Reminding me of the 2019 with its overall harmony and elegance, the 2023 Château La Conseillante reveals classic Conseillante darker blue fruits, spring flowers, violets, and iris petals on the nose. This cuvée is always about finesse and elegance, and the 2023 has it in spades, with medium to full-bodied richness, a seamless, layered mouthfeel, ultra-fine tannins, and a great finish. Based on 88% Merlot and 12% Cabernet Franc and aged 15 months in 70% new French oak with 27% one-wine barrels and 3% amphoras, this pure, seamless, ultra-classic Pomerol is already impossible to resist today yet should cruise for three decades. There are roughly 4,100 cases produced. Drink 2026-2055.

The 2023 La Conseillante is shaping up to be a jewel of a wine. Medium in body and silky, with exceptional balance, the 2023 impresses from start to finish. Crushed flowers, lavender, spice, mocha and tobacco are some of the many nuances that emerge over time. More than anything else, the 2023 impresses with its balance and total class. It's a wine that marries the elegance of La Conseillante with a bit more mid-palate resonance and sustain through the finish than some recent vintages. Yields were 43 hectoliters per hectare. Élevage consists of 70% new oak, 27% used barrels and 3% amphora. Tasted two times.

Just as it was from cask, the 2023 La Conseillante is one of the vintage's most exciting wines in bottle. Offering up lavish aromas of ripe blackberries and mulberries mingled with hints of violets and mint, it's medium- to full-bodied, supple and fleshy, with an ample core of fruit, beautifully refined tannins and a long, perfumed finish. Readers who own both the deeper-pitched, elegantly muscular 2022 and the utterly charming, hedonistic 2023 will enjoy comparing and contrasting the two over the decades to come. The 2023 is a blend of 88% Merlot and 12% Cabernet Franc, some 30% of which is maturing in amphorae. Harvest began on September 7, lasting until October 2, block by block.