Certan has a deep garnet-purple color and features lovely redcurrants, black raspberries and black cherries notes with a beautiful floral background of lavender and rose hip tea plus suggestions of sandalwood, cinnamon stick and menthol. Medium-bodied, refreshing, elegant and beautifully seamless, it offers layers of perfumed red and black fruits with a satiny texture and very impressive length.

The 2016 La Gravette de Certan is flat-out gorgeous. Supple, creamy and beautifully textured, the 2016 possesses striking density and class to burn. Readers will find all of the sensuality of the Grand Vin in this striking, sumptuous second wine. A rush of blue fruits, lavender, spice, menthol and rose petal builds in a silky, beautifully perfumed Pomerol. Readers who can find the Gravette should not hesitate, as it is sublime. The 2016 is 75% Merlot, 18% Cabernet Franc and 7% Cabernet Sauvignon taken from young vines, those under 25 years of age. Because young vines struggle a bit more under heat stress, the Gravette has a slightly exotic character. It is a fabulous and arrestingly beautiful wine by any measure.

The second wine of Vieux Château Certan defines young vines as those that are less than 25 years old, which gives you some idea of how different things are from your usual Bordeaux property. This has an amazing depth of fruit on the nose, with powerful cassis and bilberry softened by raspberry leaf and tobacco notes. It's a beautifully well balanced wine, extremely well constructed, precise and great quality, but pretty austere right now. Around 40% of overall production. 50% new oak.

The 2016 La Gravette de Certan, the rarely seen second wine of Vieux Château Certan, comes from a selection of mainly young parcels (under 20 years of age). It has a pretty raspberry and blueberry bouquet that reveals hints of blood orange. The palate is medium-bodied with grippy tannin, quite masculine for the vintage and for a second wine. A little chalkiness percolates through the finish. While it might feel a bit gawky in its infancy, a couple of years in bottle will sort that out.