Chateau la Conseillante 2022

WEINWISSER: "87 % Merlot, 13 % Cabernet Franc, pH 3.65, 33 hl/ha, 14 Vol.-%. Raffiniertes rot- und blaubeeriges Bouquet, Walderdbeere, zartes Iris- und Veilchenparfüm. Im zweiten Ansatz schwarzer Johannisbeernektar, Baumnuss und Heidekraut. Am sublimen vibrierenden Gaumen mit seidiger Textur, tänzerischer Rasse, herrlicher Extraktfülle, straff geschnitten mit geradlinigem Körper. Im konzentrierten, langanhaltenden Finale schwarzbeerige Konturen, tiefschürfende Terroirwürze und feinmehlige Adstringenz. So gut habe ich diesen Wein noch nie zuvor degustiert, dieser ästhetische Pomerol wird in seiner perfekten Trinkreife die Bestnote erreichen. Chapeau Marielle Cazaux! 2030 – 2055."

DECANTER: "A sensational effort in 2022, utterly fabulous and one of my favourites. Smells ripe and potent, an air of opulence and richness, so perfumed and open with soft herbal and spiced elements. This wows on the palate, creamy tannins, rich but silky, so well integrated with cool, wet stone and blue fruit nuances and juicy acidity giving freshness. It manages to give with one hand and take away with the other, a supreme balancing act of providing the sumptuous power and concentration of the vintage but so delicately packaged with layers of energy, brightness and precision. Great movement and direction. Pure Pomerol power and pleasure on offer here, exciting and elegant and really feels like it’s not trying too hard. 5-6% press wine."

JEB DUNNUCK: "A wine that has perfection written all over it is the 2022 Chateau La Conseillante, which is 87% Merlot and 13% Cabernet Franc that’s still resting in 70% new French oak, with a tiny amount in amphora as well. Revealing a vivid purple hue, it offers a perfumed yet incredibly classy, almost discreet bouquet of crème de cassis, spring flowers, red plums, incense, and spice. This terroir never seems to yield the biggest, richest wine in a vintage, yet it's almost unrivaled in its ability to deliver complexity and elegance. Full-bodied on the palate, with ultra-fine tannins, flawless balance, and again, a purity of fruit that's just about off the charts, it's going to offer pleasure with just 4-6 years of bottle age (these usually enter their prime drinking window a decade after a vintage) and have 30-40 years of prime drinking. The 2022 hit 13.9% alcohol with a pH of 3.65."

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "If you ever wondered what a chocolate, violet smells like, check out the perfume here. Dark, almost opaque in color, the wine is pure silk, and velvet on the palate. There is a sense of luxury, as well as approachability here. Viscous, deep, and concentrated, yet, also, light, elegant, sensuous, and multi-faceted, the finish, looks at the 60 second mark, and just keeps on going. This is hedonism at its best. 2022 is at the level of the perfect 2016, if not even better. This is what rock-star wine is all about. La Conseillante lovers should be all over this wine! The wine blends 87% Merlot with 13% Cabernet Franc, with 8% press wine. 14% ABV, 3.65 pH. The harvest took place September 5 - September 20. Yields were 33 hectoliters per hectare. Drink from 2027-2060."

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "The 2022 La Conseillante is a remarkable wine that has the potential to emerge as one of the wines of the vintage. A blend of 87% Merlot and 13% Cabernet Franc, it unfurls in the glass with deep aromas of black raspberries and mulberries mingled with notions of rose petals, violets, orange zest and mint. Medium to full-bodied, deep and layered, it's velvety and enveloping, with a textural attack that segues into a multidimensional mid-palate that's framed by sweet, powdery tannins, concluding with a long, saline finish. Checking in at a very healthy pH of 3.65 and 14% alcohol, it is a beautifully supple, suave wine that retains all this estate's signature elegance but in a slightly deeper-pitched and broader-shouldered format than the profound 2020. Congratulations to winemaker Marielle Cazaux, consulting enologist Thomas Duclos, the Nicolas family led by Jean-Valmy, and all the team at La Conseillante who have firmly established this estate at the very top of Pomerol's qualitative hierarchy in recent vintages."

JAMES SUCKLING: "This is sensational with extra fine tannins that run the length of the wine. It’s medium-bodied with excellent length and so Conseillante in nature. Silky, silky, silky. Creamy texture. Flowers such as violets at the end. Love this. 87% merlot and 13% cabernet franc."

FALSTAFF: "Tiefdunkles Rubingranat, opake Kern, violette Reflexe, dezente Randaufhellung. Feine Nuancen von Edelholz und Lakritze, florale Nuancen, reife rote Kirschen, etwas Brombeeren, kandierte Orangenzesten, tabakige Nuancen. Stoffig, elegant, feine Beerenfrucht, balancierter Körper, finessenreiche Säurestruktur, mineralisch-salzig im Abgang, wirkt ungemein leichtfüßig und seidig, bleibt lange haften, frisch und mit großem Trinkanimo ausgestattet, ein Paradebeispiel für dieses delikate Gewächs."

VINUM: "Betört auch in diesem Jahr durch seine besondere, blumig-fruchtige Aromatik von Kräutern und Blumen; schlanker Auftakt, erfreulich elegante Entwicklung über besonders feinkörnigem, gleichsam seidigem Tannin, grosse Länge; von wohltuender, einmaliger Harmonie."