Vieux Château Certan La Gravette de Certan Pomerol 2018

Currant, chocolate, wet-earth and cedar aromas follow through to a medium to full body with integrated, refined tannins that build on the palate and follow through in a polished way. Give it three or four years to open, as it seems rather tight. Almost all merlot with some cabernet sauvignon. Try after 2025.

The second wine of this beautiful estate certainly doesn't taste like a second wine, and the 2018 La Gravette De Certan put a smile on my face. Based on 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon brought up in 50% new barrels, it has the same supple, seamless, sexy style of the Grand Vin, only with the volume turned down slightly. Redcurrants, truffle, tobacco, hints of chocolate, and damp earth all emerge on the nose, and it's medium to full-bodied, with a beautiful core of sweet fruit, silky tannins, and a great finish. It can be drunk today or cellared for 15 years or more.

The 2018 La Gravette de Certan is a gorgeous second wine. Pliant, creamy and so expressive, La Gravette is everything a second wine should be. Juicy dark cherry fruit, spice, licorice, new leather and lavender fill out the layers effortlessly. No, the 2018 is not quite the 2016, but it's close.

Medium garnet-purple colored, the 2018 La Gravette de Certan charges out of the gate with expressive notions of spiced blackberries, Black Forest cake and stewed plums, plus hints of cinnamon toast, dusty earth and iron ore, with a touch of potpourri. The medium to full-bodied palate is packed with juicy black fruits, framed by velvety tannins and just enough freshness, finishing long and spicy.