Château La Conseillante 2010

The 2010 vintage in Pomerol

Vintage benchmark: 98/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: The dry summer and cool nights gave dense, tannic wines of extraordinary ageing potential — the exact opposite of 2009.

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 2010 vintage concludes a superb trilogy 2008-09-10, which is reminiscent of 1988-89-90. It will delight purists with its power and superb balance, in the perfect Bordeaux style. Denser than the 2009, it especially has a more marked acidity, which will give it significant ageing potential. In this sense, it is closer to the 1989 vintage. Complex, ripe and extremely deep, it promises to be one of the best Conseillante ever vinified! G: 10 to 30 years old.

Blend of the 2010 vintage

Figures from the 2010 sheet

• 13 % vol.Alcohol
• 38 hl/haYield
• 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).