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Paris, Île-de-France, France

Château La Conseillante 2016



The 2016 La Conseillante is a blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc aged in 70% new and 30% one-year-old French oak for 17 months. Deep garnet-purple colored, it slips provocatively out of the glass with a lifted perfume of roses, candied violets and lavender over a core of warm red and black plums, chocolate box, unsmoked cigars and baked cherries with wafts of wild thyme and tilled soil.

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Winery
Top 100 wines in france
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Merlot
Cabernet Franc

Château La Conseillante 2016



The 2016 La Conseillante is a blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc aged in 70% new and 30% one-year-old French oak for 17 months. Deep garnet-purple colored, it slips provocatively out of the glass with a lifted perfume of roses, candied violets and lavender over a core of warm red and black plums, chocolate box, unsmoked cigars and baked cherries with wafts of wild thyme and tilled soil. Medium-bodied, the palate exudes polish and sophistication with bags of fragrance, freshness and energy, sporting exquisitely fine-grained tannins and finishing very long and minerally. Around 3,808 cases produced.


A NEW ERA

Château La Conseillante, one of the most emblematic properties of Pomerol and Bordeaux's right bank, is in constant pursuit of higher levels of excellence. An example of this is its new vat cellar. Built in 2012, it enables a separate vinification of each of the vineyard's plots.

The vineyard is situated in unique terroir, in predominantly clay soil, and is made up of 80% Merlot, which gives round, full and smooth wines. The remaining 20% is Cabernet Franc, planted in gravel soils, which brings structure and freshness to the blend.

“Reasoned” environmentally-aware vine growing methods, controlled yields, the search for perfect ripeness of fruit, strict berry sorting and vine replanting programmes are now backed up by an unparalleled plot by plot vinification tool. 



La Conseillante has acquired modern, high-performing facilities, a special feature of which is a new vat cellar, which enables individual, tailor-made vinifications of the 18 vineyard plots that cover the estate's 12 hectares (30 acres). 

Its vineyard, located in the heart of the finest Pomerol terroir, has remained unchanged since its creation. While this in itself is a guarantee of excellence, the consistency of quality in La Conseillante wines comes above all from the care and attention given over 145 vintages by successive generations of the Nicolas family, who have skilfully preserved and passed on this unique heritage. 

La Conseillante has a style like no other. Each vintage shows its characteristic bright, deep ruby hue. The nose reveals complex aromas of violets, liquorice and truffles mingling with red berry fruit. The wines display outstanding harmony, finesse and complexity.

In 2007, Château La Conseillante launched its Second Wine “Duo de Conseillante”. Made with fruit from younger vines, “Duo” nevertheless expresses all the complexity and elegance of this great Pomerol terroir with its hints of liquorice, violets and red berry fruit.


A UNIQUE TERROIR

The concept of terroir is based on three interacting factors: soil type, climate and grape varieties; all three are inextricably interconnected.

Soil plays a decisive role in the making of great wines. At La Conseillante it is mostly clay with some gravel, under which there is a sub-soil containing iron deposits (crasse de fer).

The estate enjoys a temperate oceanic climate, the variability of which influences the style of the vintage. A combination of remarkably long periods of sunshine with favourable rainfall creates the conditions for optimal vine growth.



80% of the vineyard is made up Merlot, said to be the black pearl of great Pomerol wines. It brings roundness, fullness and smoothness to the wines. The remaining 20%, which grows mainly on gravel soils, is Cabernet Franc, which contributes freshness and structure to the blend.

To be sure that La Conseillante's typicity is preserved, replanting is phased in on a gradual basis. An average age of the vines of around 30 years is carefully maintained.


TRADITIONAL AND MODERN

To enable the terroir to perform at its best, yields at La Conseillante must be limited to around 40 hectolitres per hectare.Rigorous Double Guyot winter pruning helps keep down the crop size.

The soils are managed following the time-honoured “quatre façons” traditions of great Bordeaux growths and without any use of herbicides. The soils are ploughed four times during the growing season, which stops any weeds growing and regulates the vines' supply of water.

The vines therefore keep their balance, both in terms of water and mineral supply. This favours optimal production and ripening.



Vine canopy management tasks (trimming, de-budding, crop thinning and de-leafing) enable vegetation growth to be kept under control and the crop size to be adjusted to the desired yield.

An optimal amount of leaves, which are the real lungs of the vine, contribute to the organoleptic quality of the berries, synthesising essential ingredients such as anthocyanins and aromas.

