100 Years of Thienpont at Vieux Château Certan
Vieux Château Certan, a family story
Here at Sylvie's we rarely miss an occasion to celebrate and with 2024 marking the 100th anniversary of the Thienpont ownership of Vieux Château Certan, we sat down with someone ever so close to this subject: Master of Wine Fiona Morrison.
An interview by Michiel Maes
MM: "Miss Morrison, to us, Vieux Château Certan ranks amidst the apex of Pomerol wines. It has incredible pedigree for producing long lasting wines that turn into absolute classic bucket list bottles. And this high reputation was constructed under the Thienpont ownership. Could you tell us what defines that ownership? What makes VCC stand out?"
FM: “Continuity and family are, in my view, the central themes. First of all Vieux Château Certan is a family owned company and has been so since it was purchased by Georges and Josephine Thienpont in 1924. That family spirit is still alive today – four generations of Thienponts have been involved in the winemaking (Georges, Léon, Alexandre and now Guillaume) and the domain is still owned by the family, of which there are almost one hundred family shareholders. That continuity of ownership at a time when the top Bordeaux estates are more often owned by large companies is rare and provides the continued investment and the heritage needed to produce great wines.
MM: "So if I were to comprise that into one sentence -Vieux Château Certan stood out because it stayed true to its family values- you would say that is correct?"
FM: “Exactly”
MM: "Talking about standing out: in the late nineties the great modernisation began in Bordeaux (or ’Parkerization’ as many say), where we had higher alcohol levels and a stronger influence in the use of wood. To me, VCC steered away from that and kept on putting the natural expression of the grapes and soil forward. For example, in the 1999 vintage this showed beautifully and resulted in a wine that is pure pleasure up to today. However it only scored 91 Parker. Do you feel that ratings given at that time are no longer representative for the current quality of certain vintages upon retasting?"
FM: “Although we admire and like Parker who has done so much for the reputation of Bordeaux, the Thienpont family have never felt that they needed to make wines for the Parker palate. You cannot play around with what nature gives you and at VCC it gives us wines that are elegant, fresh and lively thanks to the quite high percentage of Cabernet Franc in the blend. If you try and mask those fabulous attributes with oak or too much concentration, the wine is no longer true to its origins, it is no longer Vieux Château Certan. The same is true for Le Pin which Parker loved but which was not typical of the wines that he often gave top scores to. The Thienpont family is quite individualistic: they do not follow stylistic trends – although all vignerons are working together in trying to keep balance and finesse in our wines at a time of climate change. And to comment on the 1999, yes, I agree it is beautiful wine.”
MM: "Are there more vintages to be rediscovered?"
FM: “When we recently did a vertical tasting to celebrate the 100 years of Thienpont ownership of VCC, we were really impressed how well Vieux Château Certan performed in the lesser known vintages . If you can make lovely wines in difficult years, it shows that your soils are quite special! As you at Sylvie’s well know, many of these vintages are still available in the market, at decent prices such as 1999, 2004, 2011, 2012, 2017. With these you get a very big bang for your buck. I especially love the finesse and drinkability of the 2011.”
MM: "Apart from the hidden gems, at auction we see extreme interest whenever the 1945, 1947, 1948 or 1950 VCC is up for sale. Especially when they are in good condition. Could you give us some insight in the vinification of those vintages and share with us some your tasting notes from your recent 100 years vertical tasting event?"
FM: “The vintages that you cite all belong to the golden age of Vieux Château Certan which paradoxically was also during the post war years. These wines were made by Georges Thienpont with very little resources and very few chemicals as stocks of sulphur, nitrogen, fertilizer etc. had been depleted. So probably these wines were made with low yields in a very natural way before the chemical companies began to produce all sort of products to help agriculture get back on its feet throughout Europe in the late 50s through to the 1980s. In this recent tasting I gave a five star rating to many of these vintages including the illustrious 1947 where my tasting note was the following :
MM: "Thanks to the Belgian link between the Hof te Cattebeke estate and VCC a lot of Belgian wine cellars contain a lot of these perfect provenance bottles. These cellars of course are our main source for auction. How do you feel about the role auction houses play in the wine world and the secondary market as a whole?"
FM: “It is true that the fact that many of these earlier vintages of Vieux Château Certan were shipped in barrel from Pomerol to our cellars in Hof te Cattebeke and Belgians were privileged in having almost exclusive access to impeccable provenance VCC for many decades. Thienpont bottlings, like Vandermeulen, were prized for their quality and authenticity. Sylvie’s is lucky that Belgium is such a good source for these wines, especially those that came from the Right Bank of Bordeaux.
If all efforts are made to ensure that old wines are purchased from authentic merchants or collectors, wine auctions are a wonderful way to have access to great bottlings.There is a certain risk involved however, as it wasn’t really until the 21st century that top estates began to take traceability and authenticity on individual bottles seriously. The secondary market can help spread these bottles further afield and is often a more democratic and sometimes the only way that a wine lover can manage to purchase rare wines, but we should all remember that the magic of great wines is in the drinking not the speculating!”
MM: "Miss Morrison thank you ever so much for these insights."
For those interested in additional tasting notes on 100 years of Thienpont at VCC you can always visit the Thienpont website and scroll down to “Fiona’s Blog” www.thienpontwine.com
Here at Sylvie's we rarely miss an occasion to celebrate and with 2024 marking the 100th anniversary of the Thienpont ownership of Vieux Château Certan, we sat down with someone ever so close to this subject: Master of Wine Fiona Morrison.
