Conseillante Master Class

Despite being lucky enough to taste a lot of wines, I don't truly consider myself a wine connoisseur. To some extent I think wine is so personal that with some exceptions (I'm always a bit skeptical of the folks who are sure they like Yellowtail more than anything else), I think there can be a broad way to approach wines and a broad set of likes and dislikes. I say this because tonight I took a wine class that was serious. Lots of 'don't drink yet'. Must look at color, then smell, then wait, then drink. Of course with a group of adults you have ppl with kindergarten attention spans who got called out directly. For a few wines at least ppl mostly fell in line (after the 6th or 7th all bets were off). It's one way to experience wine and in some ways I appreciated it. My notes are much more detailed than before. But even in this situation I'm always amazed and how different what people perceive is. And maybe some of that is training, but I also think some of that is we're just attuned to sense things differently and like different things and this isn't a good thing or a bad thing it just is. So all that is to say take what I say below with a grain of salt. I spent more time tonight on the wine than I normally do, but I didn't always agree with the impressions shared and when I didn't I called it out. And my favorite wines aligned somewhat with the folks presenting but not always and not really with the critics. Just my two cents.

I'm going to use this space to share some of the history of the vineyard as I found it quite interesting. It was founded about 300 years ago by Catherine Conseillante who recognized that while the area could be planted with apples, grapes would be better. So she took her 2 hectacres and turned it into 12 which is slightly bigger than Pomeral average but of course not that much. Vineyard counts both Petrus and Cheval Blanc as neighbors so it's not in the worse company. When Catherine died, her son decided to name the area La Conseillante after his mother. In 1871 the current family (Nicolas's) bought it from the ancestors. Today there are 12 family members with an ownership stake and 2 who are involved directly in the running of the winery. The younger vines wine is always sold off to others. In 2007 there was a desire to do a second wine - this is from a slightly different terroir where the the land is more sand-like and easier to drink early. Vines are about 30 years old. They don't do it every year and when they do do it, it's fairly small production (500-800 cases). Also interesting to hear about oak treatment which varies year to year depending upon the type of harvest it is. In 2005 was up to 80% new oak whereas winemaker says she often like the 60-70% version they use for some other vineyards.

• 2007 Duo de Conseillante

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

  First vintage of the wine. Drank side by side with the 2009. I can understand how some others (most others I suppose) preferred the 2009, but this was more my style. Great acidity. Almost more red fruit than black. Lots more floral and spicy and herbal. Maybe some tobacco. Touch of green to it, but not in an offputting way. Not the most complex wine (as a fellow taster said, this has about two different versions), but still enjoyable and quite reasonable for the price.

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• 2009 Duo de Conseillante

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

  Drank side by side with the 2007. Much darker fruit. Darker in general. This was high tannin, but lower acidity and some of the floral and herbal I got in the 2007 wasn't as evident here. Did get the sweeter fruits. And even a touch of alcohol. Winemaker suggested another 2-3 years for this to be ready, but I wouldn't be surprised if it went quite a bit longer.

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• 1998 Château La Conseillante

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

  One of my favorites of the night although I know that was partially skewed since it was one of the few wines that we were drinking in an at least somewhat appropriate drinking window. Fruit much more faded but I really didn't mind. On the nose this was bell pepper (our MC for the evening would also have said forest floor and while I see where he was coming from, the bell pepper just dominated for me). Which I guess makes sense as this was 30% CF rather than the typical 20% blend. Reminded me of that Bordeaux sweaty saddle - right after you've been on a rather intense ride and you're untacking and everything just had a bit of an odor to it. I don't mean it in a bad way. I find that flavor quite compelling. In the glass it opened up some more and maybe there were just some hints of the black fruit but what really started to come out was a nice spiciness. Some would say this is full on ready to drink and while I think that's right, I don't think it's really going anywhere either.

