Wine Advisor
La Conseillante 2001
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
After a precarious run, the 2001 La Conseillante was as a shoo-in. It has a seductive mélange of red and black fruit, those hints of truffle and white pepper coming through, youthful and brushing off its 21 years effortlessly. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-boned tannins, plenty of crisp black fruit laced with sage and still offering that cheeky soupçon of curry powder on the persistent finish. This is now reaching its peak and is just a lovely Pomerol.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2001 La Conseillante clearly is bestowed more vigor and vitality than the 2000. This is beautifully defined, a mélange of red and black fruit laced with black truffle, white pepper and hints of leather. Yet it still feels youthful, as if the aromatics are going to give you more in the future. The palate is medium-bodied with fine grain tannin, well judged acidity and layers of quite spices, cracked black pepper tinged red fruit mixed with sage and a touch of curry leaf. It expands wonderfully towards the finish, a 2001 that is stating its claim of superiority over the 2000 and doing it with style. This is superb. Tasted at La Conseillante vertical at the property.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
(80% merlot and 20% cabernet franc) Bright ruby-red. Plum, chocolate and nutty oak on the nose. Suave and fine-grained, with sexy flavors of plum, smoke and chocolatey oak. Supple, elegant and sweet. Finishes with tannins that are firm but not at all hard, and tangy, persistent flavors of raspberry and chocolate.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Medium ruby. Black cherry, ripe tomato and game on the nose. Sweet and supple, with good but not outstanding depth. Finishes with big, broad tannins and good length.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
This is rather jammy on the nose with macerated cherry, cassis and blueberry; a touch of soy developing with aeration although it does gain clarity in the glass. The ebullient palate is full-bodied, slightly overdone perhaps and in need of more acidity. Blueberry, plum, liquorice and game. Dense, tannic finish: this certainly needs more time and is even a little unresolved at present. Patience required but I have faith in this outstanding Pomerol. Tasted October 2007.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The barrel sample variation that I experienced in 2002 was no longer a problem in 2003. A typically elegant style of La Conseillante, with a deep ruby/purple color and a sweet nose of framboise intermixed with minerals, smoke, and toasty oak, the 2001 is medium-bodied, elegant, and clearly a finesse-styled wine that lacks the weight, power, and concentration of the fabulous 2000 but delivers plenty of seductive fruit in a measured, soft, silky-textured style. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2014.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at the La Conseillante vertical at Chez Bruce. The La Conseillante 2001 has a lovely, rounded bouquet with notes of blackberry, loganberry, a touch of espresso and fresh fig that simply wafts from the glass and seduces upon contact. The palate is quite compact at the moment, good acidity with firm tannins, slightly foursquare at first but mellowing in the glass, quite linear towards the finish that refuses to fan out or give much away at the moment. Taciturn, very well crafted and very understated on the finish that has the perfect marriage of fleshiness and dryness to leave the palate eager for more. The '01 is an exemplar for the estate. Magnificent. Tasted December 2010.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
First tasted April 2003 when it had a rather one-dimensional, toasty nose but gathered strength on the finish. The nose unfurling throughout 2003 and then stunning at the Conseillante mini-vertical in January 2006. A soft, muted nose at first, eventually revealing some liquorice and dark chocolate infused black fruits. But the palate is gorgeous, with rich black cherries and tarry black fruits. Thick, chewy tannins, yet there is a purity and vibrancy that is captivating.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
At best, this 2001 is an exceptionally elegant combination of black raspberries, cherries, smoke, and toasty oak. However, one sample tasted was short in the mouth, and although very good, hardly exceptional. Nevertheless, it is a wine of finesse, nobility, and elegance. Sample variation is the reason for the question mark. While the 2001 does not possess the weight, power, or concentration of the marvelous 2000, it is a successful effort that can be drunk young or cellared for 12-15 years.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Ex-cellar bottle tasted at Bordeaux Index’s Conseillante dinner at The Ledbury. The magnificent La Conseillante ’01 is a blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, matured in 80% new oak. The nose is a little reticent at first but then blossoms…no…explodes with violets, briary, rosemary and figs. This is so seductive and alluring. The palate is medium-bodied with firm, symmetrical tannins lending it bewitching focus, silky smooth in texture with hints of dark chocolate and game towards the corpulent finish. This is outrageously good! Drink 2012-2030+ Tasted December 2009.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Always a Burgundian, feminine style of wine, La Conseillante’s 2001 exhibits aromas of plum and raspberry fruit as well as noticeable new oak in a medium-bodied, dark ruby/plum-colored format with excellent ripeness, but hard tannin in the finish. Although disjointed, it reveals signs of precociousness as well as some edginess and unintegrated tannin (the reason for the question mark). There is a lot going on in this elegant 2001, but it is not nearly as profound as the 2000. Nevertheless, it is the type of wine that may fool early tasters as it does need 2-3 years of cellaring. Anticipated maturity: 2007-2016.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2001 La Conseillante clearly is bestowed more vigor and vitality than the 2000. This is beautifully defined, a mélange of red and black fruit laced with black truffle, white pepper and hints of leather. Yet it still feels youthful, as if the aromatics are going to give you more in the future. The palate is medium-bodied with fine grain tannin, well judged acidity and layers of quite spices, cracked black pepper tinged red fruit mixed with sage and a touch of curry leaf. It expands wonderfully towards the finish, a 2001 that is stating its claim of superiority over the 2000 and doing it with style. This is superb. 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.
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