Vieux Château Certan: The Modern Era
Georges Thienpont had married Josephine Billiet and, at about the same time he had acquired Vieux Château Certan, Josephine gave birth to their first son, Léon. As I have already indicated on the previous page of this profile the couple had many children, nine all told, but Léon Thienpont was the eldest. Although several of his siblings were also active in the wine trade, it was Léon who would ultimately take on responsibility for the management of Vieux Château Certan. Following World War II Georges poured his time and money into the estate, although his focus was the vineyard and the rather cramped cellars, as the château remained uninhabited at this time. The result of his commitment was a fabulous increase in the quality of the wines, and a run of spectacular successes during the 1940s and 1950s. Although by now usurped by Petrus in the ranking of Pomerol estates, Vieux Château Certan remained a close second in the eyes of many.
In 1947 Léon Thienpont joined his father Georges and his brother, George (note the different spelling – George was the father of Nicolas Thienpont, proprietor of Château Larcis-Ducasse and Château Pavie-Macquin in St Emilion), in the running of the estate. His arrival heralded a new era of investment and development, the winemaking facilities being given an overhaul in 1957, and the family began bottling the wine at the estate. When their father Georges ultimately passed away in 1962 Léon and George continued on, and the former decided to renovate the château, subsequently moving in a few years later. Vieux Château Certan became an official Thienpont residence, and it has remained so to this day.
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