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• 2001 Château La Conseillante

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

  One of my favorites of the tasting (was fun to hear the winemaker describe it as also one of hers). Much brighter black fruit than the '98 right before. Prob some black cherry although I almost detect a hint of red raspberry as well. The pepper and spice is apparent right away. Great acidity and tannin and the type of wine that you was very much a baby killing. 14 months in new oak. This just needs time (maybe quite a bit of it). The end of palette lingers in a very pleasing manner. Very much enjoyed.

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• 2004 Château La Conseillante

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

  Drank side by side with the '05 and '06. Here's a big deviation from the group and I. We started by smelling all of the wines side by side and to me this was just by far the most compelling nose. Very herbal. Very interesting. A bit more nuance than the others and a wine that hints it could be in a reasonable stage. Lots of violets, black fruits, very long finish and this great acidity and tannins that are in a fairly good balance. This is drinkable now, but I suspect could go longer. Rainy spring into a dry summer and perfect harvest time.

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• 2005 Château La Conseillante

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

  Ok - I know this was meant to be one of the jewels of the evening and don't get me wrong - with some more time in the glass to open up it was starting to show some of that stuff. When it was first poured though it was one step away from hot mess. On the nose I mostly just got alcohol. Oak was overpowering. Vanilla and woods. Some leather. Fruit there as well, but in that more almost overpowering manner (perhaps because acidity was relatively muted). Tannins heavy. Felt to me like a 'Parkerized' wine, but I do wonder if partially it wasn't just a gangly teenager who will hit a growth spurt and all of the proportions will come together just fine. Not 100% sure, but based on everything else we were drinking tonight and my previous experience with the wine I think that could very well be the case. Even after it had sat in my glass for 1.5 hours I liked it a bit more.

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• 2006 Château La Conseillante

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

  Drank next to the '04 and '05. This was meant to be the 'middle of the road' vintage and yet I found it the least compelling of the three. On the nose it's mostly laundry detergent and maybe some dill. On the palette it's also a bit heavy on the oak (but without those extra intense underlying flavors to suggest it's just coming into balance). Spicy. Some violets. Similar flavor profile, but I just didn't like the way it came together in this one as much.

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• 2008 Château La Conseillante

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

  Another favorite of the night. Initial reaction was a bit harsh, but it seemed to settle down some. Maybe just a hint of the alcohol that I got on some of the others. Lots of cherry. Some pepper. Can see the mint that our MC pointed out. High acidity. This was just much much much too young to me. There's this haunting flavor to this that comes out with a bit of time. I think it might be the black truffle that the wine maker referenced (got a bit in the 2001 as well). Love it. It's a nice savoryness that is just very satisfying.

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• 2011 Château La Conseillante

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

  This was just much too young and at a point where it was on the hard side to taste. Everything just a bit more bold at this point. Hard tannins. Fruit and spice almost overpowered. Could see it being great, but needs at least another 5-10 years.

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• 1982 Château La Conseillante

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

  The Coup de Grace of the tasting and while perhaps Right Bank 1982 wasn't the same as Left Bank 1982 I'm inclined to think that all of the right bank I've had from 1982 has been pretty fricking good. Berries and spice on the nose but this is a more caramel colored wine and that translated to more of those dried fruit that are almost stewed in quality - lots of raisins and prune. Caramel itself comes through. Great acidity that lends that cleanness that I just really love in old wines. It's so precise and elegant. First pour was excellent and second pour was from a different bottle with TCA so something to look out for. Very enjoyable.

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My WOTN for drinking right now was hands down the '82 (first pour, before it got a bit tainted) followed by the '98. Both were beautiful and while not perhaps in a 'drink up stage', certainly in a more ready to drink format than anything else we had during the night. I also liked the '01, '08, '04 in that order. I thought the '05 could be good, but it was a bit of a hot mess at this point (changed a bit in the glass when I revisited,but still not at all ready for prime time). Overall though an excellent Chateau with a very charming winemaker and a very pleasant evening.