Vieux Château Certan is a Bordeaux wine from the appellation Pomerol.

History

Although the estate's origins are uncertain, its age has been estimated by professor Henri Enjalbert to an origin date around 1770. It was then the property of the Demay family, and the estate was named Sertan. Long estimated as the leading estate of the region, it yielded the position to the adjacent Pétrus in 1875. 

The estate was bought by the Belgian wine merchant Georges Thienpont in 1924, and it has remained within the family since. The family diversified in 1979 when Marcel and Gérard Thienpont founded nearby microcuvée estate Château Le Pin. In 1985, management of Vieux Château Certan came to Alexandre Thienpont.

Vineyards

With a surface area of 14 hectares (35 acres) planted in one single block, the Vieux Château Certan vineyard is made up of 23 plots, each of them individually managed according to soil type, grape variety planted, and age of vines.

The soils are subtly varied and contain a very clayey part planted mainly with Merlot (70%), a gravel-clay part planted with Cabernet Franc (25%) and a very gravelly part planted with Cabernet Sauvignon (5%).

Wines

The annual production averages 5,000 cases of the grand vin.