The harvesting has always been manual, and as it approaches the vineyard crew focus all their attention on the vines and the ripening bunches. Perfectly ripe grapes bring out the optimal expression of the terroir and provide the wine with its ability to age well over time. The supple, round Merlot is the first to ripen. Then comes the Cabernet Franc.



The search for excellence starts right from the beginning of the picking and continues throughout the period of the vintage. A first sorting of the fruit is done in the vines as the bunches are being picked. The grapes are then conveyed to the cellars in small crates, so as not to damage the fruit in any way. The position of the cellars, right in the middle of the vineyard, means that transfer time is reduced and any oxidation of the fruit is avoided.

Loyal to its philosophy of combining the advantages of traditional methods with modern techniques, Château La Conseillante has a state-of-the-art harvest reception facility, which was introduced when the new vat cellar was put into operation. It is made up of a line of four sorting tables together with a bunch de-stemmer that allows the gentle separation of the berries from the stems.


NEW HIGH-PERFORMING FACILITIES

The vat cellar was designed by Bernard Mazières, whose savoir-faire in winery creations is well recognised.

The style of the new cellar, which was used for the first time for the 2012 vintage, was inspired by the traditional right bank vat cellar, combining simplicity and sobriety and the use of noble materials, such as stone, timber and brushed metal.

It is very bright and faces the vineyard with large horizontal windows affording extensive views over the vines both from the vat cellar itself and from the first floor, where offices, a meeting room and a tasting room have been built.



With its oval-shaped design, the vat cellar is spacious and enables cellar tasks for the 22 epoxy-lined concrete vats to be organised and carried out in the smoothest way possible. Wider and lower, these vats allow a naturally greater contact between the cap of skins and the must during the vinification. Their number and the capacity of each vat have been calculated to correspond as closely as possible to the surface areas of the vineyard's plots. Each plot is therefore attributed a specific vat. The access hatches on the top of the vats are wide and centrally positioned for optimal soaking of the cap during pump-overs. The way in which the vat cellar was designed also enables the building to be accessed easily and for logistical operations to function smoothly:

The harvest reception line, which is incorporated entirely within the new building, runs to the centre of the vat cellar, and the transfer of berries into the vats is done using mobile equipment which is gentler on the fruit and easy to position next to each vat.The flow of people and materials and access between the vat cellar and the barrel cellar have been enhanced.The vat cellar is also an ideal venue for dinners and tastings, extending its use beyond just the vinification period.A tasting room overlooking the vineyard and vat cellar is ideally located for welcoming wine professionals. 


TERROIR EXPRESSION

Bringing out the best expression of the terroir is the winemaker's task at this point.

When the berries have gone into the vats, a pre-fermentation cold soak of the skins is done at around 10 to 12°C for a period of 48 to 96 hours, depending on the characteristics of the vintage. This is followed by the alcoholic fermentation and then one to two weeks of maceration.

When the vatting period is finished, the running off operation separates the free-run wine from the marc (the solid parts), which is gently pressed using a traditional vertical press. The resulting press wine is aged separately.

If the quality of the press wine is high enough, a proportion of it may be blended with the free-run wine to enhance the tannic balance, combining volume, structure and finesse.



For the ageing process La Conseillante uses between 50% and 80% new barrels, depending on the vintage. They are sourced from several coopers so as to avoid any one type of oak dominating the aromas and to enhance the complexity of the wine. On average, the wine stays in barrel for 18 months.

At the end of January or beginning of February, the first racking, using a traditional bellow pump, is carried out to eliminate the solid particles that have formed a deposit in the barrels. The wines are then racked again, according to the oxygen requirements of the wine.

At La Conseillante, the wines are fined with whisked egg whites at the end of the ageing period, using two or three whites per barrel. This fining, the length of time spent in barrels and the racking make the wines remarkably clear and bright, making filtering unnecessary.



The wines are blended in spring. The barrels are tasted one by one and then blended to achieve the best possible balance.

The 18-month ageing period then comes to an end, and the wines are bottled.

The bottle used for Château La Conseillante is unique. It is made from a specific mould and carries its own laser markings.

Since 1971, eminent oenologists have contributed their expertise and experience to Château La Conseillante. The first were Professors Peynaud and Ribereau-Gayon, then Gilles Pauquet and Jean-Claude Berrouet, and Michel Rolland since 2013.



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