Château La Conseillante 2009

The 2009 vintage in Pomerol

Vintage benchmark: 99/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: An ideal sun-drenched season carried the style of seduction to its peak: sumptuous, fleshy wines, immediately accessible.

Overall reading of the year’s season across Pomerol. An estate can depart from it sharply, in frost or hail years, where two neighbours did not make the same vintage. What this particular wine actually gave is on its technical sheet and in the scores above.

Tasting

The Conseillante 2009 has the particularity of tasting remarkably since its first moments. The characteristic of this vintage lies in the silkiness and the very early integration of tannins in their perception on the palate. Very powerful, the latter nevertheless presents no dryness or astringency, and makes the wine unspittable. If we add the significant aromatic expression, which combines black fruits, violet, licorice and fresh almond, we obtain a wine with superb balance and exceptional length given its young age. G: 8 to 30 years old.

Blend of the 2009 vintage

Figures from the 2009 sheet

• 14 % vol.Alcohol
• 30 yrsVine age
• 50,000 bottlesProduction

Winemaking

At La Conseillante, plot management is respected at each stage of winemaking. The vats of varying capacities allow the harvest from the various plots to be vinified separately. After vatting, cold pre-fermentation maceration aims in particular to best preserve the freshness, aromatic characters and color of the vintage.

Ageing

18 months in oak barrels (50 to 75% new)

Terroir

The pattern of plots making up the property's 12 hectares, unchanged since 1871, allows La Conseillante to maintain its exceptional character. An average density of six thousand vines per hectare, constant attention and care adapted to the cultivation of the vine — the only guarantees of impeccable vine health — are a reminder that without quality fruit, wine is nothing. The terroir is composed of 60% grey clay and 40% sandy gravel, resting on red clay (crasse de fer).