Conseillante - Pomerol 2020

Vinous

95-95

byNeal Martinthe2/28/2025

The 2020 La Conseillante has a beautifully composed, detailed bouquet with mineral-infused black fruit and touches of truffle and cedar. It gains intensity in the glass without losing any of its delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with saturated tannins. There's great depth and tension here, gliding toward a persistent finish with the salinity to urge you back for more. I marked this down a little because it lost a bit of energy in the glass when returning 20 minutes later, but it remains a serious Pomerol. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.

Alexandre Ma

98

byAlexandre Mathe4/18/2023

Wine Advocate

100

byWilliam Kelleythe4/6/2023

One of the wines of the vintage is the 2020 La Conseillante, a blend of 86% Merlot and 24% 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!

Jeb DUNNUCK

99

byJeb Dunnuckthe3/30/2023

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.

The Wine Cellar Insider

99

byJeff Levethe3/22/2023

The showy display of violets, and lilacs that get the wine going is made even better by the accompanying notes of truffle, chocolate, black cherry liqueur, licorice, and plums. However, as good as this is aromatic, the silky, fresh, sensuous textures, and the level of purity found in the multiple layers of perfectly ripe, elegant fruits are what provide all the right stuff. The seamless finish, with its energy, concentration, and refinement seal the deal. Bottled sexiness, this is so good, I could not put the glass down without refilling it. The only reason this didn't yet garner 100 Pts is the perfect 2016 is just a tiny bit better, for now. Don't be surprised to see this hit 100 Pts as it ages for a bit. Drink from 2027-2060.

Alexandre Ma

98

byAlexandre Mathe3/15/2023

Vinous

96

byAntonio Gallonithe2/24/2023

The 2020 Conseillante offers up gorgeous scents of mocha, cinnamon, lavender and dried herbs. This year’s blend is 87% Merlot and 13% Cabernet Franc, with the Franc very much in evidence, especially in the wine’s aromatic presence. The 2020 is a very restrained, buttoned up Pomerol, less exuberant than some recent vintages, but super-finessed, pretty much as it was en primeur. It will be interesting to see where this goes. There’s potential for sure, how much is less obvious. The 2020 is very pure but also lithe in feel. It was aged for 16 months in a combination of 70% new oak, 27% one-used barrels and 3% amphora.

Vinous

97

byNeal Martinthe2/15/2023

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.

TASTED

96

byAndreas Larssonthe7/6/2021

Fresh and aromatic nose with refiend spiciness, violet, wild berries, tobacco and fine oak. Great density but more emphasis on freshness than opulence, elegant dark berry flavours with silky and fine tannin, nuanced with a very long and elegant finish.

Vinous

94-97

byAntonio Gallonithe6/1/2021

The 2020 La Conseillante is a supremely elegant, restrained wine that shows the continued move toward finesse here. Silky and gracious, it’s wonderfully classy from start to finish. Lavender, mint, spice and mocha complement the purplish berry fruit nicely, all framed by bright saline and mineral notes that lend energy. Today, the 2020 is quite reserved, with less opulence than some previous vintages. It's the sort of wine that is shy in its youth and then explodes with years in bottle. Yields were just under 40 hectoliters per hectare, very much in line with years like 2016, for example. Harvest took place September 4–19 for the Merlot and 21–30 for the Franc, more or less in line with what has become the norm of late. As usual, the malos were done in steel. Aging is 70% new oak, 27% once-used barrels and 3% amphora. It's a brilliant effort from Technical Director Marielle Cazaux and her team.

Jamessuckling.com

98-99

byJames Sucklingthe6/1/2021

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.

Jeb DUNNUCK

96-98

byJeb Dunnuckthe5/28/2021

The 2020 Château La Conseillante is a blend of 87% Merlot and 13% Cabernet Franc that saw the Merlot brought in between September 4 and 17 and the Cabernet Franc from the 21st to the 30th of September. Still resting in 70% new barrels, it's a juicy, vibrant Pomerol in every sense and has a vivid purple color to go with a great nose of blueberries, cassis, spring flowers, and violets. Showing the vintage's rich, concentrated, yet also pure and straight style, this beauty is full-bodied, has flawless balance, and terrific tannins. It’s another gorgeous wine from Marielle Cazaux that will require a solid decade of bottle age, but it will see its 30th birthday in fine form.

Wine Advocate

97-99

byLisa Perrotti-Brownthe5/28/2021

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.

Vinous

96-98

byNeal Martinthe5/27/2021

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.

Decanter.com

96

byJane Ansonthe5/25/2021

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.

The Wine Cellar Insider

98-100

byJeff Levethe5/21/2021

Dark garnet in hue, the wine explodes from the glass with its showy display of lilacs, violets, spice, chocolate, truffle, espresso and black plum liqueur. On the palate the wine is incredibly sexy with its silk and velvet textured fruits. The wine is showy, ostentatious, opulent and frankly decadent. In other words, this is everything you want in a great Pomerol. Full-bodied, rich and with length, purity and energy, the wine deftly balances density with lift, remaining with you for over 60 seconds in its seamless finish. Different in style, this could be at the same level of quality found in the perfect 2016! The harvest took place September 9-September 30, making this one of the longer harvests in the history of the estate. The wine blends 87% Merlot with 13% Cabernet Franc, 14% ABV, 3.67 pH. 98-100

Anthocyanes

98-100

byYohan Castaingthe5/11/2021

Pivoine, mure, cassis, violette, framboise et très fruits noirs avec de légères notes de menthol pour un nez d'un éclat fantastique et d'une grande pureté. Beaucoup de race également. Bouche juteuse, texture charnue et beaux tanins structurants mais très veloutés. Toucher de bouche satiné et frais, très pur, presque cristallin. Les cabernets apportent de l'allonge et une finale aérienne. Superbe précision pour un vin tout en dentelle. Très proche de son terroir. Bravo ! Pour dans 20 à 50 ans avec un potentiel de dégustation jeune.

Falstaff

92-94

byPeter Moserthe5/10/2021

Etwas pfeffrig, feuchter Asphalt, staubig-terroirwürzig. Auch etwas Veilchen. Im Mund mit recht dominantem Tannin, körnig, robust, fleischig, einiges Vegetale dabei. Gute Dichte, strammer Bau, in der Fruchtbegleitung und in der Mineralität eher diskret. Mittelhohe Länge, wird Zeit brauchen, aber vermutlich immer eher mittelge- wichtig bleiben.

My Bettane + Desseauve

97-98

by Bettane & Desseauvethe5/7/2021