Decanted from magnum and drank over two hours. Young but oh so lovely. Blackish ruby color, nose of blackberries, dark raspberries, mushrooms. Some mintiness to the soft, round medium bodied palate, with black and dark red fruit dominating, candied raspberries, beautiful structure and a long finish with tannins quite velvety. Unexpectedly approachable from magnum and at such a young age. Delicious and hedonistic.
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At last a chance to enjoy another bottle and really savor it over a few hours this time.
good deep purple red color, firm oak on the nose, spicy cassis and cherry, plums, on the palate young and primary, velvety fruit framed in oak, fine length with violet notes, after 2 hours chalk and exotic herb notes emerged, at 3 hours a most wonderful savory element resembling eucalyptus, and all along the way the wine's velvety fruit become more punchy and prominent leaving it magically seductive by the end of the night- but still with a firm young structure to keep all in harmony, a marvelous La Conseillante of the old school.
**(**)+, showing brilliantly with 3+ hours of air but 2027+ for prime time drinking and a long life thereafter
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deepish purple red color, soaring sexy nose of black raspberries, spicy plums and cassis, on the palate velvety with red and black raspberries, racy mineral notes and herbal tones, generous and deep but never losing its playful and joyous tones, not over-extracted as many 2012s were but still a small first step in the direction of more recent vintages, fine long finish ending with chalk and violet notes, this still needs a bit more time to fully absorb its oak but is otherwise a classic La Conseillante of the old school that will likely drink well all of its long life, as impressive as the newer vintages are for their added power while remaining balanced- with the 2014 in a closed and surprisingly stern state and the very good 2011 needing some time to resolve, the 2012 looks to be your last chance to get this lovely wine in the velvety mid-weight style of the past that so many of us have come to know and love, showing beautifully now and with many years of life ahead.
**(**)+, now to 2040+
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Wat tegenvallend, na twee uur karaf nog niet op zijn waarde - té gesloten op dit moment en kwam niet tot zijn recht. Zal waarschijnlijk binnen paar jaar stukken beter voor de dag komen.
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Still needs 2-3 more years to flesh out all the baby fat but this is drinking beautifully today. If opened today, decant for 1h+. Otherwise, tannins are still grippy on PnP. With time, it’s creamy, lots of black fruit, good freshness and very balance and elegant. In a word: sexy. Cheers!
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2012 Bordeaux After One Decade (Los Olivos, CA): Not a perfect bottle, but very nice nonetheless. Rich and ripe, with good complexity. Black fruit-dominated, bordering on plummy at times. Very long finish. Dinged a few points for some VA.
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Bordeaux 2012 (By SS in the Ertepeller.): Beautiful, complex, creamy, smoky and luxurious bouquet with dark berries as well. On the palate chocolate, dark berries, autumn forest, beautiful acidity and round, silky soft tannin. But don’t be mistaken; there is not any sign of old age. A great pleasure now and probably for many years to come. 93 – 94
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We had this with a roasted rack of lamb and a simple green salad. Dark almost inky black, nose of black forest cake. This is a delicious hedonistic wine with a high level of purity. Layers of flavors and what it lacks in complexity it more than makes up for in hedonistic pleasure. No extraction or ripeness, good balance and not overly alcoholic even though it say 14% on the label. Will probably not gain more in secondary flavors and I would recommend drinking over the next 10 years or so but I don't forecast much improvement. The finish is good.
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Delicious now. Should hold together for quite a few years but great to drink now, I don’t think this will unfold into more than it is: a very pleasurable deeply black and red fruited delicious and relatively simple tasty wine. No decant needed. Probably took 45 min to fully reveal but was good from opening, and held together well for 3 hours +
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This is starting to enter its drinking window and displaying considerable charms. Given a 90 minute initial decant, this continued to unfurl over the evening. Wild strawberries on the nose early on, the palate slightly hollow initially filled out and became more expressive with time (and food). Although tannins have already softened I get the sense there is yet more to come, so if you have a case you should try one now and eke other bottles out over the coming 5-10 years to enjoy the development.
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1.5 hr decant and this was ready to go. This was my favorite 2012 Bordeaux by far. Opening scents of rose/violet, cherry, a touch of astringent stalkiness, vanilla. The excessive vanilla blew off quickly. On the palate, a ridiculous blast of bing cherry, clove, with dark chocolate emerging after another half hour in the glass. Close to maturity and nowhere near falling apart. I love conseillante and this made me love it even more. Wow. While I haven’t had a huge number of 2012s - I am not an admirer of the vintage in general — the ones I have had make me sure that this has to be one of the superstars of the vintage. Score: 95-96. Relative to expectations: +++
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Bordeaux 2012 - 10 Years On - 33 Reds: All wines tasted blind. Not decanted. A few observations: 1) 2012 is a good quality vintage without the depth/length of great vintages. Still, one of the better “off-vintages”. 2) Many but not all wines are drinking well today. They are generally open, round and fleshed out. 3) Further cellaring is advised as there are hardly any tertiary aromas yet and that extra complexity will render the wines more interesting. The wines generally have the structure and fruit to age gracefully. 4) The level of ripeness/alcohol are not a concern (09, 10, 15, 18 have more problems in that area). 5) Left bank (avg. 92.2 pts) beats right bank (91.0) (group has right bank a notch ahead). The overall group avg. score is at a good 92.1, but unsurprisingly below past retrospectives of better vintages (00, 09, 10). 6) There are highlights on both sides: my best wines today were Ausone (96 pts), Mouton (96), Cheval (95) and Margaux (95).
