Vieux Château Certan Pomerol 1996

94 points John Gilman (View From the Cellar): "When I wrote my domaine feature on Vieux-Château-Certan back in 2009, I did not have a chance to include a note on the 1996 vintage here, which is really lovely. At age twelve, the wine is still on the youthful side, but is starting to stir nicely and all of its future complexity is already very much in evidence. The bouquet wafts from the glass in a fine, black fruity mix of cassis, dark berries, cigar wrapper, a fine base of gravelly soil tones, smoky new oak and a topnote of tobacco leaf. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and shows off lovely mid-palate depth of fruit, with well-integrated, ripe tannins, excellent balance and grip and a long, soil-driven and very classy finish. This may not quite scale the heights of the 1998 VCC at full maturity, but it is going to be an outstanding wine in its own right. 2023-2070. (Sep/Oct 2020)"

93 points Wine Spectator: "Decadent and rich, with wild mushrooms, plum and hints of citrus fruit. Full-bodied, with velvety tannins and a long, long finish. Complex, with toasted oak, coffee and ripe fruit. It goes on and on. Wonderful. Big surprise. Get it. One of the best Right Bank wines in 1996. Drink now. --'95/'96 Bordeaux retrospective. (2007)"

18/20 points Clive Coates (The Wines of Bordeaux): "Good full colour. A nose of real quality here. Full, concentrated and rich. Very fine vigour and grip. And nicely cool. Not a bit over-extracted. One of the very few really serious 1996 Libournais wines. Fullish body. Ripe tannins. Excellent intensity and harmony. Cool and classy. Fine plus. (2004)"