Finally: 2014 VCC Versus 2014 La Conseillante.

[Musigny 151]

Served single blind. I had no problem identifying the VCC. For me there is always a mulberry note in VCC, and it was here in spades. More depth, greater concentration. I really liked this wine, which is a good thing, as it is the single largest holding my cellar.

But there was nothing wrong with the Conseillante. Showed a little of vintage’s greenness in this case a slight undertone of mint. Plenty of fresh fruit, spices still primary nice finish.

[jckba]

Somehow I am not surprised and nicely done.

[JoelD]

I definitely look forward to doing this myself, but probably not for 3-5 years. Was either bottle closed down at all? I remember you mentioning that you thought the VCC might be closing down last time you wrote about tasting it

[Musigny 151]

The Conseillante improved over time, the VCC was superb right out of the gate and got even a little more interesting.

The best wine of the night was not the VCC, but was a major surprise. I had just bought some Faiveley Bonnes Mares 1987 but it was tiring but still pleasant , and paired it with a Faiveley Cazatiers, a premier cru from the almost universally panned vintage 1981. This was spectacular; one of those wines which make addicts out of Burgundy lovers. Cannot explain it, just feel lucky to have tasted it.

[Musigny 151]

BTW, I can’t remember who said it, but there was a Dunn 2014 at the tasting, perfectly described as a “Cabernet Auslese”

[marcs]

I agree that VCC has more depth and greater concentration than Conseillante, but to me that tends to translate as a stern, somewhat tough masculine note in youth that I don't like quite as much as the more feminine Conseillante quality. Relatedly, VCC tends to take a decade longer to come around than Conseillante. A matter of taste...

[un bureaucrate]

I tried this match-up back in December, over dinner with a friend at a restaurant that happily permits corkage, we both had steak alongside the wines. I supplied both wines, each decanted for two hours prior to the dinner. La Conseillante went to bat first, and seemed like low-key class; I enjoyed thinking about the wine more than I enjoyed the wine itself. Then the VCC, which was to my nose and palate head and shoulders above its dinner-mate: positively “singing,” an absolutely joyful bottle. For my friend and I, we concluded there was no competition between the two. We followed the wines over about 90 minutes each. Maybe a pnp would have made it less of a decisive victory for VCC?

I’d next like to give VCC ’18 a spin against a l’Eglise Clinet of the same vintage, “infanticide” be damned.

[JimHow]

We’ll done, ub, I trust you guys in your assessments of the LaC versus the VCC. It may have a been just a twist of fate that I was rating the two wines at a time when the VCC had just been delivered that afternoon. And there was certainly nothing scientific about my analysis. I popped and poured the 2014 Conseillante one night, and I popped and poured the 2014 VCC the next night, a few short hours after delivery from FedEx. I had absolutely no biases one way or another. The Conseillante provided definitively more pleasure. Thus, I selected the 2014 La Conseillante as the BWE wine of the year. I particularly remember its lightness on the feet. Mmmmmm.

[Musigny 151]

I bought several cases of the 2014 VCC and every so often (about once every couple of months) drink a bottle. A few months ago, I became a little concerned as one of them had closed up, but at a vertical of VCC, when it showed beautifully, I realized it might have been an off bottle. Since then, I have found beauty and consistency here, a throwback to the best Right Bank wines of the 1980s and 1990s.

The nose is black currant, violets, anise and spice. Texturally, it is lightish, there is crunch to the wine, and the fruit is still primary, but the balance is perfect, with its backbone of acidity and tannin carrying the flavors through. The tannins themselves have a little edge, which will smooth out with time. As I sip, the finish lengthens, and layers itself. It is a gorgeous wine, and one that will evolve beautifully. I am still drinking it way too young, but the impeccable balance does not make it difficult. Best in fifteen years.

[Comte Flaneur]

I drank the VCC on May 17 - I think it was served too warm - but I still gave it 95 pts. At the Chateau with Alexandre Thienpont, at 15C prob 97-98.

I have a case of 14 La C and am expecting it to be quite distinct from the VCC and the posts in this thread support that supposition

[Antoine]

People seem to love the 2014s while the 2015s are/were much more expensive... is it because they are cheaper or because you prefer the style and the wines?

[JimHow]

Antoine, the so called experts/sheep liked 2015 better because it was more of a Parkerized vintage and thus the prices were higher. Those of us who actually tasted the 2014 wines for ourselves loved them for their old school, classic profiles. 2014 is a complete anachronism in the world of Bordeaux, almost a miracle in some ways. I tasted a few bottles from both banks and then, with an intersection of incredible sale pricing in New Hampshire, Gerry and I bought in historic proportions. With the exception of Lynch Bages, I have yet to be disappointed by any wine from 2014. I have rated the 2014 Calon Segur at 100 points not once but twice. The 2014 Rauzan Segla I drank recently continued the run of exceptional, classically styled Bordeaux, the way it used to be.

[DavidG]

I agree with Jim that 2015s cost more because they got higher scores from critics, and that those scores were higher because the wines were riper than 2014s. I don’t share the apparent disdain for people who actually like that style. The secondary market continues to value most 2015s more than the 2014s, and that’s after people have had a chance to drink them and make up their own minds.

Interestingly, for the Calon Segur, CT median scores are 3 points higher for the 2014 than the 2015 (a lot for CT), but retail prices are about the same, and recent auction prices are higher for the 2015. Does seem like a disconnect between cost and how much it’s liked. The other wine Jim mentioned, the Rauzan Segla, scores higher and costs more at auction in 2015 than 2014, which is the more typical hierarchy.

For those who prefer the classic style, the 2014s offer a great opportunity to indulge.

[Blanquito]

I agree with the BD and DG, with one added thought: I regularly see the pattern where wines that were significantly cheaper on EP lag behind more pricey vintages in the secondary market, probably just because of “sticky” prices that economists talk about. Also, it’s easier to sell initially cheaper stuff for a profit, increasing the supply and keeping prices lower.

I’m sure this price inertia wears off eventually, but it seems to take a good while in the secondary market for wine.

[DavidG]

Patrick, that’s a good point about sticky prices/initial conditions. That usually seems to dissipate by 10-15 years post vintage. We’re not quite there yet with the 2014s and 2015s.

[Musigny 151]

I think the makeup of this board tends to go for more traditional styles of Bordeaux. For us it is not only a better vintage, but a great value.

Most critics disagree. I have no idea about the normal Bordeaux drinker, but as the prices in the secondary market are holding steady, I doubt whether they have a problem with ripe wines.

In fact I expect them to go up, as when a new vintage(2022) comes in priced high, there is a lot of backfilling.