Vieux Château Certan 2020 released at €240 a bottle
A ‘concentrated and seductive’ 2020 wine from Pomerol’s Vieux Château Certan has been released at €240 per bottle ex-négociant, as this year’s Bordeaux en primeur campaign draws to a close.
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According to Liv-ex, the release price – translating to a UK merchant retail price of £2,880 per case – represented a 42% increase on the opening price for the estate’s 2019 wine, and was 20.9% higher than that wine’s current market price.
As a result, it said, several back vintages ‘look compelling by comparison’, including 2015 and 2019. Liv-ex added that the 2006 and 2014 releases offered ‘discounts alongside some bottle age’.
Decanter’s Jane Anson, who awarded Vieux Château Certan 2020 95 points, admired the wine’s ‘concentrated and complex flavours with a silky, velvety and supremely seductive texture, alongside a ton of energy, freshness and juice’.
She added: ‘It has dense, muscular tannins, and is going to age beautifully. As it opens, you get the aromatics coming out, and the Merlot fleshy fruits become generous and welcoming, opulent without being tiring.’
Release prices during the 2020 en primeur campaign have generally risen on an ex-Bordeaux basis versus 2019, but the picture is more complex when comparing to the current market prices of 2019s, which have tended to move up following release.
Decanter Premium exclusive: Bordeaux 2020 releases and prices
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Richard Woodard is a freelance wine and spirits writer based in the UK. Aside from Decanter, he writes for several wine trade and media outlets including Imbibe, The Drinks Business, Harpers and Drinks International.
Since 2015 he has been the magazine editor of Scotchwhisky.com. He has formerly worked as a wine news reporter at Imbibe and a feature writer for Halycon Magazine.