An interview by Michiel Maes
MM: "Miss Morrison, to us, Vieux Château Certan ranks amidst the apex of Pomerol wines. It has incredible pedigree for producing long lasting wines that turn into absolute classic bucket list bottles. And this high reputation was constructed under the Thienpont ownership. Could you tell us what defines that ownership? What makes VCC stand out?"
FM: “Continuity and family are, in my view, the central themes. First of all Vieux Château Certan is a family owned company and has been so since it was purchased by Georges and Josephine Thienpont in 1924. That family spirit is still alive today – four generations of Thienponts have been involved in the winemaking (Georges, Léon, Alexandre and now Guillaume) and the domain is still owned by the family, of which there are almost one hundred family shareholders. That continuity of ownership at a time when the top Bordeaux estates are more often owned by large companies is rare and provides the continued investment and the heritage needed to produce great wines.
MM: "So if I were to comprise that into one sentence -Vieux Château Certan stood out because it stayed true to its family values- you would say that is correct?"
FM: “Exactly”
MM: "Talking about standing out: in the late nineties the great modernisation began in Bordeaux (or ’Parkerization’ as many say), where we had higher alcohol levels and a stronger influence in the use of wood. To me, VCC steered away from that and kept on putting the natural expression of the grapes and soil forward. For example, in the 1999 vintage this showed beautifully and resulted in a wine that is pure pleasure up to today. However it only scored 91 Parker. Do you feel that ratings given at that time are no longer representative for the current quality of certain vintages upon retasting?"
FM: “Although we admire and like Parker who has done so much for the reputation of Bordeaux, the Thienpont family have never felt that they needed to make wines for the Parker palate. You cannot play around with what nature gives you and at VCC it gives us wines that are elegant, fresh and lively thanks to the quite high percentage of Cabernet Franc in the blend. If you try and mask those fabulous attributes with oak or too much concentration, the wine is no longer true to its origins, it is no longer Vieux Château Certan. The same is true for Le Pin which Parker loved but which was not typical of the wines that he often gave top scores to. The Thienpont family is quite individualistic: they do not follow stylistic trends – although all vignerons are working together in trying to keep balance and finesse in our wines at a time of climate change. And to comment on the 1999, yes, I agree it is beautiful wine.”
MM: "Are there more vintages to be rediscovered?"
FM: “When we recently did a vertical tasting to celebrate the 100 years of Thienpont ownership of VCC, we were really impressed how well Vieux Château Certan performed in the lesser known vintages . If you can make lovely wines in difficult years, it shows that your soils are quite special! As you at Sylvie’s well know, many of these vintages are still available in the market, at decent prices such as 1999, 2004, 2011, 2012, 2017. With these you get a very big bang for your buck. I especially love the finesse and drinkability of the 2011.”
MM: "Apart from the hidden gems, at auction we see extreme interest whenever the 1945, 1947, 1948 or 1950 VCC is up for sale. Especially when they are in good condition. Could you give us some insight in the vinification of those vintages and share with us some your tasting notes from your recent 100 years vertical tasting event?"
FM: “The vintages that you cite all belong to the golden age of Vieux Château Certan which paradoxically was also during the post war years. These wines were made by Georges Thienpont with very little resources and very few chemicals as stocks of sulphur, nitrogen, fertilizer etc. had been depleted. So probably these wines were made with low yields in a very natural way before the chemical companies began to produce all sort of products to help agriculture get back on its feet throughout Europe in the late 50s through to the 1980s. In this recent tasting I gave a five star rating to many of these vintages including the illustrious 1947 where my tasting note was the following :
"Dark garnet colour, pretty and fresh; aromatic, with a gentle hint of faded roses, violets and some truffles, tobacco leaf and then a savoury undertow which is quite energetic. Lovely and rich on the palate with quite a lush structure, and long, elegant finish which is still lively and expressive. Fabulous. Rich, velvety and poised. The great point in this tasting is that the wines have such personality, reflecting the domain and the vintage. A great old VCC! So impressive."
1947 is regarded as the vintage that proves that great, age worthy wines could be produced in a very hot year. There was a very cold winter until March when the weather turned warm and wet. In May the weather turned warm and there was hail damage in Pomerol at the end of the month. The summer was hot and dry with heat peaks reaching 39 °C, occasionally punctuated by rain. Harvest began around 15 September. (25/06/24)
MM: "Thanks to the Belgian link between the Hof te Cattebeke estate and VCC a lot of Belgian wine cellars contain a lot of these perfect provenance bottles. These cellars of course are our main source for auction. How do you feel about the role auction houses play in the wine world and the secondary market as a whole?"
FM: “It is true that the fact that many of these earlier vintages of Vieux Château Certan were shipped in barrel from Pomerol to our cellars in Hof te Cattebeke and Belgians were privileged in having almost exclusive access to impeccable provenance VCC for many decades. Thienpont bottlings, like Vandermeulen, were prized for their quality and authenticity. Sylvie’s is lucky that Belgium is such a good source for these wines, especially those that came from the Right Bank of Bordeaux.
If all efforts are made to ensure that old wines are purchased from authentic merchants or collectors, wine auctions are a wonderful way to have access to great bottlings.There is a certain risk involved however, as it wasn’t really until the 21st century that top estates began to take traceability and authenticity on individual bottles seriously. The secondary market can help spread these bottles further afield and is often a more democratic and sometimes the only way that a wine lover can manage to purchase rare wines, but we should all remember that the magic of great wines is in the drinking not the speculating!”
MM: "Miss Morrison thank you ever so much for these insights."
For those interested in additional tasting notes on 100 years of Thienpont at VCC you can always visit the Thienpont website and scroll down to “Fiona’s Blog” www.thienpontwine.com