France

Cabernet Sauvignon

Merlot

Cabernet Franc

Chateau La Couspaude

Chateau La Couspaude Grand Cru Classe Saint-Emilion Grand Cru

Bordeaux

Saint-Emilion Grand Cru

Deep garnet-purple colored. Opens with spicy scents of Sichuan pepper and powdered cinnamon, leading to a core of raspberry pie and juicy blackberries, plus a waft of dusty soil. The light to medium-bodied palate is lightly chewy with a refreshing line and a savory finish.

by Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW

Grilled oak on the nose, a little dilute through the palate, and soft on the finish. This is an estate that is supremely well located on the limestone plateau, and should come together better over ageing.

Inside Bordeaux

High intensity, glossy and sleek, oak charring comes through in texture and aromatics, shuts down the rich ruby fruits. This has a brilliant location on the limestone plateau, but struggles to fully capture the energy possible in the vintage. 37.5hl/ha yield.

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2022 La Couspaude motors out with powerful notes of baked black plums, blueberry compote, and chocolate-covered cherries, leading to an undercurrent of tar, licorice, and iris bulb. Full-bodied, rich, and powerful in the mouth, it has beautifully soft, rounded tannins and a lively backbone, finishing with a provocative lift.

A pure blackberry pastille and blackcurrant puree nose, with sweetness and poise. The aromatics don't follow through on the palate, and the flavours lose focus a little, with touches of earthy forest floor. It has grip and appeal, for medium term drinking. 30 hl/h yield.

The 2020 La Couspaude is a blend of 75% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, it races out with spritely notes of crushed redcurrants, juicy blackberries, and ripe plums, followed by hints of pencil shavings, sauteed herbs, and wild fungi. The medium-bodied palate has a racy line and chewy tannins supporting the generous fruit, though it finishes a little rustic and with an odd mushroom character.

The Aubert family has owned this property for more than a century. Always a wine that goes long on chocolate, campfire and tar notes, and it does so again in 2019, but it is well balanced by red and black fruits. Broad shouldered, with impact.

La Couspaude 2018 is deep garnet-purple in color. It is a little closed to start, with baked plums and boysenberries emerging, plus pencil shavings and tilled soil. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has lovely freshness, firm, ripe, rounded tannins and a lively finish. 

Concentrated fruit character, opens with bilberry and blackberry, a ton of smoked and grilled cedar, this has help up better than the 2009, but the flash of heat throws things off balance, and the mid-palate drops.

Leather, undergrowth, tobacco leaf, lack of clarity on the fruit character, this estate has an exceptional location on prime limestone plateau real estate, but it is beginning to fade at 15 years old, definitely in its tertiary phase.

Tobacco-tinged aromatics, and a deep ruby core - this is welcoming, with sweet damson, sandalwood and cigar box, touch of undergrowth, wet grass and dried herbs. On the finish, the oak continues to dominate, and throws things out of balance. Michel Rolland consultant.

Category	Red wine
Vinmonopolet no.
Producer	Chateau La Couspaude
Vintages	2024
Country	France, Bordeaux, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru
Bottle	75 cl

Alcohol	%
Acid	%
Sugar	g/l

Packaging
Cork type
Selection
Wholesaler
Carrier