Life for the wine of Chateau La Conseillante began during the 18th century; Mrs. Catherine Conseillan ran the estate almost 300 years before today. During 1871 the Nicolas family took over the property and the plots and surface have remained unchanged since this period of time. Today the Chateau is in the fifth generation of family assuring the continuity of what is among the very best wine in the world.

D. Bertrand Nicolas and Jean-Valmy Nicolas are today the managers of La Conseillante and Jean-Michel Laporte is the director. The label of the wine to come from Les Heritiers Nicolas has a shield featuring a silver border and enclosed is the letter N. The bottles have a distinctive cap of violet which is representative of characteristic flavor of the wine. These were chosen in 1971 by the brothers Nicolas and have remained as elegant as ever in the 21st century. Chateaux La Conseillante belongs to the Union des Grands Crus and the Bordeaux wine Academy.

The Chateaux stands on 12 hectares of land and this has been unchanged since 1871 and has allowed La Conseillante to keep its exceptional character. On average there are around six thousand vines for each hectare, each having some of the very best attention and care lavished on them. These are the sole guarantors to ensure that the fruit remains healthy and which are a reminder that without quality grapes, wine is all but worthless. It takes thousands of carefully executed tasks which have to be repeated throughout the year to produce luxury wine. All of these processes aim to bring out the very best of the unique terroir. To be sure of the perfect expression all yields at La Conseillante are controlled. The controllers use only the finest of fertilizers to make up for any deficiencies in the soil. The highest asset is the high average age of the wines which makes for limited production.

The Chateau relies on green vine management, trimming; bud removal and thinning out along with leaf removal allow the staff to control the growth of the vines and more particularly to adjust the output to the yields wanted. When the harvest approaches it is carried out manually with the team focusing all of its attention on a bunch of grapes. Only perfect ripening ensures optimal expression of the terroir which enables the wine to develop over time. 80% of the vineyard is planted with Merlot with 20% Cabernet Franc to allow structure and blending that is fresh. Quality control begins with the harvesting of the grapes which relies on hand picking using past traditions combined with the latest in technology.

Editorial | Image Courtesy Of Chateau La Conseillante