Château La Conseillante, Pomerol, 2023
Marielle Cazaux and consultant oenologist Thomas Duclos have backed up their superb 2022 with one of the best La Conseillantes we can recall tasting from barrel. Typically velure and generous, but somehow brighter and more vivid, the 2023 reveals aromas of dried raspberries, crushed stones, minerals, violets and sandalwood. Layered and complex, this elegant and silky textured Pomerol glides across the palate with waves of supple, hedgerow fruit, cool spice and crushed gravel. There's real depth here with lots of layers supported by silky tannins laced with bright berries. This is a suave, vibrant and expressive Conseillante packed with fragrant fruits and a long, lingering, detailed finish. Gorgeous. A blend of 88% Merlot and 12% Cabernet Franc, 30% aged in amphorae.
critic reviews
Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2023 La Conseillante pounces from the glass with playful scents of Morello cherries, wild blueberries, and juicy plums leading to fragrant suggestions of violets, dark chocolate, rosebud tea, and star anise. The medium-bodied palate is wonderfully elegant and graceful, with super-sleek kitten-soft tannins and spectacular tension that delivers an electric feel, although the finish purrs. 85% of this year's crop went in to the First Wine, a blend of 88% Merlot and 12% Cabernet Franc with pH 3.68.
A punch of floral aromatics sets the scene for this gorgeous wine, and this is a brillant La Conseillante with textured powerful depths to the blueberry and blackberry fruit, laced with cocoa bean and espresso, and a fame of juicy tannins on the giving structure and lift. Easily among the most successful wines of Pomerol in the vintage. Started picking September 7 and finished October 2. 3.6ph. 3% of amphora, 43hl/h yield. 70% aged in new oak. Marielle Cazeaux director.
The 2023 La Conseillante was picked from September 7, with the final Cabernet Franc brought in on October 2 at 43hL/ha. There were just six days of picking over 3.5 weeks. Matured in 70% new oak, it has a very well-defined bouquet with black cherries, wild strawberries, touches of violet and a hint of crushed stone. The palate is medium-bodied with a captivating, edgy opening. Just slightly granular in texture thanks to the tannin structure, it’s very harmonious and poised, with a sophisticated, mineral-driven finish. This is an exceptional La Conseillante from Marielle Cazaux and her team. It will rank alongside the 2022 even if it is very different stylistically.
One of the great wines of the vintage, and one that can rival its 2022 counterpart, the 2023 La Conseillante wafts from the glass with a strikingly floral bouquet of violets, lilac, raspberries, exotic spices, candied orange, pipe tobacco and rose petals. Medium to full-bodied, supple and fleshy, its textural attack segues into a layered and enveloping core of pure, vibrant fruit framed by sweet tannins and concluding with a long, precise finish. It's a blend of 88% Merlot and 12% Cabernet Franc, some 30% of which is maturing in amphorae. Harvest began on September 7, lasting until October 2, block by block.