2017 La Conseillante

Beautiful, silky-smooth Pomerol from the sought-after 'plateau' area. Beautifully ripe, pure, clean, soft but delineated - precise and not at all heavy. Gorgeous weight, pure and intense plum, a lovely density and texture with an explosive fruit opening leading into beautiful mineral earthy mid palate. Pretty raspberry tones on the finish. Gorgeous. - April 2018

The 2017 La Conseillante displays a deep garnet-purple color and simply sings of crushed blueberries, mulberries and ripe plums with suggestions of violets, chocolate box, rose hip tea and a waft of menthol. The palate is medium-bodied with impressive richness at this elegant weight coupled with vivacity and supported by plush, velvety tannins, finishing with great length and energy. This is an arrestingly beautiful expression of this vintage! - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, erobertparker.com, April 2018

The 2017 La Conseillante suffered a touch of frost on the Cabernet Franc and was bottled 5 and 6 June. It is impressive on the nose with blackberry, boysenberry, truffle and bay leaf aromas. I appreciate the delineation and focus of this Pomerol. The palate is medium-bodied with quite firm, slightly chalky tannins at the moment. It is not a deep nor powerful La Conseillante, but it has plenty of character and charm, reflecting the growing season and the vineyard. It just finishes a little curtly like many 2017 Pomerols, but it should flesh out with bottle age. It's probably bad luck that this is sandwiched between the 2016 and 2018 but hey, you cannot choose the year you were born. www.vinous.com

A young red with sweet fruit and very fine tannins, which have a creamy and almost salty sensation. Medium to full body. Blackberries, dark chocolate and bark. Some black tea, too. It shows an energy and tension. The creamy tannins give polish and beauty.

The 2017 La Conseillante is a wine of total finesse and class. Bright, floral and beautifully lifted, the 2017 is exceptionally polished and nuanced from start to finish. Despite its mid-weight, gracious personality, the 2017 has real staying power. Technical Director Marielle Cazaux gave the fruit about 2 days on the skins, with no SO2 at crush. Cazaux added that the malos were quite fast. The blend is 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc. Frost reduced production by around 15%, while drought further reduced yields in the Franc by a further 10%. As for the wine, well, the 2017 was magnificent on each of the three occasions I tasted it. - vinous.com, May 2018

A wine compared to the 2001 by winemaker Marielle Cazaux and showing beautifully both from barrel and now bottle, the 2017 Chateau La Conseillante is a classic, elegant wine from this estate that does everything right. Revealing a deep purple hue as well as terrific notes of creme de cassis, black cherries, crushed violets, camphor, and a hint of licorice, it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, a bright spine of acidity, silky tannins, and a balanced, incredibly classic style. Give this complex, complete Pomerol 5-7 years of bottle age and enjoy over the following two decades. Tasted twice. The blend is 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc and comes from the estate’s 11.8-hectare vineyard of mostly gravelly clay soils (there’s some sand as well as iron), and the aging spans 16 months in 70% new French oak. The 2017 is a selection from 70% of the total production. Marielle Cazaux has unquestionably raised the bar at this estate, which is now nearly always producing one of the top wines in the vintage.