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Producer name: Léoville Las Cases

Wines:

1966 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 91.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2035

Tasting notes: The 1966 Léoville Las-Cases is similar to the half-dozen or so previous bottles I have tasted. Black fruit, leather and tobacco on the nose have perhaps lost some vim and vigour in recent years, a little rustic but charming. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins and a fine line of acidity. A classic old-school claret through and through, the 1966 might feel a bit austere to some but has sufficient freshness to pull through in the end. Tasted at the 1960s dinner at Noizé.

Producer Commentary:
2025 Le Petit Lion
Color: Red

Score: 91.0

Drinking window: 2030 - 2045

Tasting notes: The 2025 Le Petit Lion was picked at 23 hl/ha and matured in 27% new oak, with a slightly higher percentage of Merlot this year, which is now split into three tanks in the new winery. This needed a few swirls just to "calm down" in the glass, cohering with black plum, violet and light minty aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with quite a precocious entry, although alcohol is 13.6%. Smooth towards the finish, with a dab of licorice that lingers on the aftertaste. Fine.

Producer Commentary:
2025 Las Cases Blanc
Color: White

Score: 91.0

Drinking window: 2028 - 2038

Tasting notes: The maiden 2025 Las Cases Blanc is predesigned to be an "unconventional" white, coming from a mélange of Rhône and Bordeaux white varieties planted in 2019. The fruit is direct pressed and vinified in oak and amphora. Actually, the Rhône varieties come through quite strongly on the nose, with touches of oil, resin and lanolin that combine with the orchard fruit. The palate is quite delicious, with a lovely texture, hints of lemongrass permeating the yellow plum and mango fruit. Lightly spiced on the finish, this just gives a great deal of drinking pleasure.

Producer Commentary:
2025 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 97.0

Drinking window: 2035 - 2070

Tasting notes: The 2025 Léoville Las Cases is the earliest harvest since 1989, starting on September 5 until September 20. Yields are 23 hl/ha, with a soft extraction using air pumps introduced in 2019, and it was matured in 80% new oak. It is the third vintage made in the new, impressive facility. This has another intense nose, quite flamboyant for Las Cases due to the warmth of the summer, with hints of pencil shavings and cigar box coming through with time. The palate is medium-bodied but very concentrated. Real depth and density here, very primal, with an intense, multi-layered finish that coats the mouth. Not a subtle Las Cases, nor should it be, though I aver that it will oblige long-term ageing.

Producer Commentary:
2025 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 97.0

Drinking window: 2040 - 2100

Tasting notes: The 2025 Léoville Las Cases is powerful, tightly wound and very shut down—in other words, classic Las Cases. In some recent vintages, the Grand Vin has shown somewhat softer contours, but the 2025 is really a throwback to a more muscular, classically austere style. It offers tremendous persistence and sheer power, but beyond that, the wine is pretty hard to read in the early going, certainly much more so than any of the other wines in the Delon stable. I expect this will need many years to be at its most rewarding. Based on this en primeur sample, the 2025 is a wine for readers who have actuarial tables on their side.

Producer Commentary:
2025 Léoville Las Cases Blanc
Color: White

Score: 90.5

Drinking window: 2027 - 2033

Tasting notes: The 2025 Léoville Las Cases Blanc is a new wine from the Delon family, a blend of Sémillon, Marsanne and Roussanne meant to stand out from the ever-increasing ocean of dry whites that are appearing all over Bordeaux. The debut vintage is promising. Hints of orchard fruit, chamomile, ginger and spice open gradually in the glass. This is still coming together in barrel but quite intriguing just the same.

Producer Commentary:
2025 Le Petit Lion
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2030 - 2040

Tasting notes: The 2025 Le Petit Lion is a bold, juicy wine. Dark-toned fruit, rose petal, lavender and mocha all take shape in the glass, framed by soft contours that wrap it all together in style. This Merlot-driven Saint-Julien is all charm, but it also has plenty of depth and underlying structure. 

Producer Commentary:
2016 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 97.0

Drinking window: 2028 - 2050

Tasting notes: The 2016 Léoville Las Cases is another Saint-Julien with a seriously impressive nose: blackberry, wild hedgerow, cedar and light brown leaf scents. Wonderful delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit, fine tannins, really refined, with a silky texture and a peacock’s tail on the finish. Awesome. Tasted blind at the Southwold 10-Year-On tasting.

Producer Commentary:
2022 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 0.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: The 2022 Léoville Las Cases has a very commendable bouquet, wonderful delineation, the oak seamlessly integrated, quite poised and less heady than its peers. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins. Quite bold and assertive, perhaps missing the precision promised by the aromatics. This is one of half-a-dozen Saint-Julien wines that did not correspond to what I have tasted before, so I shall not score this. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting in London.

