La Conseillante is at the cusp of the very top tier of the Pomerol appellation. It ought to be, given its neighbours; L’Evangile to the east, Petrus to the north, Vieux Chateau Certan to the north-west and Cheval Blanc across the road. The name comes from one Madame Catherine Conseillan, who in the early eighteenth century acquired vineyards with the current boundaries from an earlier estate being broken up. Further down the line, the chateau came into the hands of one Louis Nicolas, whose family still hold sway today, more than 140 years later; now Conseillante is managed by a council of 3 Nicolas family members. The vines are 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc. The chateau is on the edge of Pomerol on the border with Saint-Emilion and there is quite a sharp divide in the vineyards; around the chateau and to the east, soils are a mix of sand and clay, while further south towards Cheval Blanc there is much more gravel in the soils. Such stark differences make for a deceptive complexity in the wine. (NT 30/01/15)