Chateau la Conseillante Pomerol 2010 750ml

Beautiful nose with cocoa powder, exotic flowers, candied violets and loads of dark berries. Great aromatic complexity. Amazing texture on palate with a superb precision and silky tannins. So beautifully composed showing already great harmony. Difficult to wait! Better in 2018.

The 2010 La Conseillante has a magnificent bouquet with pixelated black fruit laced with cedar and pencil lead aromas. It is a penetrating and multi-faceted bouquet that just blossoms with aeration. The palate is supremely well balanced with filigree tannins and immense purity, very sustained and conveying immense energy on the finish. Surely the best La Conseillante under former winemaker Jean-Michel Laporte. Tasted from an ex-château bottle at the BI Wines & Spirits 10-Year On tasting.

The 2010 La Conseillante is a tour de force that will rival the 2005, 2000 and 1990 at maturity. Just loaded with notions of blackcurrants, damp earth, tobacco leaf, violets and toasty oak, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, building, ripe tannin, and a huge finish. Sexy and opulent, yet also classy and elegant, it’s a sensational Pomerol that has another three decades of life ahead of it.

Features substantial but very velvety structure running from start to finish, delivering a muscular feel for now. The hard edges are fully absorbed by the core of plum sauce, steeped blackberry and warm boysenberry reduction notes. The finish offers gorgeous tobacco and ganache accents lurking in the wings, along with flickers of anise and incense that should guide this version to increased elegance with age. Best from 2016 through 2034.

Deep garnet in color, the 2010 La Conseillante opens with notes of warm black plums, baked blackberries and blueberry preserves plus hints of dried rosemary, fragrant earth and cedar. Full-bodied, the palate is firm and chewy with a lively line cutting through the densely packed, savory layers, finishing a little warm and lifted.

Barrel sample. The tannins are huge, very dense, packing through the ripe fruit. At first it tastes like a mouthful of wood and fruit tannins, then the potential of the fruit becomes apparent. That gives a wine with a great, final acidity and finish.

Individual judges’ scores: Stephen Brook 18.5 James Lawther MW 18.5 Steven Spurrier 18.5 Adjoining Cheval Blanc, La Conseillante has a similar diversity of soils and subtlety of style. It has been owned for 140 years by the Nicolas family of Libourne. The winemaker since 2004 has been Jean-Michel Laporte, who has maintained, and even amplified, the already considerable reputation of this 12-hectare estate. One fifth of the domaine is planted with Cabernet Franc, though Laporte would like to increase it. The winemaking is classic, and now facilitated by a new cellar, opened in 2012, equipped with concrete vats. The wine has enough heft to support ageing in entirely new oak in top years, though Laporte will diminish the proportion in lesser years. For many, this is quintessential Pomerol, especially with age. Stephen Brook: Rich, suave, opulent and chocolatey, with lovely texture and fine depth of fruit. Very concentrated yet not extracted, with a lively, peppery finish. Admirable length and finesse. Modern but well judged. James Lawther MW: Opulent fruit. Suave and smooth on the palate. Polished tannins. Rich and luxurious. Loads of fruit extract. Well defined. Steven Spurrier: Finely concentrated, irony nose; already lots of depth and character and good, earthy fruit. Natural richness on the palate, with acidity blended in and tannins there to back it up for a very good future.