Prélude 2023
THE UPBEAT

Prélude

2023
Bordeaux rosé

Released only when ready to drink — ready for the table.

Scroll

A rosé with backbone and texture, conceived for the table, not a trivial terrace wine.

Like the opening of a musical suite, Prélude sets the tone for what's to come. A salmon-colored rosé made from 100% Malbec, it opens with aromas of wild strawberry, white peach, and a hint of pink peppercorn. Its fine acidity and saline minerality make it an elegant introduction to the world of LaSuite.

A wine that should be served chilled, ideally within four years of harvest. It can be enjoyed simply on its own, but also pairs well with a BBQ featuring chicken or seafood.

Grape varieties
100% Malbec
Limited edition
324
Ageing
Large barrique, 6 months
Analysis
13.5 % vol
Serving temperature
10–12 °C
Decanting
Not necessary
Drinking window
2025 – 2027

0.75 L bottle · €25,00

Prélude 2023
Prélude 2023
Prélude 2023
Prélude 2023
01 — 4 · drag to browse
Why Prélude

Like the opening of a musical suite, Prélude sets the tone for what's to come. A salmon-colored rosé made from 100% Malbec, it opens...

The Prélude exists to show that an opening need not be light, but precise – and that stance begins already with the first movement.

Johanna Summer — Improvisation Prélude Ravel

In the glass

The flavour profile

Salmon-coloured in the glass. Wild strawberry and white peach, with a hint of pink peppercorn. On the palate a fine acidity and a saline minerality that give it drive and length — a rosé with structure, not a trivial terrace wine. Vinification in large barrique gives texture without covering the fruit. To enjoy well chilled and young.

Wild strawberry
White peach
Pink peppercorn
Saline minerality
Fine acidity
Fruit Balance Sweetness Body Tannin Oak Spice Complexity Minerality Acidity
Maturity — how it drinks today

Zwei Jahre gereift

today Cellar ageing Ascent Plateau Decline 2023 2027 2032

2023: a very good vintage for rosé

Optimal drinking window

2025 – 2027

Decant before serving and pour at serving temperature.

The terroir and the wine it yields
The terroir and the wine it yields

Where it comes from

The Prélude comes from a single plot: C3 on the Plateau du Limancet, a good third of a hectare of clay, planted with Côt — the Malbec — in 1953. From these old vines comes a rosé that draws its spice and structure directly from the clay, carried by the saline minerality that runs through the whole suite. One plot, one grape variety, one soil — the calm upbeat of the movements.

The assemblage

A single-varietal wine, one origin

100%Malbec

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

Aged in the chai
Aged in the chai

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.

Precision & method
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 longtime owner of the estate. We work in this tradition: each plot analysed and vinified separately, the ageing guided under control, the release only after proven readiness to drink.

Our stance

Why we take the trouble

01

Released only when ready to drink

We bring a vintage to market only when it is ready to drink. We carry the ageing risk.

02

Composed plot by plot

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

03

Time as an ingredient

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

04

Organic & HVE 4

Certified organic, embedded in a 19-hectare ecosystem of woodland, meadows, water and vines.

At the table
At the table

A wine for the table.

A wine for long summer evenings on the terrace, which has enough character to perfectly accompany a relaxed meal.

The mood for the wine

A playlist for the moment

This wine comes with a mood playlist on Spotify — a flowing companion as you drink. Listen in if you like; it isn't necessary.

Sound of Prélude
Listen on Spotify
We release each wine only when we most like to drink it ourselves.
Marc & Ellen Ruhland
Frequently asked questions

Good to know

When should I drink the Prélude?
Young and well chilled — ideally in the first years after the harvest. It is made for early freshness.
Do I need to decant it?
Not necessary — a few minutes open in the glass are enough. Serve at 10–12 °C.
Is this a typical summer rosé?
No — a rosé with structure and texture, vinified in large barrique. Conceived as an elegant opening and a companion at the table, not a trivial terrace wine.
What does it pair with?
On its own, well chilled, or with food: BBQ with chicken and seafood, white meats, Mediterranean cuisine.
Which grape variety is it made from?
100 % Malbec (Côt), from old vines of plot C3 on the Plateau du Limancet.
Why barrique for a rosé?
The large barrel gives texture and length without covering the fruit — structure rather than oak aroma.
How long does it keep?
It is made for early freshness; we recommend it in the first years after the harvest.
Is the wine organic?
Yes. The estate is certified organic and holds HVE 4, the highest level of the French environmental certification.
The Coffret Dégustation
To get acquainted

The Coffret Dégustation

Three movements of the Suite in one box — Sarabande 2015, Gigue 2016 and Louré 2024. A first path through our wines.

100 € incl. shipping
Prélude 2023
Prélude 2023
0.75 L bottle · €25,00

Edition of 324 bottles. Shipped directly from the Château — climate-controlled storage in our own cellar.

Le Cercle members see their conditions here.

For us, time is an ingredient.