TN: Medium expressive nose with fine, ripe dark red and blue fruit, herbs, minerality, a touch of coffee. Shows beautiful concentration. On the palate this has a nice attack with fine ripe fruit, herbs, minerality. No weight, absolute finesse but will certainly improve further. Good length. Not as complex as Ausone or Cheval in the flight before but still quite layered and with good precision and fine structural frame. This is another seductive and singing Conseillante in a long line of great wines made at this property, with more recent vintages probably reaching new highs. In hot vintages, it can often be a bit voluptuous, in need of a decade or two to shed its baby fat. This 2012, one of the best wines in this tasting, is ready to go. 94/95 pts.
Decanting: Needs no extended decanting.
Group rank: Shared 8th out of 33 reds Group average score: 93.3
More information, vintage comparisons, top and worst 10 list, appellation rankings from the group in the story link.
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Bordeaux 2012 10 years on tasting: A 2012 Bordeaux vintage horizontal hosted by a private collector. Main observations were: 1/ Left bank beats right bank thanks to Paulliac, St Estèphe and Margaux, 2/ (over-)extraction was a frequent issue, making this a vintage where winemaking decisions and skill mattered, 3/ as such, unsurprisingly, first growths and right bank equivalents clearly outperformed the pack, 4/ highlights were Ausone (97) followed by Cheval Blanc, Mouton, Pichon Lalande (all 96), 5/ the lowlight was an over-extracted Pape Clement (88). Complete ranking and additional observations included in the tasting story.
Tasting note: Bramble berry fruit, ripe but manages to stop short of coming across too extracted. some fine herbal layers, some sauvory notes complement the picture, leathery. A fruit forward, juicy palate. Not much of a mid palate and the texture felt a bit rough, but otherwise sound.
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Dark black juicy fruits, dry chewy black and red fruits, good depth and concentration. Nicely balanced. Friendly and good, yet a bit simple perhaps, some felt a touch green, it I didn’t find it.
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This bottle may have gone to sleep as the flavour profile seems to have become tighter and more muted than before. The tannins are overpowering the overall texture at this stage making for a rather drying experience on the palate with little in way of expression of fruit. I think this may need some time in cellar before revisiting.
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Ripe plummy and earthy spices on the nose the moment you pop the cork. Voluptuous and bright notes, very active. After sometime in the glass, there are secondary aroma of cassis, hints of chocolate and lightly toasted herbs and licorice. On the palate, the same traits flowed from the nose. Rich yet with some degree of elegant of fine nuances revealing slowly in the persistent palate. No GAP at all, smooth transitions all the way to the lingering finish which is fresh and deep. Just some hints of power towards the end. Quite balance. At this stage, there are still many elements hiding in the core of the palate, will need some more time for them to open up. Keep for another 3 years and this will last for another decade thereafter. 94-96 pts.
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While certainly enjoyable and the first night was wholly consistent with my note from a year ago, this really fell off a cliff after day 1 and was flabby and unremarkable.
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True to the vintage, this seems rocking already with plenty of juice going on - ah, but wait, there is a lot of complexity as well, make no mistake, thuis is a classy wine, just i a playful and straight forward year. Cheers, mate. #IB
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The nose offers a nice subtle blend of black fruits. Black cherry and mulberry flavours appear on the palate with a refreshingly high acidity. The finish isn’t powerful but does persist with fine tannins. Overall a very enjoyable and elegant bottle.
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In the nose broad and buttery strawberry fruit punch, faint mushrooms, vanilla, firestones, hints of cedarwood.
On the palate tight and green - even after significant aeration. My bottle needed two days to open up to a point where it was enjoyable. Fruit is there but broad and not well defined. High acidity.
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Young and a mite aggro, but there is no regret in drinking this over a relaxed gaming evening. Balanced with dark fruits and mossy core. Mocha elements are harmonious and deliver extra silk on an already suave body. More masculine muscular than I expect from La C, but enhanced for this. Long finish where the aggro comes out and fougere, blackberries and dark chocolate. Very direct and sharp Armani suit lines. Just beautiful and pleasurable.
