Bordeaux 2015: La Conseillante, Ausone & Cheval Blanc

The last releases of the campaign with three high scoring Right Bank wines:

LA CONSEILLANTE - £1,235 per 12.  La Conseillante has a new winemaker this year with Marielle Cazaux now at the helm.  Her first vintage is a great success and the price is cheaper than the 2005 (97 WA, £1650), 2009 and 2010 (both 96 WA and trading around £1350-£1400).
95-97 Neal Martin "extraordinarily pure and elegant on the nose. Here, I find a little more red fruit than black fruit, extremely elegant and articulating the terroir with great clarity. At first, wild strawberry and cranberry, then crushed stone, a touch of black truffle and tobacco. The palate is medium-bodied, fresh and elegant with fine tannin on the entry. This is one of the most approachable La Conseillante wines that I have tasted in barrel, the acidity very well judged, "classic" in style, good backbone here with a structured finish....This is an intellectual and to put it prosaically, "delicious" La Conseillante."
95-97 Antonio Galloni "A total knockout, the 2015 La Conseillante possesses stunning depth, nuance and complexity. Soaring aromatics meld into a core of dark-fleshed stone fruits, with hints of mocha, crème de cassis, menthol, violets and dark spices that develop in the glass. The 2015 is not an obvious wine, but it is exceptionally beautiful. The blend is 81% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Franc. Don't' miss it."

AUSONE - £2,750 per 6.  Made in minuscule quantities (around 1000 cases) and already 100pts from James Suckling and with a potential 100 from Antonio Galloni too.  Very limited quantity. 
100 James Suckling "A mindbinder of a wine with pure fruit and so much fine tannins and mineral character. It's hyper tight and super polished. The palate starts off slowly and ends with a bang. Amazing endless finish. What an energy."
97-100 Antonio Galloni "The 2015 Ausone is the embodiment of class. A seamless, mind-blowing wine, the Ausone boasts extraordinary purity and finesse. The flavors are deep and unctuous throughout, and yet the wine is remarkably vivid. A host of sweet floral notes and exotic spices are fused into the eternal finish. In 2015, Ausone is as good as it gets. Readers who can find the 2015 should not hesitate, as it is truly magnificent. All I can tell readers is that it took the most extraordinary discipline to spit this wine during my tasting. It is every bit that profound."
 
CHEVAL BLANC - £2,600 per 6.  Cheval Blanc unusually represents 75% of the production but this year there will be no Petit Cheval as the quality of the fruit meant that a much higher proportion will be made into the Grand Vin. This a sophisticated beauty of wine with incredible velvety smoothness, huge intensity and length and exceptional balance and finesse.
97-99 Neal Martin "The 2015 Cheval Blanc represents the entire vineyard this year, since there is no Le Petit Cheval (two plots that did not meet requirements were not included in any blend). A blend of 45% Cabernet Franc/Cabernet Sauvignon and 55% Merlot, matured in 100% new oak, it has a very complex bouquet, subtle and tightly wound, very precise with dark berry fruit, hints of graphite, minerals and a hint of black pepper, perhaps a little spicier than recent vintages. The palate is medium-bodied with extraordinarily fine tannin. Beautifully balanced, perfectly controlled, this Cheval Blanc gently builds in the mouth, but remains strict and precise. The Cabernet Franc here is very expressive (though apparently the Merlot was showier prior to malolactic). This is an intellectual Cheval Blanc, thoroughly enjoyable, but it will need 10-12 years to really show its pedigree. A profound wine in the making, it will rank with the great wines of the past."
 

Figeac was released this morning but it is already sold out.  We are also down to our last few cases of Evangile and Eglise Clinet so please let us know if you would like to place an order.

 

BORDEAUX 2015

The Week's Releases (so far)

   
  Wine GBP Price  
Left Bank        
  Pauillac CARRUADES DE LAFITE £1300.00 per case (12)
  Pauillac LAFITE ROTHSCHILD £4350.00 per case (12)
Right Bank        
NEW Pomerol CONSEILLANTE £1235.00 per case (12)
  Pomerol EVANGILE £1560.00 per case (12)
NEW St Emilion CHEVAL BLANC £2600.00

per case (6)

NEW St Emilion
AUSONE £2750.00

per case (6)

Dry White        
         
Sweet White