Wine Advisor
La Conseillante 2011
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The quintessential elegant style of Pomerol, the 2011 La Conseillante offers copious aromas of raspberries, mulberries and spring flowers. Medium-bodied with pure fruit, seamlessly integrated tannin, acidity and wood, and a soft, velvety textured finish, this classic effort is ethereal in its elegance and precision. Drink it over the next 10-15 years.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The La Conseillante is a blend of 82% Merlot and 18% Cabernet Franc. It has a very well defined bouquet with attractive dark berry and mulberry aromas, the terroir really coming through with subtle notes of black truffle. The palate is medium-bodied and I think Jean-Michel has really achieved very the filigree tannins this year, rendering this the most feminine La Conseillante I have tasted. It is silky smooth and yet there is certainly a tensile structure that should see it age nicely over 15-20 years. It is very composed, almost understated towards the finish, but this shows great persistency in the mouth without being overpowering. A “controlled” La Conseillante” with just a elegant, beautiful finish. Tasted April 2012.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Made in the elegant, finesse-filled Bordeaux style, the 2011 La Conseillante displays a deep ruby/purple color along with hints of acacia blossoms intermixed with sweet cherry and mulberry fruit backed up by subtle toasty oak. Attractive on the attack and medium-bodied with good acidity, the 2011 is not a blockbuster such as we saw in 2009 and 2010, but it may resemble the estate’s top-flight 1981 (a so-so year in which La Conseillante produced a delicious wine). It will provide early drinking and should last for 10-12 years.
Reviewed by: Ian d'Agata
Good bright ruby. Deep, flinty aromas of blackberry, blueberry syrup, dark plum, violet and minerals. Lush, silky and sweet, with insidious vinosity keeping the lush blueberry and dark plum flavors fresh and delineated. Extremely suave wine with very refined tannins that spread out to cover the entire palate. Finishes very pure and very long, with crystalline lingering mineral and violet perfume. La Conseillante is always a sure bet but this topnotch effort in a difficult vintage like 2011 really deserves a round of applause.
Reviewed by: Ian d'Agata
Deep ruby. Explosively aromatic nose combines blackcurrant, black cherry, candied violet and cocoa, complicated by minerals and dried herbs. Juicy, vinous and penetrating, with noteworthy energy to the sharply delineated flavors of cassis, sweet spices, pepper and fresh herbs. This very classy, perfumed winefinishes with a firm tannic spine and excellent length. An outstanding effort in 2011.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2011 La Conseillante has a backward but delineated bouquet with earthy, sandalwood and pencil box aromas, perhaps in need of a little more fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins, good body, but it lacks a little tension and complexity. A more muscular Pomerol for sure, though it might improve with bottle age. Solid, but nowhere near the class produced under Marielle Cazaux nowadays. Tasted blind at the annual 10-Year-On tasting.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2011 La Conseillante has a relative light (at least compared to the previous two vintages) bouquet with aromas of black cherry, mint and cold stone. I appreciate the precision here even if it might be missing a little complexity. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly firm and obdurate tannin. This is a masculine La Conseillante, grippy and a bit curmudgeonly at the moment, although bottle age will leaven its grumpiness. Give this another two or three years in the cellar. Tasted at La Conseillante vertical at the property.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2011 La Conseillante has a relative light (at least compared to the previous two vintages) bouquet with aromas of black cherry, mint and cold stone. I appreciate the precision here even if it might be missing a little complexity. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly firm and obdurate tannin. This is a masculine La Conseillante, grippy and a bit curmudgeonly at the moment, although bottle age will leaven its grumpiness. Give this another two or three years in the cellar. Tasted at La Conseillante vertical at the property.
Reviewed by: James Suckling
Pretty blueberry and chocolate character. Medium to full body, with fine tannins and a chocolate, spice and almond. Delicate style. 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc.
Reviewed by: James Suckling
This has evolved beautifully. The nose shows black truffles, berries and chocolate character. This is full-bodied, with very firm but polished tannins and a long, focused finish. Needs three to four years to soften, but a pretty, balanced wine for the vintage.
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
1 x 6L