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Chateau La Conseillante Dinner with Marielle Cazaux (Le Cafe Descartes at the French Embassy): Intense nose displaying ripe red and black fruit, plum and blackberry, licorice, caramel, sweet spices, rose, leather and earth. Excellent concentration, packed ripe red and black fruit, rich and warm, bright acidity, good earthy mineral, a hint of slightly coarse tannins and a medium to long sweet red and black fruit driven earthly finish. This seems a bit chunky, lacking finesse. It will need another two decades to reach the peak.
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La Conseillante Vertical Tasting (French Embassy - Washington, DC): Deep aromatics of concentrated plums, currants, with some violets and herb tones showing from underneath. Rich, young, built like a truck but freshness is there, too. Plums galore, so juicy and rich, with some earthy, spicy, coffee elements. This needs 5-10 years to show its best, but very nice stuff.
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Tasted next to a 2017 barrel sample. A bit riper in comparison, more concentration and weight, but lovely balance with ripe, polished tannins, nice minerality, bright acidity and lots of fruit. Developing nicely. 93-94+
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Curious on the affect of air, I tasted on opening Lovely ripe dark robe of chocolatey black current and plum After an hour hardened up a little and became more brisk Two hours was sterner still with duller more obvious cassis and espresso Suggests to me this wine may tighten up and then be really ready for business in 3-5 years ( Vs say the pape clement 2012 which is fresh and deliciously balanced after a 2 hour decant )
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Drunk several bottles over the last few weeks and I must say, I cannot imagine that this will get much better, than this is soooo goood right now. In a few years it will be different, more grown up, but today it is so much fun. Give me a straw and I will drink this right out of the bottle.
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I drunk another bottle of this beautiful juice tonight....and after that I needed to order another case online. I couldn't resist. (It's after midnight now)
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A step down regarding complexity and power from the 2009 I drunk last week. Very soft and very juicy. Almost burgundy like. Very good and for half the price of 2009 this is a fair value. Already fun to drink now and for the next ten years. I believe this will never shut down.
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BBR 2016 Bordeaux tasting (London): More body and stuffing and undeveloped than the rest of the 2012's at this tasting, not quite what I have experienced from Conseillante before. Did I taste the same wine as the rest of the commentators here? Has a surprising amount of structure and needs more time to come around. No doubt there is great potential here and a very appealing mix of fruit, refreshing acidity and tannin with a fair amount of elegance, but to me its too early to drink just yet.
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Tasted after the stunning 2016, this doesn't quite reach the same levels of rich- and completeness. Having said that, it is certainly not far behind. Finer maybe on the nose with a bit less concentration and richness. Spicy, lovely purity of fruit. Fresh, spicy, generous on the palate wth a long and vibrant finish. In the U.K. this is offered at half (!) the price of the 2016 en primeur. 93-94+
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Floral, mint, sweet, juicy, plum, cherry and truffle notes pop with little effort. Silky, soft, and polished, with elegance, refinement and length, there is ample freshness, complexity and sweet, ripe fruits to make this a winner. You can drink this now, or age it for additional complexity. This is probably the best value for La Conseillante in the marketplace today.
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NoK Tasting: Stunning young wine that really impresses with its full-throttle fruit and harsh tannins. I was quite impressed with this and it should develop nicely!
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Atlas Fine Wines 2010,2011,2012 Bordeaux Tasting (Vintners Hall, London): Nice surprise and so much better than the 2011 which lacked freshness (Papies 87) and to be honest at this stage as good as the 2010. Nice balance , bright and fresh, young but giving, nice rich level on the fruit and really well made. A great wine. 92
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Flowers, truffle, dark chocolate, black cherry, plum and 5 spice create a complex set of aromatics. Fresh and silky, spicy and sexy, give this beauty a decade of aging and enjoy the fireworks.
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Decanted for 30 mins. The nose was very round and had lots of dark and black fruit, cocoa, smoked cedar, oak and cherries. The palate had pretty light tannins and very resolved acidity with lush berries. The texture was extremely silky, velvety, elegant and seductive. The slightly spicy finish lingered on for at least half a minute. A great wine and would be even better in 5 - 8 years time.
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excellent wine for the vintage, which is horribly over-hyped by far too many in the media. Dark fruits, chocolate and soft tannins, this is already easy-drinking and will remain open and lush for the next decade, although I doubt it will make old bones. Served side-by-side with the far better 2001, the quality of this wine really shows the severe limitations of the vintage. Still, at $70 AUD in HK en-primeur, I am sure I will enjoy every minute of my awaiting case.
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With 89% merlot and 11% cabernet franc, this is a huge success for la conseillante in this so-so year. Drink over 9 hours, the wine keeps developing in bottle and in glass. The wine is not very expressive and aromatic. It's more subtle and elegant like Burgundy. At nose it comes with chocolate and cherries. On palate it's very smooth without tannin and comes with balancing acidity. It's floral and its fruit is light and subtle, mostly black current and black berries. Have to be served light chilled for it aromas to come out.
