Purple Reign: La Conseillante 1966-2015
BY NEAL MARTIN |
My affection for the musical works of one Prince Rogers Nelson is well known. He was the boundary-breaking genius who sound-tracked my youth. I can still feel the adrenalin rush, the cassette in my sweaty palms, cycling home wondering how he was going to blow my mind. Well, at least up until the risible Graffiti Bridge. Of course, the Minneapolis maestro is no longer with us. We pay our homage in different ways, mine by mentioning his name in preambles, La Conseillante by the tasteful purple hues of their winery. Perhaps they pump “Purple Rain” through a speaker system to soothe the wines through their alcoholic fermentation? Then again, Managing Director Jean-Valmy Nicolas does not look like a Prince fan. He would probably reply that the color scheme simply reflects the distinctive hue of La Conseillante’s capsule.
Two of the three joint Managing Directors of La Conseillante: Jean-Valmy Nicolas on the left with Dr. Bertrand Nicolas pictured in the vat room.
Earlier this year, Managing Director Jean-Valmy Nicolas invited me to the first-floor tasting room to taste through a comprehensive line-up of both La Conseillante and their second wine, Duo de Conseillante. These notes are augmented by those taken at recent private tastings, including an excellent soirée at “Ten Trinity” organized by Omar Kahn for his “International Business & Wine” series of dinners in March. I have also included some notes taken from my Pomerol tome.
I am not going to regurgitate the history of the property since that is all written in my Pomerol book, but some background information is useful. The etymology of the name derives from the “Iron Lady”, Catherine Conseillan, a wealthy iron trader, who acquired part of the Domaine de Mautretat around 1735, the other half eventually forming L’Evangile (or Fazilleau as it was known then.) She feminized the name to La Conseillante, thereby creating one of the first Pomerol estates dedicated to vitis vinifera at a time when Pomerol’s landscape was a polyculture of vines, cereal, vegetables and pasture. After passing through the hands of three or four owners, La Conseillante was purchased by Louis Nicolas in 1871 and, unusually in these parts, it has remained in the family’s hands ever since. In the post-war period, Pomerol crus such as Pétrus and Vieux Château Certan began to gain renown amongst cognoscenti, however La Conseillante began to lag a little behind, a period of inertia that lasted until the 1980s. For this writer, the appointment of Pascal Ribéreau-Gayon in 1982 was a crucial turning point.
La Conseillante began moving in the right direction, although consistency was not its forte. Great wines such as the 1985, 1989 and 1990 too often were followed by mediocrity. That consistency began in the late nineties. The appointment of Technical Director Jean-Michel Laporte in 2003 accelerated progress and made La Conseillante more visible amongst cognoscenti. However, the lack of investment in previous years meant that the winery required a new vat room, the facilities outmoded and not up to the task of fulfilling their ambitions. Bernard Mazières was commissioned to design a new cuvier equipped with 22 epoxy-lined concrete vats that encircle the vat room that came into operation in 2012. Wide and low, they permit more contact between cap and juice during fermentation, each vat corresponding to the size of each parcel of vine.
That new vat room at La Conseillante with its discrete purple lighting.
Certainly since 2010 when Jean-Valmy Nicolas became joint Managing Director, La Conseillante has been given new impetus. Coming from the financial sector and always attired to perfection in his three-piece suit, Nicolas has clearly instilled a sense of ambition, a belief that La Conseillante should be ensconced within Pomerol’s highest echelon. Laporte departed in early 2015 and was replaced by Marielle Cazaux. We were introduced soon after her appointment and she came across as someone who spends much more time out in the vines, a fun-natured person, but serious and dedicated about her work. Marielle kindly answered my questions on her background and the current practices at the estate.
Over the last twenty years La Conseillante has emerged as one of the finest properties in Pomerol. In this latest in-depth château profile, I recount La Conseillante’s history from the 18th century to the present day, the vineyard and current viticultural techniques practiced by winemaker Marielle Cazaux, reviews of the last 20 vintages, plus additional mature bottles back to the 1960s and also ask whether La Conseillante’s purple design is their tribute to the late pop star, Prince.
