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La Conseillante 2020

RegionBordeaux
Subregion France > Bordeaux > Right Bank > Pomerol
ColourRed
TypeStill
Grape VarietyMerlot/Cabernet Franc

Fabulously situated alongside Cheval Blanc and L'Evangile, this property has a long track record of making outstanding Pomerol that is never forced or over-extracted. Purchased by Louis Nicolas in 1871, it has remained in his family's ownership ever since. 11.8 hectares planted 83% Merlot, 17% Cabernet Franc. Always consistent and reliable, quality has been further improved in recent years by the production of a second wine - Duo de la Conseillante. Winemaker Marielle Cazaux has been doing a fine job since her arrival in 2015.

View all vintages of this wine | View all wines by Château La Conseillante

Label

Tasting Notes

One of the wines of the vintage is the 2020 La Conseillante, a blend of 86% Merlot and 14% Cabernet Franc that wafts from the glass with inviting aromas of raspberries, red cherries and mulberries mingled with exotic spices, violets and rose petals. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and vibrant, it's a beautifully elegant, sensual wine with a deep core of fruit framed by powdery tannins, concluding with a long, extravagantly floral finish. This is a Pomerol of striking purity and sophistication. Congratulations to Marielle Cazaux and her team for surpassing even what they achieved in 2016 and 2019 with this brilliant 2020! 2027 - 2060

100
William Kelley, Wine Advocate, April 2023

So much black truffles here with dried earth, too. Black berries. Crushed stone. Plus violets. Full-bodied. Very plush with velvety tannins. Gentle yet very structured. Succulent. Clear and bright. Superb depth and length. Goes on and on. Thoughtful. Soulful. Try after 2028.

99
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, May 2023

Another utterly brilliant wine from this team, the 2020 Château La Conseillante is based on 87% Merlot and 13% Cabernet Franc that saw 70% new French oak. Unquestionably in the same league as the 2019, this beauty offers an incredible bouquet of pure blue fruits, cassis, violets, spring flowers, and truffle. This carries to a full-bodied, seamless, incredibly elegant, layered Pomerol offering perfect tannins, the vibrant, focused, structured style of the vintage, impeccable balance, and a gorgeous finish. As always, this wine is more about purity, finesse, and elegance than power. It offers pleasure even today yet should be given a decade in the cellar, and it will be a 40- to 50-year wine.

99
Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com, March 2023

The 2020 La Conseillante was bottled in the beginning of June. This takes time to unfurl in the glass, blackberry and iris, touches of black truffle and cigar humidor, all beautifully defined. The Cabernet Franc, despite constituting a minor part of the blend plays a major role in the aromatics, lending a touch of black pepper. The palate is medium-bodied with a saline entry, here, the Merlot taking over the steering wheel, fresh and saline, a discreet touch of white pepper mixed with sage and a hint of graphite. Quite persistent in the mouth yet I feel this might close up for a time in bottle. It's quite a serious wine, less flamboyant than the previous vintage, one for hardcore Pomerol aficionados. This is a La Conseillante for long-term ageing. Superb.

97
Neal Martin, vinous.com, February 2023

A blend of 87% Merlot and 13% Cabernet Franc, La Conseillante 2020 has a pH of 3.67 and a deep garnet-purple color. It waltzes out with energetic scents of crushed blueberries, blackberry preserves, and juicy black plums, giving way to nuances of lilacs, redcurrant jelly, iron ore, and cumin seed, with a touch of fallen leaves. The medium to full-bodied palate is vibrant and intense, featuring a firm, grainy backbone and bright acidity to counter the muscular black fruits, finishing long and mineral-laced.

98
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent, March 2023

There are some beautifully fragrant floral aromatics here with concentration through the mid palate and effortless balance. A little more width and opulence in the 2019 perhaps, but here you get precision and purity, and a feeling of 2010 levels of concentration. An elegant 2020, bright, confident, bursting with life. 70% new oak. A yield of 39hl/ha. 3.67pH. Gravel and clay soils, and to keep freshness they left crop cover on the old vines but on the young ploughed it into the soil so as not to have too much competition for the water. Lowered canopy also but kept shade and leaves around the bunches to protect from the sun. Picked early morning from 7am to noon, harvest of Merlot September 4 to 17, and the Cabernet Franc on September 21 and 30.

Drinking Window 2027 - 2043

96
Jane Anson, Decanter.com, May 2021

Deep ruby colour. The nose is bursting with succulent blue fruit, accented with notes of violet and savoury spice. The palate is chalky, rich and full of structure - this is a muscular 2020. Bold blue and red fruit form the intense fruit core but the plentiful, chewy tannins immediately form a powerful structure that perist through to the finish. The result is a wine of real texture - the brilliance is that despite their power all the tannin is ripe and fine grained. This is sweet and savoury in equal measure, and a real vin de garde. It will need at least 10 years in bottle before broaching, but should be one of the longer lived wines of the vintage.

94/96
Farr Vintners, Farr Tasting, June 2021

(87% M, 13% CF; 39hl/ha; 14% ABV; 70% new)
Plump and black-fruit mulberry-rich to smell; a full-bodied, but very elegant balance, with noticabley fresh acidity and very fine-grained tannin; rich, dense, vivid wine, its generosity well-defined by its freshness, both plush and close-grained in texture, it’s ripe black fruit mineral-marked, and very aromatic to finish. A beautifully poised wine, of great complexity, continuing the recent move to a slightly richer, denser style, and this has a lovely sense of completeness from start to finish. Another 2020 that is “classic” in the best sense(s). 2032–30+.

95/97
Michael Schuster, The World of Fine Wine, May 2021
Read more tasting notes...

The 2020 La Conseillante was picked September 14–17 for the Merlot and September 21–30 for the Cabernet Franc (eight picking days), the yields coming in at 37hl/ha, and matured in 70% new oak. Of the 13 parcels, four underwent vinification intégrale this year. Iridescent purple in color. The nose makes an immediate impression, delivering pure and quite precocious black currants and crushed iris flowers; subtle touches of morello cherries develop with aeration. It is beautifully defined and the oak seamlessly integrated. The palate is medium-bodied with succulent, ripe tannins that disguise the backbone of this exquisitely balanced Pomerol. A discreet crescendo leads to a pixelated finish of awe-inspiring persistency. The old "iron fist in a velvet glove" cliché rings true here. A deeply impressive and quite profound La Conseillante courtesy of Marielle Cazaux and her team. 2029 - 2065

96/98
Neal Martin, vinous.com, May 2021

The balance and energy to this is very impressive with blackberry, black-olive, tar and walnut character. It’s full, but very compact with superb tannin quality that is intense, yet so fine-grained, building layers on the palate. A subtle and structured young wine. It really goes on and on.

98/99
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, May 2021

The 2020 La Conseillante is a blend of 87% Merlot and 13% Cabernet Franc. Seventy percent of the wine is being aged in new French oak barriques, 27% in second-fill barrels and 3% in amphorae. The alcohol came in at 14% and the pH is 3.64. Deep purple-black colored, it sails gracefully out of the glass with vivacious notes of black raspberries, kirsch and redcurrant jelly, leading to suggestions of ripe, juicy blackberries, violets, star anise and iron ore with a faint waft of dried mint. The medium to full-bodied palate is an exercise in elegance, delivering a quiet intensity of pure, energetic red and black berry layers with gorgeous floral and mineral sparks, framed by perfectly ripe, finely pixilated tannins and seamless freshness, finishing with epic length and the most breathtaking perfume. Simply mind-blowing. 2027 - 2060

97/99
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (End of May), May 2021
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.