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Smoke, plum, earth, truffle and black plum notes open to a fresh, medium bodied, round, silky, complex, sweet, black cherry filled wine that will be enjoyable at a young age.
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Goedhuis tasting at the Saatchi Gallery West London. For Conseillante was by far the best chateau showing across 12, 09 and 05 tonight. With 05 WOTN. Beguiling red and black fruits, obviously merlot dominated, floral and a tad earthy with a very refined, very textured across the palate. Spiciness kicks in at the end. Very approachable, very rich.
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The 2012 La Conseillante is one of the triumphs of this great Pomerol vintage, bursting from the glass with a alluring bouquet of black raspberry, crushed wild berries and gravelly soil tones, framed very judiciously by creamy new oak. On the palate the wine is gloriously refined and elegant, with unerring balance and beautifully refined tannins. I speculate that this might be a modern-day version of the 1985, and this is certainly an appealing elegantly generous vintage for La Conseillante that I really must add to my cellar.
Very good richness and ripeness on the nose which is still a little closed; lovely flavour and silky texture on the palate. Very good indeed this vintage, one of the best wines in the room. 94-96
At the chateau. Another wonderful showing. Far better than the 2011. Very bright nose of red and blue fruit, along with violet and slight wet stone. Very forward and bright on the palate. Great depth and pure fruit. For some reason I always taste 'purple' fruit. Must be the label. Long, plush finish. Really nice.
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For the 2012 vintage, Michel Rolland was involved in the blending. In subsequent vintages, Rolland will work closer with Jean Michel Laporte in the vineyards as well as in the cellars. 2012 set a record for the highest percentage of Merlot used in the blend at La Conseillante, taking up 89% of the blend, 11% Cabernet Franc was also included. The wine reached 14.2% alcohol with a pH of 3.67. The wine will be aged in 70% new French oak. Truffles, earth, wood, floral and black raspberry notes open the wine, but the fireworks start when the wine hits the palate. There is depth, purity of fruit, sweetness and silky, sexy tannins with a long, velvety-textured, fresh, spicy and black cherry-filled finish. 94-96 Pts
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12/7/2023 - the player Likes this wine: 93 Points
Decanted from magnum and drank over two hours. Young but oh so lovely. Blackish ruby color, nose of blackberries, dark raspberries, mushrooms. Some mintiness to the soft, round medium bodied palate, with black and dark red fruit dominating, candied raspberries, beautiful structure and a long finish with tannins quite velvety. Unexpectedly approachable from magnum and at such a young age. Delicious and hedonistic.
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8/15/2023 - Elpaninaro Likes this wine:
At last a chance to enjoy another bottle and really savor it over a few hours this time.
good deep purple red color, firm oak on the nose, spicy cassis and cherry, plums, on the palate young and primary, velvety fruit framed in oak, fine length with violet notes, after 2 hours chalk and exotic herb notes emerged, at 3 hours a most wonderful savory element resembling eucalyptus, and all along the way the wine's velvety fruit become more punchy and prominent leaving it magically seductive by the end of the night- but still with a firm young structure to keep all in harmony, a marvelous La Conseillante of the old school.
**(**)+, showing brilliantly with 3+ hours of air but 2027+ for prime time drinking and a long life thereafter
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6/17/2023 - Elpaninaro Likes this wine:
double decanted 1 hour prior to serving
deepish purple red color, soaring sexy nose of black raspberries, spicy plums and cassis, on the palate velvety with red and black raspberries, racy mineral notes and herbal tones, generous and deep but never losing its playful and joyous tones, not over-extracted as many 2012s were but still a small first step in the direction of more recent vintages, fine long finish ending with chalk and violet notes, this still needs a bit more time to fully absorb its oak but is otherwise a classic La Conseillante of the old school that will likely drink well all of its long life, as impressive as the newer vintages are for their added power while remaining balanced- with the 2014 in a closed and surprisingly stern state and the very good 2011 needing some time to resolve, the 2012 looks to be your last chance to get this lovely wine in the velvety mid-weight style of the past that so many of us have come to know and love, showing beautifully now and with many years of life ahead.
**(**)+, now to 2040+
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1/25/2023 - Suzyquatro wrote: 88 Points
Wat tegenvallend, na twee uur karaf nog niet op zijn waarde - té gesloten op dit moment en kwam niet tot zijn recht. Zal waarschijnlijk binnen paar jaar stukken beter voor de dag komen.
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1/13/2023 - ajeeja Likes this wine: 94 Points
Still needs 2-3 more years to flesh out all the baby fat but this is drinking beautifully today. If opened today, decant for 1h+. Otherwise, tannins are still grippy on PnP. With time, it’s creamy, lots of black fruit, good freshness and very balance and elegant. In a word: sexy. Cheers!
