Reminding me of the 2009, the 2015 La Conseillante is more overt and sexy compared to the 2016, offering a huge nose of mulled black fruits, spring flowers, chocolate and gravely/clay-like earthiness. This is a full-bodied, complex, elegant and layered 2015 that has a singular character and the class to drink well for 20-25 years. This tiny, yet brilliantly run estate covers 11.8 hectares of sandy, gravely soils located between Vieux Château Certain, Château L’Evangile, and Cheval Blanc. Managed by the talented and vivacious Marielle Cazaux, they produce one of the most exotic, perfumed, and elegant wines of the appellation, yet it never lacks for fruit and/or texture. Harvest is all by hand and done block by block, the grapes are fermented in concrete tanks, and the wine spends roughly 18 months in 70% new French oak, from a number of different coopers including Seguin-Moreau, Taransaud, Baron, and Darnajou. Production is around 3,200 cases. While all of the recent vintages showed beautifully, I suspect the 2016 will be the finest wine to date from this estate.

A total knockout, the 2015 La Conseillante possesses stunning depth, nuance and complexity. Soaring aromatics meld into a core of dark-fleshed stone fruits, with hints of mocha, crème de cassis, menthol, violets and dark spices that develop in the glass. The 2015 is not an obvious wine, but it is exceptionally beautiful. The blend is 81% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Franc. Don’t' miss it.

Composed of 81% Merlot and 19% Cabernet Franc and aged for 18 months in 70% new and 30% one-year-old French oak, the medium garnet-purple colored 2015 La Conseillante opens with reticent, earthy notes of dusty soil, garrigue, forest floor and iron ore with a core of warm plums, cassis, cigar boxes, star anise and dark chocolate plus a hint of violets. Medium to full-bodied with decadent fruit and a gorgeous plushness to the texture, the palate features impeccable poise and compelling depth, finishing on a lingering mineral note.