About this Wine: The wine boasts the smoothness, velvet, depth and density of the 1995 vintage. The Vieux Château Certan has all the qualities required for laying down and magnificent agein...

Wine Spectator: This red offers a grippy, charcoal-laced feel, cloaked by very fleshy plum, currant and blackberry confiture flavors. The long, tarry spine drives the finish, with extra bay l...

Wine Spectator: This has density, structure and drive, offering seriously dark baker's chocolate, plum, currant and fig flavors all wound up tightly by singed cedar, tar and dark tapenade not...

Wine Spectator: Lilac and violet aromas quickly give way to dark toasted spice and black tea notes, followed by remarkably creamy-textured cassis and plum compote flavors, all offset beautifu...

Wine Spectator: Dark but racy, with chocolate-covered raspberry and blackberry fruit carried by graphite and toasty cinnamon, black tea and anise flavors. Firms up on the finish, with a lovel...

Wine Spectator: A gorgeous wine, smooth, polished, silky and seductive, teeming with licorice- and exotic spice-tinged blackberry, cherry and roasted meat flavors. Exquisitely balanced, sport...

Wine Spectator: Solidly built, with a roasted edge to the steeped fig, blackberry and black currant flavors, quickly followed by brambly tannins and notes of bay leaf and espresso. Stays dark...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: This is an up and coming Pauillac estate that is making better and better wines. Moreover, they remain realistically priced. This is a Medoc 1998 that is revealing more mid...

Wine Spectator: Rather toasty today, with mocha and baker's chocolate notes weaving around the dense core of black currant and plum sauce. Flashes of hoisin sauce and tar add a nicely edgy fe...

Wine Spectator: Nice lilac, sandalwood and mulled cherry notes, with perfumy spice chiming in on the lightly fusty finish. Pretty.-J.M.

Wine Spectator: Chewy and brambly, but integrated, this carries a very hefty core of espresso, ganache, mulled plum and blackberry fruit. The purity starts to shine through on the finish, whi...

Wine Spectator: Still quite primal, with fleshy plum skin, warm raspberry confiture and dark roasted woodspice notes still wrestling a bit with each other. A bit thick on the finish as this s...

Wine Spectator: Black licorice, cedar, cigar box and fresh herbs. Full-bodied and very structured, with firm, silky tannins and a long finish. Needs time.--'95/'96 Bordeaux retrospective. Bes...

Wine Spectator: Solid notes of steeped black currant, ganache-coated fig and plum eau de vie pump along in this very dark red, but with well-integrated structure. Long and winey through the f...

Wine Spectator: A Pomerol of a different color, relying heavily on dense muscle and dark charcoal notes, with a core of fig, blackberry paste and blueberry reduction waiting in reserve. Very ...

Stephen Tanzer's IWC: Good saturated medium ruby. Very dark crushed berry aromas are lifted by musky pepper and mineral nuances. Dense, black and sweet; a powerful, thick wine buttressed by good ...

Wine Spectator: Stunning and pure from the get-go, with intense cassis and blackberry fruit. Ultimately takes a slightly austere approach, with a wrought-iron structure driving along while pa...

Wine Spectator: This is tangy, with red currant, roasted mesquite, sanguine and tobacco notes. Already shows range and definition, with solid grip. -J.M.

Wine Spectator: Ripe and silky, with a flamboyant edge to the plum sauce, anise-soaked currant fruit and dark blackberry paste flavors. The tannins are dense but velvety, and the finish casca...

Wine Enthusiast: New wood mint aromas give this wine its great polished feel. The tannins offer a counterpoint of richness here, firm and dense. The fruit takes a while to show through, then b...