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11/17/2022 - popopdrops wrote: 89 Points
Dekantert. Pen nok, men burde by på mer. Balanse, for all del, men altså. Faller ørlite dag 2 og 3. Vent til 2024 med neste.
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11/9/2022 - JonnyG Likes this wine: 93 Points
2012 Bordeaux After One Decade (Los Olivos, CA): Not a perfect bottle, but very nice nonetheless. Rich and ripe, with good complexity. Black fruit-dominated, bordering on plummy at times. Very long finish. Dinged a few points for some VA.
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10/16/2022 - Zweder wrote: 94 Points
Bordeaux 2012 (By SS in the Ertepeller.): Beautiful, complex, creamy, smoky and luxurious bouquet with dark berries as well. On the palate chocolate, dark berries, autumn forest, beautiful acidity and round, silky soft tannin. But don’t be mistaken; there is not any sign of old age. A great pleasure now and probably for many years to come. 93 – 94
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9/14/2022 - jal Likes this wine: 93 Points
We had this with a roasted rack of lamb and a simple green salad. Dark almost inky black, nose of black forest cake. This is a delicious hedonistic wine with a high level of purity. Layers of flavors and what it lacks in complexity it more than makes up for in hedonistic pleasure. No extraction or ripeness, good balance and not overly alcoholic even though it say 14% on the label. Will probably not gain more in secondary flavors and I would recommend drinking over the next 10 years or so but I don't forecast much improvement. The finish is good.
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5/20/2022 - Sean Tay wrote: 94 Points
Medium nose intensity with notes of red fruits, spices. Medium+ acidity and medium tannin. On the palate is smooth and polished. Refined.
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5/8/2022 - jmoon Likes this wine: 93 Points
Delicious now. Should hold together for quite a few years but great to drink now, I don’t think this will unfold into more than it is: a very pleasurable deeply black and red fruited delicious and relatively simple tasty wine. No decant needed. Probably took 45 min to fully reveal but was good from opening, and held together well for 3 hours +
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4/7/2022 - HPringle Likes this wine: 93 Points
This is starting to enter its drinking window and displaying considerable charms. Given a 90 minute initial decant, this continued to unfurl over the evening. Wild strawberries on the nose early on, the palate slightly hollow initially filled out and became more expressive with time (and food). Although tannins have already softened I get the sense there is yet more to come, so if you have a case you should try one now and eke other bottles out over the coming 5-10 years to enjoy the development.
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3/19/2022 - JJYoyo Likes this wine: 95 Points
1.5 hr decant and this was ready to go. This was my favorite 2012 Bordeaux by far. Opening scents of rose/violet, cherry, a touch of astringent stalkiness, vanilla. The excessive vanilla blew off quickly. On the palate, a ridiculous blast of bing cherry, clove, with dark chocolate emerging after another half hour in the glass. Close to maturity and nowhere near falling apart. I love conseillante and this made me love it even more. Wow. While I haven’t had a huge number of 2012s - I am not an admirer of the vintage in general — the ones I have had make me sure that this has to be one of the superstars of the vintage.
Score: 95-96. Relative to expectations: +++
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3/8/2022 - Cailles wrote: 94 Points
Bordeaux 2012 - 10 Years On - 33 Reds: All wines tasted blind. Not decanted. A few observations: 1) 2012 is a good quality vintage without the depth/length of great vintages. Still, one of the better “off-vintages”. 2) Many but not all wines are drinking well today. They are generally open, round and fleshed out. 3) Further cellaring is advised as there are hardly any tertiary aromas yet and that extra complexity will render the wines more interesting. The wines generally have the structure and fruit to age gracefully. 4) The level of ripeness/alcohol are not a concern (09, 10, 15, 18 have more problems in that area). 5) Left bank (avg. 92.2 pts) beats right bank (91.0) (group has right bank a notch ahead). The overall group avg. score is at a good 92.1, but unsurprisingly below past retrospectives of better vintages (00, 09, 10). 6) There are highlights on both sides: my best wines today were Ausone (96 pts), Mouton (96), Cheval (95) and Margaux (95).
TN: Medium expressive nose with fine, ripe dark red and blue fruit, herbs, minerality, a touch of coffee. Shows beautiful concentration. On the palate this has a nice attack with fine ripe fruit, herbs, minerality. No weight, absolute finesse but will certainly improve further. Good length. Not as complex as Ausone or Cheval in the flight before but still quite layered and with good precision and fine structural frame. This is another seductive and singing Conseillante in a long line of great wines made at this property, with more recent vintages probably reaching new highs. In hot vintages, it can often be a bit voluptuous, in need of a decade or two to shed its baby fat. This 2012, one of the best wines in this tasting, is ready to go. 94/95 pts.
