Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Lots of violets and flowers with hints of smoke and spice. Then dried flowers. Full and broad with tannins that flow across the palate. Chiselled. The real deal here for Pomerol. 65% merlot, 25% cabernet franc and 10% cabernet sauvignon.
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Wine Enthusiast
Big, rich tannins give this wine great structure with dense concentration as well as rich, juicy blackberry fruits. The wine brings out the best of the vintage, ripe and fresh at the same time. Barrel Sample: 94–96.
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Decanter
Ripe fruit aromas alongside vanilla and cinnamon, dark and brooding with soft floral flecks. A little more serious than I was expecting, this is taught and focused, direct, streamlined - it feels little tight and withholding some of its joy right now. Clearly powerful and potent, a core of ripe fruit but the salinity is showing through with wet stone, graphite, pencil lead touches alongside cool minty blueberries. Feels as If it hasn't quite hit its stride, but it's sleek with a lovely tannic impression. A bit of heat comes across in fig elements, with some cedar and cinnamon and liquorice spicing, but it works well with the vintage, taking what was given and presenting a fuller, bolder style. Will take time to come around but will be lovely when it does. They haven't tried too hard here and I love the focus and purity you get on the mid-palate.
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Wine Spectator
This has some lovely fruit -- and with good definition, too (not easy in this vintage) -- with plum, cassis and blackberry notes that sail through prettily, laced with black tea, incense and anise. Ends with a subtle smoldering alder accent. A lovely wine that avoids the vintage's pratfalls. Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Best from 2025 through 2036.
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Jeb Dunnuck
A classic, complex, old-school beauty that will be loved by the traditionalists out there, the 2020 Château Certan De May offers up a flowery, savory bouquet of red and black fruits, saddle leather, savory herbs, and incense. With medium-bodied richness, a good core of sweet fruit, fine tannins, and a great finish, give bottles just a few years and enjoy over the coming 10-15.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Offering up aromas of sweet berries and plums mingled with notions of aniseed, licorice and mint, the 2020 Certan de May is medium to full-bodied, broad and layered, with a rich and enveloping core of ripe, somewhat baked fruit. This is a solid effort, but it can't quite match the 2019. Best After 2023
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
A source of exceptionally sensual and glamorous red wines, Pomerol is actually a rather small appellation in an unassuming countryside. It sits on a plateau immediately northeast of the city of Libourne on the right bank of the Dordogne River. Pomerol and St-Émilion are the stars of what is referred to as Right Bank Bordeaux: Merlot-dominant red blends completed by various amounts of Cabernet Franc or Cabernet Sauvignon. While Pomerol has no official classification system, its best wines are some of the world’s most sought after.
Historically Pomerol attached itself to the larger and more picturesque neighboring region of St-Émilion until the late 1800s when discerning French consumers began to recognize the quality and distinction of Pomerol on its own. Its popularity spread to northern Europe in the early 1900s.
After some notable vintages of the 1940s, the Pomerol producer, Petrus, began to achieve great international attention and brought widespread recognition to the appellation. Its subsequent distribution by the successful Libourne merchant, Jean-Pierre Mouiex, magnified Pomerol's fame after the Second World War.
Perfect for Merlot, the soils of Pomerol—clay on top of well-drained subsoil—help to create wines capable of displaying an unprecedented concentration of color and flavor.
The best Pomerol wines will be intensely hued, with qualities of fresh wild berries, dried fig or concentrated black plum preserves. Aromas may be of forest floor, sifted cocoa powder, anise, exotic spice or toasted sugar and will have a silky, smooth but intense texture.