Farr Vintners Logo

La Conseillante 2017

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 wine that is never forced or over-extracted. Always consistent and reliable. Quality has been further improved in recent years by the production of a second wine - Duo de la Conseillante.

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

Label

Tasting Notes

Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, the 2017 La Conseillante sashays out of the glass with the most gorgeous notes of lilacs, Black Forest cake, kirsch and black raspberries plus nuances of cinnamon stick, dark chocolate and licorice. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has a firm, finely grained texture with bags of perfumed black fruits and wonderful freshness, finishing very long and very fragrant. 2024-2053.

97
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (March 2020), March 2020

A young red with sweet fruit and very fine tannins, which have a creamy and almost salty sensation. Medium to full body. Blackberries, dark chocolate and bark. Some black tea, too. It shows an energy and tension. The creamy tannins give polish and beauty. Better after 2023.

95
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, January 2020

Harvest began with the Merlots on gravel at La Conseillante, on 5 September. The temperature dropped, and they had 30mm of rain on the 9th, so they stopped and restarted in mid-September, not picking the Cabernet Franc until 29 September. With 15% lost to frost (just 1.5ha entirely lost), the final yield was 34hl/ha, with no second generation fruit in the wine. I had the chance to taste through the individual components of this wine as well as the blend, and then retasted it the following week. It's an excellent take on the vintage, the austerity coming through on the attack before it opens to a wonderfully smoky mid-palate with loganberry and blackberry fruit, showing real fullness and volume. This has texture, structure and good aromatics, with a great sense of energy and persistency. The plot affected by the frost was a Duo parcel, so they will make a small amount of second wine but not as much as usual, and the overall production will be 85% grand vin. In organic conversion. 70% new oak. 3.6pH.
Drinking Window 2025 - 2040

94
Jane Anson, Decanter.com, April 2018

Violets fragrant the nose has real charm the palate sweet with ripe fruit mid richness suppleness the tannins are discreet and velvety. Rich and ripe at the back there is depth of fruit with purity of flavour on the finish. 2026-38

93/95
Derek Smedley MW, DerekSmedleyMW.co.uk, April 2018

Winemaker Marielle Cazaux was elated about her 2017. The temperatures dropped to -2C and so they rented a helicopter (which hovered at a height of 30m) and this took the temperatures back up to 0C. On the Cheval Blanc side, the temperature dropped to -3.5C and they lost 15% of fruit which was destined for Duo. A very early vintage, with veraison happening at the end of July. They started picking on 5th September and so Marielle had to cut her holiday short! They stopped for rain and then finished everything on 29th September. The Cabernet Franc berries were very small, very spicy and of great quality. Pure, complex and totally refreshing, this is a stunningly energetic La Conseillante with lovely definition and class. This is all about length rather than depth and while it is forward and clear, it will hold well on account of the stunning acidity. This is a completely different wine to the 2015 and 2016 and it is very worthy of its place in this fabulous trio of vintages.

19+
Matthew Jukes, Matthew Jukes' Blog, April 2018
Read more tasting notes...

Tight and precise with focused tannins and a lovely texture to this young wine. Medium to full body. Compressed and serious. Some salty and dark fruit at the end.

94/95
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, April 2018

The 2017 La Conseillante displays a deep garnet-purple color and simply sings of crushed blueberries, mulberries and ripe plums with suggestions of violets, chocolate box, rose hip tea and a waft of menthol. The palate is medium-bodied with impressive richness at this elegant weight coupled with vivacity and supported by plush, velvety tannins, finishing with great length and energy. This is an arrestingly beautiful expression of this vintage!

95/97
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (236), April 2018
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.