Wine Advisor
La Conseillante 1998
View analysis
Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
While this wine's positive attributes include its openness, undeniably sexy voluptuousness and forwardness, I wonder if it could not be even better with slightly more intensity and concentration? The medium-bodied 1998 is a dark ruby color, and the wine offers fragrant peppery, raspberry jam, and cherry notes along with toasty oak and licorice scents. In the mouth, its finesse, elegance, and velvety texture are noteworthy. Because of its low acidity and forward, open-knit style, this wine will be drinkable upon release, and keep for 12-15 years.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at the La Conseillante vertical at Chez Bruce. The first bottle is oxidized, the second better with an intense bouquet with hints of mint, coca and mocha, showing more Cabernet Franc character than recent bottles, with impressive delineation. The palate is medium-bodied, quite fresh and vibrant with grainy tannins, good acidity and persistency with a meaty, savoury, Cabernet Franc driven finish. Very fine and it improves with time, with an edgy citrus finish and delicious dark chocolate/espresso decorating the aftertaste. I have had better bottles of the '98, but this is still a lovely Pomerol that should enter its plateau in the next couple of years. Tasted December 2010.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
This wine has developed gorgeously during its elevage in barrel. The dense ruby/purple color is accompanied by explosive aromas of black raspberries, cherries, licorice, dried herbs, and sweet, toasty oak, layers of fruit on the mid-palate, a supple, seamless texture, and glorious length. While not massive (La Conseillante never is), its succulence, flamboyant aromatics, and harmonious finish grab the taster's attention. Drink it over the next two decades. This wine has put on considerable weight since it was tasted last year.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
It is difficult to split straws between this and the 2000 - perhaps this just has the upper hand because of its breeding and complexity. A sumptuous blackberry and cassis palate tinged with espresso towards the finish. Superb length - even longer than the 2000. A wine just getting into its stride but it is still in the ascent. Tasted January 2006.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Ex-cellar bottle tasted at Bordeaux Index’s Conseillante dinner at The Ledbury. It is still difficult to choose between the 1998 and 2000 La Conseillante although the 1998 is offering more pleasure at the cusp of its teenage years. It has an opulent, ravishing bouquet that is very sexy and pure with the Merlot completely in control. The palate has very fine cohesive tannins, hints of dark chocolate and espresso interleaving the black fruits with a very harmonious caressing finish. Drink now-2020+ Tasted December 2009.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at Roberson’s Pomerol tasting. The La Conseillante ‘98 has a very fine, minerally, well-defined bouquet where the Merlot dominates at first but moves aside for the Cabernet Franc to become more pronounced with aeration. There are touches of Italian deli, sea salt and thyme inflecting the precise dark fruits. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, good acidity and weight, just a little top-heaving towards the finish that needs more time to coalesce. There is lovely poise and focus here, the acidity imparting great vivacity with a savoury/dried blood aftertaste and yet there remains a sense of a La Conseillante only beginning its journey. Drink 2016-2030+ Tasted November 2010.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
An evolved dark plum/garnet color is followed by captivating, sexy, raspberry, soy, Asian spice, kirsch liqueur, and toasty vanillin aromas. While not a blockbuster, this opulently-textured, medium-bodied effort is a model of elegance, harmony, finesse, and complexity. This wine's low acidity as well as wonderfully ripe fruit invite immediate consumption; it should last for 12-15 years.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 1998 La Conseillante is a wine that I had not encountered since 2010. This is certainly more vigorous than the previous three vintages: raspberry and crushed strawberry fruit, hints of mocha and leather, and a sprig of wild heather in the background all with fine delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with taut tannin and a superb line of acidity that maintains the vigor of this Pomerol. It feels tensile and alive; a blend of red and black fruit mixed with black truffle, clove and sage, leading to a sustained finish that fans out with confidence. At twenty years old the 1998 La Conseillante continues to state its claim as the best wine of that decade. Tasted at La Conseillante vertical at the property.
About the Producer
Chateau La Conseillante is located in the Pomerol appellation on the right bank of Bordeaux, France, next to Vieux Chateau Certan and Chateau L'Evangile, and is one of the best châteaux in Pomerol. The vineyard covers an area of 11.8 hectares with a topsoil of 60% grey clay and 40% gravel and a subsoil of red clay rich in iron. The vineyard is planted with 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc. The Merlot is planted mainly on clay plots, while the Cabernet Franc is planted mainly on gravel. The average age of the vines is 35 years and the planting density is 7,000 vines per hectare. The winery uses traditional vineyard management practices, eliminating the use of herbicides. During the growing season, the land is usually plowed four times to suppress weed growth and thus obtain more water for the vines. In the winter, the vines are pruned in a strict Simple Guyot and Double Guyot style. In addition, the vineyards are de-leafed and de-budded to keep yields at around 4,000 liters per hectare. At harvest time, the grapes are hand-picked to their optimum ripeness and a preliminary selection is carried out. Once the selection is complete, the grapes are transported in small batches to the winery to prevent crushing of the fruit. The winery is located in the heart of the vineyard, which shortens the transportation time and ensures that the grapes are fresh and ready for fermentation. In 2012, the winery added a new fermentation room with enough temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks to ferment the grapes from each of the 18 plots separately, combining traditional winemaking techniques with modern technology. In addition, the winery now has four sorting tables and a de-stemmer. After being transferred to barrels, the grapes undergo a cold maceration of 48 to 96 hours. After maceration, the must is fermented in barrels with the skins for 1 week, followed by a further 1 to 2 weeks of maceration. At the end of fermentation, some of the artesian wine is released first and the remaining lees are pressed through a vertical press. The pressed wines are aged separately, and only some of the best pressed wines are blended with the artesian wines. Before bottling, the wines are matured in oak barrels for approximately 18 months, 50% to 80% of which are new. During maturation, the wines are decanted by the winemakers every three months and finally clarified with egg whites.
1961(1)1973(1)1983(1)1984(1)1988(2)1989(3)1990(2)1993(2)1994(1)1995(2)1997(1)
Package Size
1 x 1.5L1 x 6L
