Community Tasting Note

ikkaariainen Likes this wine:

Thursday, October 27, 2022 - Tasted alongside '08, '09, '15, '16 and '18 at a Ch. La Conseillante dinner at restaurant BOCA in Hickory NC with vineyard managing director & winemaker Marielle Cazaux in attendance - clearly the best of the younger vintages and in 10-12 years with more softening, balance and maturation this wine will easily be a 96-97 point wine. A I'lllready drinking terrifically but so much more to come and give. Along with the '09 this was the only other vintage we purchased and will cellar it for the long haul. Rare frost hit that year and they used a helicopter and on site fires with smoke to mitigate the damage and were one of the few to essentially save almost the entire crop. A master class in R bank merlot-based Bdx wines and La Conseillante in particular was had that night. This vintage is 85% merlot / 15% CF and the percentages vary slightly vintage to vintage with the merlot being roughly ~ 80-85% and CF making up the rest. Already somewhat drinkable and approachable but at this point of maturation definitely hold not drink - this will be truly ready no sooner then another 8-10 years and will then have an easy 3 decades to go under proper cellaring conditions. I think this wine will eventually be a true show case / show stopper R bank Bdx wine bordering on a cellar collection crown jewel. Paired very well with duck. Almost inky black, no peripheral bricking, big bold and intense right now in need of further maturation and balance but all the right ingredients there. Right now very fruit forward with pronounced tannins but oak not dominant in any way (we found out this is on purpose, very much their style and intent) and a super long aftertaste. Nose bold, intense and aromatic with plum, black pepper, coffee, vanilla and kirsch. Flavor profile of dark stone fruit, blackberries, espresso and kitchen spices with truffle and smoke developing on the finish. Highly recommend despite the price point with the caveat that right now this just needs to be forgotten about for about a decade.

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