Decanting: Needs no extended decanting.
Group rank: Shared 8th out of 33 reds
Group average score: 93.3
More information, vintage comparisons, top and worst 10 list, appellation rankings from the group in the story link.
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2/7/2022 - sirpat00 wrote: 92 Points
Bordeaux 2012 10 years on tasting: A 2012 Bordeaux vintage horizontal hosted by a private collector. Main observations were: 1/ Left bank beats right bank thanks to Paulliac, St Estèphe and Margaux, 2/ (over-)extraction was a frequent issue, making this a vintage where winemaking decisions and skill mattered, 3/ as such, unsurprisingly, first growths and right bank equivalents clearly outperformed the pack, 4/ highlights were Ausone (97) followed by Cheval Blanc, Mouton, Pichon Lalande (all 96), 5/ the lowlight was an over-extracted Pape Clement (88). Complete ranking and additional observations included in the tasting story.
Tasting note:
Bramble berry fruit, ripe but manages to stop short of coming across too extracted. some fine herbal layers, some sauvory notes complement the picture, leathery. A fruit forward, juicy palate. Not much of a mid palate and the texture felt a bit rough, but otherwise sound.
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9/27/2021 - KenK Likes this wine: 92 Points
Dark black juicy fruits, dry chewy black and red fruits, good depth and concentration. Nicely balanced. Friendly and good, yet a bit simple perhaps, some felt a touch green, it I didn’t find it.
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8/22/2021 - levicn wrote: 90 Points
闻香有brett的动物皮毛，一些青椒味，黑果香气，入口酸度中等，单宁非常细腻，酒液咸感，黑果味，泥土气息。风格比较内敛、隐忍，很波尔多，太严肃，中后段愉悦感弱了些
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12/14/2020 - wineappreciation wrote: 92 Points
Cassis, blackberry, gravel, pencil lead; balanced, refined, both concentrated yet also light, somewhat closed, with subtle extended layered finish
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6/29/2020 - Dithiolium Likes this wine: 92 Points
Deep Garnet. Silky aromic nose led by the Cab Franc. Blackcurrent, herb, hint of tobacco. Velvety tannins, deep complex layers.
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5/15/2020 - steak&pizza wrote: 90 Points
This bottle may have gone to sleep as the flavour profile seems to have become tighter and more muted than before. The tannins are overpowering the overall texture at this stage making for a rather drying experience on the palate with little in way of expression of fruit. I think this may need some time in cellar before revisiting.
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3/21/2020 - Psdycp Likes this wine: 94 Points
Ripe plummy and earthy spices on the nose the moment you pop the cork. Voluptuous and bright notes, very active. After sometime in the glass, there are secondary aroma of cassis, hints of chocolate and lightly toasted herbs and licorice. On the palate, the same traits flowed from the nose. Rich yet with some degree of elegant of fine nuances revealing slowly in the persistent palate. No GAP at all, smooth transitions all the way to the lingering finish which is fresh and deep. Just some hints of power towards the end. Quite balance. At this stage, there are still many elements hiding in the core of the palate, will need some more time for them to open up. Keep for another 3 years and this will last for another decade thereafter. 94-96 pts.
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2/27/2020 - AndrewSGHall wrote:
While certainly enjoyable and the first night was wholly consistent with my note from a year ago, this really fell off a cliff after day 1 and was flabby and unremarkable.
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2/20/2020 - beatles wrote: 93 Points
True to the vintage, this seems rocking already with plenty of juice going on - ah, but wait, there is a lot of complexity as well, make no mistake, thuis is a classy wine, just i a playful and straight forward year. Cheers, mate.
#IB
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2/14/2020 - porkandsalmon wrote:
The nose offers a nice subtle blend of black fruits. Black cherry and mulberry flavours appear on the palate with a refreshingly high acidity. The finish isn’t powerful but does persist with fine tannins. Overall a very enjoyable and elegant bottle.
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11/16/2019 - Jumbo-Jet Likes this wine: 90 Points
In the nose broad and buttery strawberry fruit punch, faint mushrooms, vanilla, firestones, hints of cedarwood.
On the palate tight and green - even after significant aeration. My bottle needed two days to open up to a point where it was enjoyable. Fruit is there but broad and not well defined. High acidity.
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3/19/2019 - AndrewSGHall wrote:
Young and a mite aggro, but there is no regret in drinking this over a relaxed gaming evening. Balanced with dark fruits and mossy core. Mocha elements are harmonious and deliver extra silk on an already suave body. More masculine muscular than I expect from La C, but enhanced for this. Long finish where the aggro comes out and fougere, blackberries and dark chocolate. Very direct and sharp Armani suit lines. Just beautiful and pleasurable.
