A strong whiff and taste of oak at first but after a 5-hour decant, I must say this was singing. Yes, it's ripe and decadent but there is excellent freshness for the vintage and a lovely and complex minty aftertaste. Thickly-textured but with good acidity present along with grippy tannins. This is gorgeous now after a big-time decant and I think it will age quite well. 94+
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20-vintage La Conseillante vertical (Fribourg): Part of a 20 vintage vertical (key takeaways in the tasting story). Over-extracted with cooked fruit of on balance rather dark cherry. Dried leaves and a bit of tobacco and leather which gain in presence with time in the glass. A rather simple palate with drying tannin, lacking harmony, but with a nice red berry fruit. This was already bottom-half in a vintage horizontal 4 years ago and did not seem to have improved since.
20 Vintages of La Conseillante (1947-2020): All wines tasted blind. I have had many beautiful Conseillantes in the past, but in this tasting the wines did not shine as expected. A few thoughts: A) Conseillante is a seductive, sensual wine, not unlike more Bordeaux-esque Napa Valley wines. In fact, it reminded me a lot of Opus One, with the blue and black forest berry aromas found in almost every vintage. B) The fruit is ripe, but never too ripe. But only in the cooler years (and 2020) is the fruit perfectly pure and fresh. C) Even in the newer vintages, the (luxurious) oak notes are still present and will need some time to be fully absorbed. D) My biggest problem (and the group had the same one) was that almost all of the newer vintages showed alcohol notes that weren't noticeable en primeur or in the Arrivage tastings (and the wines were served at a perfect temperature or rather a little too cold). E) There were some beautiful wines, complex and seductive, but La Conseillante is not a wine for classic Bordeaux or Left Bank lovers. Conseillante is the hot one-night stand, not the elegant and intellectually appealing wine I want to drink every day. F) The best wine was the 2020 (96pts, the only score above 95pts), confirming my impression that it is a better, less ripe Bordeaux vintage than 2019.
TN: I’ve had this a few times before and it always needed air to open up and become balanced and round. This bottle didn’t get that time. Served in a flight with the 2010, 14 and 15, I was surprised that this was the 2009 as it was the least ripe wine in the series. Maybe the fact that it was a bit muted and would have needed air masked the ripeness a bit. After a muted nose, there was fresh fruit and lots of spices at the core of the palate. Unfortunately, some alcohol notes too. The tannin quality and acidity were good, the balance slightly off. My guess is that these 92pts are not reflective of what the wine can achieve when properly prepared.
Decanting: The bottle was opened a few hours before consumption but not decanted. I would decant this for 2-3 hours.
Chateau La Conseillante 1947-2020 tasted blind: Dark fruit, oak and vanilla. Medium- complexity only. Elegant and fresh on the palate, relatively light for the warm vintage. If this can develop more complexity it may add a point from here. 93-95
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Quite fragrant with its showy bouquet of violets, roses, chocolate, black cherries, and plums. Soft, elegant, bright, and fresh, with a bit of a reserved character, the wine is at the start of its drinking window. Drink from 2023-2040.
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(Château La Conseillante) Dark ruby color; elegant, cassis, menthol, cedar nose; tasty, elegant, tart cassis, cedar palate; needs 5-6 years; medium-plus finish (81% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Franc)
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1/22/2024 - dream Likes this wine: 94 Points
A strong whiff and taste of oak at first but after a 5-hour decant, I must say this was singing. Yes, it's ripe and decadent but there is excellent freshness for the vintage and a lovely and complex minty aftertaste. Thickly-textured but with good acidity present along with grippy tannins. This is gorgeous now after a big-time decant and I think it will age quite well. 94+
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10/2/2023 - sirpat00 wrote: 89 Points
20-vintage La Conseillante vertical (Fribourg): Part of a 20 vintage vertical (key takeaways in the tasting story). Over-extracted with cooked fruit of on balance rather dark cherry. Dried leaves and a bit of tobacco and leather which gain in presence with time in the glass. A rather simple palate with drying tannin, lacking harmony, but with a nice red berry fruit. This was already bottom-half in a vintage horizontal 4 years ago and did not seem to have improved since.
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10/2/2023 - Cailles wrote: 92 Points
20 Vintages of La Conseillante (1947-2020): All wines tasted blind. I have had many beautiful Conseillantes in the past, but in this tasting the wines did not shine as expected. A few thoughts: A) Conseillante is a seductive, sensual wine, not unlike more Bordeaux-esque Napa Valley wines. In fact, it reminded me a lot of Opus One, with the blue and black forest berry aromas found in almost every vintage. B) The fruit is ripe, but never too ripe. But only in the cooler years (and 2020) is the fruit perfectly pure and fresh. C) Even in the newer vintages, the (luxurious) oak notes are still present and will need some time to be fully absorbed. D) My biggest problem (and the group had the same one) was that almost all of the newer vintages showed alcohol notes that weren't noticeable en primeur or in the Arrivage tastings (and the wines were served at a perfect temperature or rather a little too cold). E) There were some beautiful wines, complex and seductive, but La Conseillante is not a wine for classic Bordeaux or Left Bank lovers. Conseillante is the hot one-night stand, not the elegant and intellectually appealing wine I want to drink every day. F) The best wine was the 2020 (96pts, the only score above 95pts), confirming my impression that it is a better, less ripe Bordeaux vintage than 2019.
TN: I’ve had this a few times before and it always needed air to open up and become balanced and round. This bottle didn’t get that time. Served in a flight with the 2010, 14 and 15, I was surprised that this was the 2009 as it was the least ripe wine in the series. Maybe the fact that it was a bit muted and would have needed air masked the ripeness a bit. After a muted nose, there was fresh fruit and lots of spices at the core of the palate. Unfortunately, some alcohol notes too. The tannin quality and acidity were good, the balance slightly off. My guess is that these 92pts are not reflective of what the wine can achieve when properly prepared.
Decanting: The bottle was opened a few hours before consumption but not decanted. I would decant this for 2-3 hours.
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9/29/2023 - Collector1855 wrote: 94 Points
Chateau La Conseillante 1947-2020 tasted blind: Dark fruit, oak and vanilla. Medium- complexity only. Elegant and fresh on the palate, relatively light for the warm vintage. If this can develop more complexity it may add a point from here. 93-95
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9/12/2023 - Jeff Leve wrote: 96 Points
Quite fragrant with its showy bouquet of violets, roses, chocolate, black cherries, and plums. Soft, elegant, bright, and fresh, with a bit of a reserved character, the wine is at the start of its drinking window. Drink from 2023-2040.
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