Wine Advisor
La Conseillante 2006
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2006 La Conseillante has a surprisingly rich and opulent bouquet that might lack complexity but goes for sheer hedonism. Mulberry, hints of fresh fig and prune, this is a La Conseillante that has avowed not to be outshone by the previous two vintages, though you can argue that it accomplishes that in rather obvious fashion. The palate is medium-bodied with supple, ripe tannin. There is plenty of truffle tinged red fruit and an engaging rounded texture, but now it is beginning to lose its complexity and it feels just a tad monotonous against the splendid 2005. Tasted at La Conseillante vertical at the property.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Bright ruby-red. Sexy nose combines dark berries, violet, cedar, mocha, truffle and smoky oak. Plush, succulent and sweet, but with lovely delineation to the pliant black cherry and raspberry flavors. At once opulent and vibrant, finishing with a fine dusting of tannins and compelling sweetness. This has an almost Burgundian texture reminiscent of some of this chateau's great vintages of the past. It's hard to imagine this silky wine shutting down in the bottle.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
(fined a couple weeks before my visit) Bright, dark red. Sexy aromas of black raspberry, bitter chocolate, licorice, flowers and toasty oak. Juicy, vibrant and penetrating, with lovely floral lift and solid spine to the dark fruit, mineral and bitter chocolate flavors. At once more intense and more mineral-driven than the young 2007. Spreads out impressively on the back end, finishing with a menthol freshness and firm but harmonious tannins.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Bright ruby-red. Lively, classic Conseillante nose features blueberry, blackberry, violet, licorice and spices, along with pepper and menthol nuances from the 15% cabernet franc component. Juicy, cool and vibrant, with lovely definition to the black fruit, mint and bitter chocolate flavors. Finishes fresh and firmly tannic, with a ripe suggestion of dark chocolate. This will need time in bottle but should gain in power with eight to ten years of cellaring.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
La Conseillante has been hitting on all cylinders over the last several vintages, and the 2006 may rival both the 2005 and 2000. Made in an atypical broad, fleshy style, it exhibits a dark ruby/purple hue, plenty of structure and tannin, but superb concentration. Usually a Burgundian-styled, elegant effort, the rich, well-textured 2006 is a bigger, more blockbuster example displaying a deep ruby/plum/purple color. It requires 2-4 years of cellaring, and should last for two decades. Bravo!
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted blind at Southwold ’06 Bordeaux tasting. There is certainly some lovely ripe Cabernet Franc on the nose with tightly wound, ripe black, earthy fruit. The palate is medium-bodied, rather pinched at the moment (served at a cooler temperature than others), firm grippy tannins with a gamey, spicy assertive finish. Not in the same league as recent successes such as the 2009, but a worthy addition to Mon. Laporte’s canon. Tasted January 2010.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at the La Conseillante vertical at Chez Bruce. This is the best bottle of '06 La Conseillante that I have encountered. It has a very exotic, quite glossy bouquet with great purite: succulent red-berried fruit, blueberry jam and a touch of cedar. The palate is very well balanced and generous, very rounded and velvety in texture, smooth and caressing in the mouth with blackberry, blueberry and cedar towards the long spicy finish. Could I have underrated this wine? Give it another 2-3 years to see if it takes flight. Tasted December 2010.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at the UGC. Rather muted on the nose that displays some greenness underneath vibrant scents of cherry, raspberry leaf and blueberry. The palate is much better with a fresh, yet understated entry, building nicely towards a dense, tannic, oak-laden mid-palate Very fresh, although I would like to see more flesh on the finish. I will be retasting this very soon and something tells me that another sample will show better than the one here. Stay tuned. Tasted April 2007.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at the Pomerol tasting at the Antique Wine Company. The Chateau La Conseillante has a sweet mulberry, dark plum and blueberry-scented bouquet that is less ostentatious than my previous example a couple of years ago. With aeration it offers subtle scents of candied orange peel. The palate is succulent on the entry with just a touch of balsamic lending it the edge it needs to offset that ravishing pure tart red fruit. It is still very smooth in the mouth and that belies the structure on the finish. Lovely cedar and blackberry notes come forth on the aftertaste. This remains quite primal, but it is a very classy Pomerol for the vintages. Tasted December 2012.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The 2006 is relatively forward and seductive, as one expects La Conseillante to be, with a dark ruby/purple-tinged color and a beautifully sweet nose of black raspberries, plums, kirsch, cedar, and licorice. A broad, savory, seductive, full-bodied mouthfeel with superb ripeness, silky tannins, and terrific complexity make this an ethereal style of Pomerol. A must taste. Drink it over the next 15+ years. La Conseillante has been doing everything very well since the turn of this century, and this is another example of just how strong these wines are. For older readers, the great vintages of the past (1982, 1985, 1989, and 1990) are a quintessentially seductive style of Pomerol that seems to represent a hybrid blend of a grand cru red Burgundy and a top terroir from Bordeaux.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at Bordeaux Index's annual 10-Year On tasting in London and then at the château. The 2006 Château La Conseillante had perhaps the most show-stopping bouquet out of all seventy-odd 2006s that I tasted at ten years. It explodes from the glass with raspberry coulis, kirsch, honey and marmalade, so much so that I am not sure if I would nail it as a Bordeaux, let alone a Pomerol! It is precocious and very attractive. The palate is medium-bodied with succulent ripe red cherry and strawberry fruit, plenty of black truffle, fine tannin and well-judged acidity. This is an opulent, decadent La Conseillante that is atypical of the vintage and yet you totally fall for its charms. What it might lack in subtlety, it makes up for in sheer charm. Tasted January 2016.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2006 La Conseillante has a surprisingly rich and opulent bouquet that might lack complexity but goes for sheer hedonism. Mulberry, hints of fresh fig and prune, this is a La Conseillante that has avowed not to be outshone by the previous two vintages, though you can argue that it accomplishes that in rather obvious fashion. The palate is medium-bodied with supple, ripe tannin. There is plenty of truffle tinged red fruit and an engaging rounded texture, but now it is beginning to lose its complexity and it feels just a tad monotonous against the splendid 2005. 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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Package Size
12 x 75cl6 x 1.5L