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11/13/2018 - dcwino wrote: 93 Points
Chateau La Conseillante Dinner with Marielle Cazaux (Le Cafe Descartes at the French Embassy): Intense nose displaying ripe red and black fruit, plum and blackberry, licorice, caramel, sweet spices, rose, leather and earth. Excellent concentration, packed ripe red and black fruit, rich and warm, bright acidity, good earthy mineral, a hint of slightly coarse tannins and a medium to long sweet red and black fruit driven earthly finish. This seems a bit chunky, lacking finesse. It will need another two decades to reach the peak.
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11/13/2018 - isaacjamesbaker wrote: 93 Points
La Conseillante Vertical Tasting (French Embassy - Washington, DC): Deep aromatics of concentrated plums, currants, with some violets and herb tones showing from underneath. Rich, young, built like a truck but freshness is there, too. Plums galore, so juicy and rich, with some earthy, spicy, coffee elements. This needs 5-10 years to show its best, but very nice stuff.
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10/27/2018 - SlimShaney Likes this wine: 92 Points
2012 is so underrated. Ripe merlot racing car within a well defined acidic racing track. Nice! But VERY acidic. Tonnes of sediment too. Wow.
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7/4/2018 - rossi.wine wrote: 94 Points
Tasted next to a 2017 barrel sample. A bit riper in comparison, more concentration and weight, but lovely balance with ripe, polished tannins, nice minerality, bright acidity and lots of fruit. Developing nicely. 93-94+
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7/4/2018 - BenBlu Likes this wine: 94 Points
Berry Brothers 2017 Bordeaux en primeur (plus back vintages) Lindley Hall, London (Lindley Hall, London): Crushed stones, kirsch, walking the line between measured and full throttle. A strong and typical Pomerol. Some upside from here.
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6/2/2018 - jmoon Likes this wine: 92 Points
Curious on the affect of air, I tasted on opening
Lovely ripe dark robe of chocolatey black current and plum
After an hour hardened up a little and became more brisk
Two hours was sterner still with duller more obvious cassis and espresso
Suggests to me this wine may tighten up and then be really ready for business in 3-5 years
( Vs say the pape clement 2012 which is fresh and deliciously balanced after a 2 hour decant )
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2/18/2018 - barryjkeller@gmail.com wrote:
Loved it - fabulous - Apologies 2 weeks ago
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1/8/2018 - barryjkeller@gmail.com wrote:
Errrkkk - corked :-(
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12/31/2017 - spillwine wrote: 88 Points
Trop jeune, trop moderne, trop doux à mon goût
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8/11/2017 - MarcelloW Likes this wine: 95 Points
Drunk several bottles over the last few weeks and I must say, I cannot imagine that this will get much better, than this is soooo goood right now. In a few years it will be different, more grown up, but today it is so much fun. Give me a straw and I will drink this right out of the bottle.
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7/13/2017 - MarcelloW Likes this wine: 93 Points
I drunk another bottle of this beautiful juice tonight....and after that I needed to order another case online. I couldn't resist. (It's after midnight now)
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7/12/2017 - MarcelloW Likes this wine: 93 Points
A step down regarding complexity and power from the 2009 I drunk last week. Very soft and very juicy. Almost burgundy like. Very good and for half the price of 2009 this is a fair value. Already fun to drink now and for the next ten years. I believe this will never shut down.
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7/5/2017 - Mascarello59 Likes this wine: 93 Points
BBR 2016 Bordeaux tasting (London): More body and stuffing and undeveloped than the rest of the 2012's at this tasting, not quite what I have experienced from Conseillante before. Did I taste the same wine as the rest of the commentators here?
Has a surprising amount of structure and needs more time to come around. No doubt there is great potential here and a very appealing mix of fruit, refreshing acidity and tannin with a fair amount of elegance, but to me its too early to drink just yet.
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7/5/2017 - rossi.wine wrote: 94 Points
Tasted after the stunning 2016, this doesn't quite reach the same levels of rich- and completeness. Having said that, it is certainly not far behind. Finer maybe on the nose with a bit less concentration and richness. Spicy, lovely purity of fruit. Fresh, spicy, generous on the palate wth a long and vibrant finish. In the U.K. this is offered at half (!) the price of the 2016 en primeur. 93-94+
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5/17/2017 - Jeff Leve wrote: 95 Points
Floral, mint, sweet, juicy, plum, cherry and truffle notes pop with little effort. Silky, soft, and polished, with elegance, refinement and length, there is ample freshness, complexity and sweet, ripe fruits to make this a winner. You can drink this now, or age it for additional complexity. This is probably the best value for La Conseillante in the marketplace today.
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2/24/2017 - canan wrote: 94 Points
NoK Tasting: Stunning young wine that really impresses with its full-throttle fruit and harsh tannins.
I was quite impressed with this and it should develop nicely!
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2/5/2017 - Bordeauxlord Likes this wine: 93 Points
A beauty that's drinking in its window now or up to another 5 years.
