This wine possess great beauty, it is almost Burgundian with its soft tannins and sweet fruit. Pure class and finesse in this, it is round and thick, long and very yummy. No need to wait on this, pull the cork. This vintage had more Merlot than the 2000 and you can tell. A subtle wine.

A brilliant effort from Alexandre Thienpont, this blend of 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc is a deep purple-colored, fleshy, layered effort offering a sweet nose of creosote, incense, Christmas spices, plenty of red and black fruits, and hints of licorice as well as new oak. Rich, medium to full-bodied, with tremendous purity in addition to nobility, give it two more years of cellaring and drink it over the next following 15-18 years.

Tasted from bottle at Mark Walford’s annual lunch at Waterside Inn. Alexandre described 2001 as a “merlot year” and certainly on the nose the oak is not becoming fully enmeshed. There is plenty of succulent red berry fruit that has a candied sweetness and precocity that is perhaps not the typical character you expect apropos VCC. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins lending the ‘01 a rigid structure and there is certainly superior tension compared to the ‘02 and lovely tobacco-infused red fruits and spice towards the long finish. This Pomerol appears to be on an upward curve. Tasted May 2013.

This is grippy and earthy at first, with tobacco, warm stone, mulled currant and fig fruit notes. Settles down with time in the glass, showing more polish and a pretty violet detail through the finish.—Blind '01/'03/'05 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2017). JM

Saturated ruby-red. Pure but reticent nose hints at plum, raspberry and chocolate. Juicy and sweet but rather closed in the middle palate. Very serious merlot here: this has terrific penetration and structure for a 2001 from the Right Bank. Finishes long and gripping. A very good showing, but this wine really needs seven or eight years of additional cellaring.

I've found a number of 2000s finally overtaking the 2001s this year, after a long time when the 2001 vintage was clearly showing better. But there are still moments when 2001 reigns, and this Vieux Château Certan is a case in point. Slowly unrolls, gathering in power as it goes, blackberry, damson and raspberry fruits, together with truffle, toasted almonds, tobacco leaf, ash. A great moment to open and enjoy this wine, made for sharing. Jane Anson Nov 2021 - Inside Bordeaux