Wine Advisor
La Conseillante 2010
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted blind at the Southwold Bordeaux 2010 tasting. The brilliant La Conseillante 2010 has a vibrant bouquet with bright black fruit, pencil box and attractive tertiary notes coming from the Cabernet Franc component. The palate is medium-bodied with a supple entry. This Pomerol is very well balanced, very refined and composed with very well judged acidity and a judicious dash of spice enlivening the finish. Jean-Michel has fashioned a wine that is utterly delightful and will age with style over the long-term. This is a benchmark for La Conseillante. Tasted January 2014.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
A monumental La Conseillante, the 2010 completes a remarkable decade for this estate. Quintessentially floral, this dense purple-colored effort reveals sweet flowery black raspberry and blueberry liqueur notes, more power, muscle and concentration than most vintages and exquisite elegance, purity and personality. Serious tannin lurks beneath the surface, but the overall impression is of a medium to full-bodied, strikingly deep, beautifully pure, well-balanced wine. Give it 3-5 years of cellaring and drink it over the following 25-30+.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Cropped between 16th September and 5th October at 39hl/ha, the La Conseillante ’10 has a very pretty nose where the Merlot seems to be more dominant than the Merlot at first with some lovely wild strawberry and raspberry scents. But with time in the glass, the Cabernet Franc makes its impression with some delicate, leafy notes coming through, a hint of truffle. The palate is simply gorgeous with supple tannins, harmonious dark berry fruits interlaced with dark plum and a hint of mocha, very good weight and persistency towards the finish. This is an outstanding follow-up to the awesome 2009. Tasted April 2011.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at the Union de Grand Cru in London. This could be the finest La Conseillante in many years and dares surpass the 2009. The nose on the La Conseillante is a real temptress, unfurling beautifully in the glass with copious blackberry, raspberry, sage, mineral and light violet scents that demonstrate exquisite delineation. The palate is silky smooth with perfectly judged acidity. There is a kind of...serenity about this La Conseillante, something effortless that truly great wines have. It just knows that it is one of the finest wines in recent years. This is a brilliant wine from Jean-Michel Laporte – a benchmark for one of Pomerol’s oldest tenants. Tasted November 2012.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
A brilliant effort from this property, known for the sheer elegance and finesse of its wines, the 2010 La Conseillante offers back-to-back monumental efforts, particularly given the remarkable 2009. This estate has been on a hot streak of late. The 2010 is a slightly bigger, richer wine, but without losing its floral, elegant mulberry, black raspberry and sweet kirsch notes. Combine those with some licorice, subtle new oak and a hint of forest floor, and the result is a medium to full-bodied, rich, complex wine that has striking aromatics and perfect balance in the mouth. Forget it for 3-5 years and drink it over the following 30.
Reviewed by: Lisa Perrotti-Brown
Deep garnet in color, the 2010 La Conseillante opens with notes of warm black plums, baked blackberries and blueberry preserves plus hints of dried rosemary, fragrant earth and cedar. Full-bodied, the palate is firm and chewy with a lively line cutting through the densely packed, savory layers, finishing a little warm and lifted.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2010 La Conseillante is stellar. Dense and extracted, the 2010 reflects the style of a decade ago, but that is merely an observation and not a complaint. Inky purplish fruit, lavender, spice, mocha and a kiss of French oak infuse the palate with remarkable depth.
Reviewed by: Ian d'Agata
Opaque ruby. Knockout aromas of raspberry, rose petal and minerals. Wonderfully sweet and bright on entry, then more savory in the middle, with very good lift and precision to its raspberry, blackcurrant, floral and chocolate flavors. Boasts outstanding subtle depth and finishes long and perfumed, with mounting ripe tannins.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2010 La Conseillante has a magnificent bouquet with pixelated black fruit laced with cedar and pencil lead aromas. It is a penetrating and multi-faceted bouquet that just blossoms with aeration. The palate is supremely well balanced with filigree tannins and immense purity, very sustained and conveying immense energy on the finish. Surely the best La Conseillante under former winemaker Jean-Michel Laporte. Tasted from an ex-château bottle at the BI Wines & Spirits 10-Year On tasting.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2010 La Conseillante has always been a stunning Pomerol since I first tasted it early one morning out of barrel during en primeur and departed the château a little dazed. It continues to cruise at high altitude. As much as I love the 2009, it cannot hold a torch to the crystalline delineation of the 2010. It is laden with intense black fruit laced with struck flint, wilted rose petals and hints of truffle. The château had never produced aromatics at this level. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, a killer line of acidity, a sense of symmetry and focus that lends this La Conseillante brilliant vivacity and supreme length. This is where everything fell into place for the estate – a benchmark wine. Tasted at La Conseillante vertical at the property.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Full red-ruby. Rich aromas of plum, raspberry, mocha and chocolate are energized by minerals and peppery spices. A saline, suave, youthfully restrained midweight, with terrific floral cabernet franc lift contributing to the impression of class and focus. Sweetness is leavened by a savory quality and hints of tobacco and underbrush. Tannins are suave but this firmly structured, subtly long Pomerol really needs eight or ten years to express itself fully. Great potential here.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2010 La Conseillante has always been a stunning Pomerol since I first tasted it early one morning out of barrel during en primeur and departed the château a little dazed. It continues to cruise at high altitude. As much as I love the 2009, it cannot hold a torch to the crystalline delineation of the 2010. It is laden with intense black fruit laced with struck flint, wilted rose petals and hints of truffle. The château had never produced aromatics at this level. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, a killer line of acidity, a sense of symmetry and focus that lends this La Conseillante brilliant vivacity and supreme length. This is where everything fell into place for the estate – a benchmark wine. Tasted at La Conseillante vertical at the property.
Reviewed by: James Suckling
Beautiful nose with cocoa powder, exotic flowers, candied violets and loads of dark berries. Great aromatic complexity. Amazing texture on palate with a superb precision and silky tannins. So beautifully composed showing already great harmony. Difficult to wait! Better in 2018.
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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