The centrepiece · Bordeaux red wine

Sarabande2017

Still maturing in our cellar — released only in its drinking phase.

Arriving

Like an evening in Paris.

A wine of calm and depth. Dark fruit, graphite and the cool elegance of long ageing.

Slow, dignified, of quiet complexity — that is how a sarabande sounds, and how this wine tastes.

A warm February and March brought early budbreak; by mid-April the shoots already stood thirty centimetres high and were therefore unprotected. On the nights of 27 to 29 April the temperature in Bordeaux fell to minus six degrees in places. The damage followed elevation: slopes and plateaus were spared, lower-lying parcels lost almost everything. After that the season passed quietly — successful flowering at the end of May, a sunny June, a cool July, the red harvest in the second half of September. At 31 hl/ha, Bordeaux brought in one of its smallest crops.

Grape varieties: 63% Merlot, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Malbec, 2% Cabernet Franc
Limitation: 7621
Ageing: 18 months in barrique
Yield: 17 hl/ha
Analysis: 13.5 % vol · pH 3.70
Drinking window: 2027 – 2035
Serving temperature: 16–18 °C
Decanting: aerate 30–60 min

Outside, evening falls

The first glass

The flavour profile of Sarabande 2017

This cuvée is the heart of our estate and is made each year from all the red grape varieties of the Domaine. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec bring the taste of dark berries, cocoa and graphite, underscored by the earthy notes of Cabernet Franc. Eighteen months in barrique give depth without weight. A many-layered red wine that gains in complexity over the years.

Why Sarabande

A slow dance in triple time.

A suite is a sequence of dances. Each has its own character, and only all together do they make the whole. That is how our estate is built: each cuvée is inspired by a movement of this suite and takes on the character of its form.The Sarabande is the grave, dignified dance that takes its time. Among our reds it stands in the middle, between the lively Gigue and the majestic Allemande. That is why this wine ages long, and why it wants to be drunk slowly.

Sarabande is the quiet centre of the Suite, built for long ageing.

Claude Debussy — Sarabande, Pour le piano

Still in the cellar · In the chai

In the estate’s cellar since the 2017 harvest – and there it stays until it is ready to drink.

Aged in our own cellar.

Aged under control in barrel and vinified plot by plot — then the years of bottle rest in our own cellar, until we consider the wine ready to drink.

Keller & Handwerk

Maturity — how it drinks today

Still maturing in the cellar

Expected to be ready to drink: around 2027

Optimal drinking window of Sarabande 2017

2027 – 2035

Serving temperature 16–18 °C.

Our principles

Why we take the trouble

Ageing in our own cellar

Most of our wines go on sale only once they are ready to drink; until then they mature with us, and we carry the risk.

Composed plot by plot

Each plot is vinified separately; only at the end do we compose the cuvée from them.

Time as an ingredient

Depth takes time. We give the wines the years in barrel and bottle that they need.

Organic & HVE4

The Domaine's vineyards are certified organic and HVE4, set within a 19-hectare ecosystem of woodland, meadows, water and vines.

The terroir and the wine it yields

Where it comes from

The Sarabande is the most polyphonic cuvée of the suite: seven plots, all four red grape varieties of the Domaine, the Merlot leading. The foundation is laid by the clay of plots C1, C2, C3, C5 and C9 — a calm, supporting ground. The clay-gravel of plots C8 and C12 adds spice and tension with Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. From this interplay comes the depth for which the Sarabande stands at the centre of the red wine range.

Which plots go into the blend is decided by the vintage; the assignment can therefore vary slightly from harvest to harvest.

Watercolour map of LaSuite aux Conseillans with the 16 numbered parcels, coloured by the four terroirs: clay, clay-gravel, gravel and sand — The 16 parcels of the Domaine, about five hectares of vines. The colours show our four terroirs.

The blend of Sarabande 2017

4 Grape varieties

63%Merlot
29%Cabernet Sauvignon
6%Malbec
2%Cabernet Franc

Each plot is vinified separately; only at the end does the cuvée come together. More about our terroirs.

Precision & method

In the tradition of modern oenology

Aux Conseillans was for decades the Domaine of Jean Ribéreau-Gayon — one of the co-founders of modern oenology, founder of the Institute of Oenology at the University of Bordeaux (1949) and long-time owner of the estate. We work in that tradition: each plot analysed and vinified separately, the ageing guided under control, drinking maturity checked in a blind tasting.

The legacy of the oenologists

The second hour

Over the second hour the wine gains further in expression.

Your evening

A wine for the table.

Dishes to pair

A selection from our recipe kitchen, matched to the structure and maturity of this wine.

Basse côte from the grill – pepper-herb crust

Grilled bavette – sauce bordelaise & shallot confit

Braised mountain lentils – root vegetables & sherry

Bœuf en croûte, mushroom duxelles

Chapon rôti aux marrons

Châteaubriand, sauce béarnaise

Civet de lièvre, jugged hare in red wine

Coq au Vin – Sarabande & morels, jus assembled

All recipes

The mood to match the wine

A playlist for the moment

If you are a friend of classical music, here is a playlist that may suit your evening and the character of this wine. One possibility among many; listen in, if you like.

Sound of Sarabande · Listen on Spotify

Ageing in bottle

Not yet ready to drink

Expected to be ready to drink: around 2027

For us, a vintage is ready to drink only once an internal blind tasting declares it so. When that will be, we ourselves never know exactly.

Ready to drink until then: Sarabande 2015

Frequently Asked Questions · Sarabande 2017

Good to know

When will Sarabande 2017 be released?

Probably around 2027. We only release the vintage once an internal blind tasting declares it ready to drink; when that will be, we never know exactly ourselves.

Can I already buy Sarabande 2017?

Not yet. Until its release it matures in the estate’s cellar. Until then, the older vintages of Sarabande are available and ready to drink.

Which grape varieties make up Sarabande 2017?

63% Merlot, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Malbec and 2% Cabernet Franc – all four red grape varieties of the Domaine, aged 18 months in barrique.

Is the wine organic?

The Domaine is certified organic and additionally holds HVE4, the highest level of the French environmental certification. Our vineyards have always been farmed close to nature. However, the official organic label may only appear on our wines from the 2022 vintage onward — earlier vintages are farmed close to nature but do not yet carry official organic certification.

Technical data sheet · Sarabande 2017

Technical data sheet, Sarabande 2017, LaSuite aux Conseillans.
Wine	Sarabande 2017
Estate	LaSuite aux Conseillans
Origin	Saint-Caprais-de-Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
Type	red wine
Appellation	AOC Cadillac
Grape varieties	63% Merlot, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Malbec, 2% Cabernet Franc
Plots and soils	predominantly clay, with clay-gravel
Yield	17 hl/ha
Ageing	18 months in barrique; then bottle ageing in our own cellar
Maturity	probably at its best from 2027
Analysis	13.5 % vol · pH 3.70
Edition	7621 bottles
Drinking window	2027 – 2035
Serving temperature	16–18 °C
Decanting	aerate 30–60 min
Viticulture	Domaine now organic- and HVE4-certified; this vintage was made naturally, before official organic certification.
Formats	0.75 L; for members of Le Cercle: 1.5 L Magnum, 3 L Double Magnum, 6 L Imperial, 12 L Balthazar
Place in the Suite	The middle of the reds, between Gigue and Allemande; “the centrepiece”
Musical reference	Claude Debussy — Sarabande, Pour le piano
Item number	LS-SARA-17-075

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