1997 La Conseillante
Market price
Buying options
Tasting notes
The 1997 La Conseillante is poured from a splendid double magnum. It's a vintage I have not tasted for five years, and this larger format shows better than the bottle back then. More cohesive on the nose, it is not complex, but there is more vibrancy. It's a little oaky, though the wood is more subsumed. The palate is balanced with less dryness than I have encountered in previous bottles. The larger format certainly plays a part in its above-expectation showing. It's a perfect Pomerol to pop 'n pour on nights like this one. Tasted at Burns & German's dinner to celebrate The Complete Bordeaux Vintage Guide book at Medlar.
Critic scores
Average Score
Wine Spectator
Robert Parker
More reviews and scores
The 1997 La Conseillante is showing some bricking on the rim, not unexpected given it is over 20 years old now. The nose is fully mature, loose-knit and showing more woody aromas than fruit. I wonder if too much new oak was used in its youth? The palate is fully mature with melted tannin and the fruit has ebbed away leaving a rather skeletal, dry La Conseillante that was best consumed a few years ago. This is now past its best and bottles should be opened. Tasted at La Conseillante vertical at the property.
Dark ruby-colored, with lavish, high quality toasty new oak intermixed with black raspberry fruit, this open-knit, medium-bodied, complex wine changes quickly in the glass, revealing smoky, mocha-infused notes. Although not massive, it is sexy, charming, and fruity -- in short, a typical La Conseillante. Consume it over the next 10-12 years. This wine has put on considerable weight since it was tasted last year.
A delicious and balanced Pomerol, with tobacco, berry and meaty aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied, with soft tannins and a fruity finish. Drink now through 2004. James Suckling, Wine Spectator 2000
About the producer
Château la Conseillante was built in 1750 and named after the proprietor, Libourne business woman Catherine Conseillan. The reputation of the wines quickly grew and her wines became some of the most expensive in the region.