Château-La-Conseillante Pomerol 2016

The 2016 La Conseillante is a blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc aged in 70% new and 30% one-year-old French oak for 17 months. Deep garnet-purple colored, it slips provocatively out of the glass with a lifted perfume of roses, candied violets and lavender over a core of warm red and black plums, chocolate box, unsmoked cigars and baked cherries with wafts of wild thyme and tilled soil. Medium-bodied, the palate exudes polish and sophistication with bags of fragrance, freshness and energy, sporting exquisitely fine-grained tannins and finishing very long and minerally. Around 3,808 cases produced.

95-97. Barrel Sample. This rich, structured wine has ripe tannins and sumptuous black fruit. There is a touch of bitterness from extraction, resulting in dark chocolate flavors. It's powerful, at 14% alcohol by volume, without being excessive.

Designation Barrel Tasting. Bright raspberry and blackberry confiture flavors fill out nicely as they move along, followed by a well-buried graphite edge and a flash of cocoa at the very end. Has a vivid display of fruit and the buried spine to back it up. Score range: 93-96