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7/31/2016 - ledocq wrote: flawed
Aromas started out nice, but then went south; shrill and just wrong. Will try again.
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3/10/2016 - Papies wrote: 92 Points
Atlas Fine Wines 2010,2011,2012 Bordeaux Tasting (Vintners Hall, London): Nice surprise and so much better than the 2011 which lacked freshness (Papies 87) and to be honest at this stage as good as the 2010. Nice balance , bright and fresh, young but giving, nice rich level on the fruit and really well made. A great wine. 92
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2/2/2016 - Jeff Leve wrote: 95 Points
Flowers, truffle, dark chocolate, black cherry, plum and 5 spice create a complex set of aromatics. Fresh and silky, spicy and sexy, give this beauty a decade of aging and enjoy the fireworks.
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11/22/2015 - Nicholas81 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Decanted for 30 mins. The nose was very round and had lots of dark and black fruit, cocoa, smoked cedar, oak and cherries. The palate had pretty light tannins and very resolved acidity with lush berries. The texture was extremely silky, velvety, elegant and seductive. The slightly spicy finish lingered on for at least half a minute. A great wine and would be even better in 5 - 8 years time.
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10/11/2015 - felixp Likes this wine: 90 Points
excellent wine for the vintage, which is horribly over-hyped by far too many in the media. Dark fruits, chocolate and soft tannins, this is already easy-drinking and will remain open and lush for the next decade, although I doubt it will make old bones. Served side-by-side with the far better 2001, the quality of this wine really shows the severe limitations of the vintage. Still, at $70 AUD in HK en-primeur, I am sure I will enjoy every minute of my awaiting case.
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8/14/2015 - ETT95 wrote: 96 Points
With 89% merlot and 11% cabernet franc, this is a huge success for la conseillante in this so-so year. Drink over 9 hours, the wine keeps developing in bottle and in glass. The wine is not very expressive and aromatic. It's more subtle and elegant like Burgundy. At nose it comes with chocolate and cherries. On palate it's very smooth without tannin and comes with balancing acidity. It's floral and its fruit is light and subtle, mostly black current and black berries. Have to be served light chilled for it aromas to come out.
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5/15/2015 - Jeff Leve wrote: 95 Points
Smoke, plum, earth, truffle and black plum notes open to a fresh, medium bodied, round, silky, complex, sweet, black cherry filled wine that will be enjoyable at a young age.
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4/23/2015 - RayOB Likes this wine: 96 Points
Goedhius Bordeaux Cru Classe Tasting 2015 (Saatchi Gallery): So open rich and drinkable. Lovely
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4/23/2015 - MEKWINE wrote: 94 Points
Goedhuis tasting at the Saatchi Gallery West London. For Conseillante was by far the best chateau showing across 12, 09 and 05 tonight. With 05 WOTN. Beguiling red and black fruits, obviously merlot dominated, floral and a tad earthy with a very refined, very textured across the palate. Spiciness kicks in at the end. Very approachable, very rich.
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3/3/2015 - William Kelley wrote: 95 Points
The 2012 La Conseillante is one of the triumphs of this great Pomerol vintage, bursting from the glass with a alluring bouquet of black raspberry, crushed wild berries and gravelly soil tones, framed very judiciously by creamy new oak. On the palate the wine is gloriously refined and elegant, with unerring balance and beautifully refined tannins. I speculate that this might be a modern-day version of the 1985, and this is certainly an appealing elegantly generous vintage for La Conseillante that I really must add to my cellar.
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10/23/2014 - vespasian Likes this wine: 95 Points
Very good richness and ripeness on the nose which is still a little closed; lovely flavour and silky texture on the palate. Very good indeed this vintage, one of the best wines in the room. 94-96
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6/27/2013 - johnh1001 wrote: 96 Points
At the chateau. Another wonderful showing. Far better than the 2011. Very bright nose of red and blue fruit, along with violet and slight wet stone. Very forward and bright on the palate. Great depth and pure fruit. For some reason I always taste 'purple' fruit. Must be the label. Long, plush finish. Really nice.
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4/26/2013 - Jeff Leve wrote: 95 Points
For the 2012 vintage, Michel Rolland was involved in the blending. In subsequent vintages, Rolland will work closer with Jean Michel Laporte in the vineyards as well as in the cellars. 2012 set a record for the highest percentage of Merlot used in the blend at La Conseillante, taking up 89% of the blend, 11% Cabernet Franc was also included. The wine reached 14.2% alcohol with a pH of 3.67. The wine will be aged in 70% new French oak. Truffles, earth, wood, floral and black raspberry notes open the wine, but the fireworks start when the wine hits the palate. There is depth, purity of fruit, sweetness and silky, sexy tannins with a long, velvety-textured, fresh, spicy and black cherry-filled finish. 94-96 Pts
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