Producer Commentary:
2023 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 98.0

Drinking window: 2033 - 2073

Tasting notes: The 2023 Léoville Las Cases is a total stunner. Dark, layered and seamless, it explodes from the glass with dark red/purplish fruit, lavender, spice and new leather. The 2023 boasts all of the power and explosive energy that this site is known for, but with more refined tannins than in the past. Brisk saline notes punctuate the driving, virile finish. Las Cases is, without question, one of the wines of the vintage. 

Producer Commentary:
2023 Le Petit Lion
Color: Red

Score: 93.0

Drinking window: 2028 - 2043

Tasting notes: The 2023 Le Petit Lion is a classy, polished St. Julien. Sweet, perfumed aromatics, vibrant red/purplish fruit, mocha, new leather and blood orange soar from the glass. A wine of sensual beauty and pure charm, the Merlot-based Petit Lion is all charm. The purity of the fruit here is striking.

Producer Commentary:
2023 Le Petit Lion
Color: Red

Score: 88.0

Drinking window: 2026 - 2035

Tasting notes: The 2023 Le Petit Lion has a more herbaceous bouquet than expected, though well-defined and "classic" in style, touches of incense emerging with time in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with a fresh entry, slightly gritty tannins, overtly saline in the mouth, so that there is plenty of sapidity on the finish. Not a long-term prospect, that is not its intention, but it channels that "old school claret" personality with class.

Producer Commentary:
2023 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 95.0

Drinking window: 2030 - 2065

Tasting notes: The 2023 Léoville Las Cases is matured in 80% new oak and bottled at the end of June 2025. Initially, the bouquet is very tight and requires considerable aeration to unlock the aromas of blackberry, cassis, cedar and light briny notes. Very well-defined, though it is cut from a different cloth than the dazzling '22. This seems more introspective. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins, very harmonious with seamlessly integrated oak. There is a gentle build in the mouth, caressing, finely tuned with a touch of black pepper toward the finish that lingers on the aftertaste. Excellent.

Producer Commentary:
2005 Léoville Las Cases
Color:

Score: 97.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2050

Tasting notes: The 2005 Léoville Las-Cases retains a deep colour at 20 years of age, with little aging on the rim. The bouquet leaves you instantly besotted with blackberry, wild hedgerow, black truffle, incense and light lavender scents in the background. The nose is very complex and one of the most vivacious that I encountered revisiting this vintage. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins that frame mineral-rich black fruit, as well as touches of smoke and meat juices in the background. This is very harmonious but has genuine weight and depth on the finish, elevating this to one of the best Left Bank 2005s. Superb. Tasted at the château.

Producer Commentary:
1985 Léoville Las Cases
Color:

Score: 98.0

Drinking window: 2024 - 2050

Tasting notes: Even those who dislike this wine had a soft spot for the 1985 Léoville Las-Cases, which has always been atypical in its sensuality and generosity. This bottle really shows its mettle. At almost 40 years old it has stunning delineation on the nose, showing copious red fruit laced with crushed stone and wilted rose petals and seamlessly integrated oak. The palate is based around a core of pure red fruit, lace-like tannins and an arresting symmetry that leaves you completely at its mercy. Beautiful, beautiful wine. Tasted at the 1985 dinner at Noble Rot Mayfair. 

Producer Commentary:
2015 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 96.0

Drinking window: 2027 - 2055

Tasting notes: The 2015 Léoville Las-Cases has an intense bouquet with blackberry, cedar, tobacco, mint and juniper aromas developing in the glass. This is utterly compelling. The palate is very well balanced with more weight and density than the Poyferré. It's spicier with hints of black pepper and cumin toward the persistent finish. This still requires time in bottle but it has huge potential. Tasted at the 2015 Ten-Year-On tasting at Bordeaux Index. 

Producer Commentary:
1961 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 95.0

Drinking window: 2023 - 2040

Tasting notes: The 1961 Léoville Las-Cases, served from a half-bottle, shows moderate bricking on the rim. It has developed a gorgeous, somehow "mellow" bouquet that is refined and envelops the senses. This contains more red fruit than the previous bottle, with hints of cedar and bay leaf alongside a touch more orange blossom and dried flowers. The palate is medium-bodied with plenty of flesh, more than you might expect for this Saint-Julien. It is quite tertiary toward the finish that lingers nicely in the mouth. This is lovely. Tasted at Tsui Village in Hong Kong and also blind in Pauillac.

Producer Commentary:
2007 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2038

Tasting notes: The 2007 Léoville Las-Cases is a wine that I have encountered on several occasions. This has a fresh bouquet with a little more greenness compared to other bottles, yet it’s still attractive with a freshly rolled tobacco aroma coming through strongly with time. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins. It’s a little more austere than a couple of years ago, yet it delivers a sappy, marine-tinged finish that urges you back for more. This is chugging along nicely. Tasted at Jeroboam's Bordeaux tasting.

Producer Commentary:
2022 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 98.0

Drinking window: 2030 - 2057

Tasting notes: The 2022 Léoville Las-Cases is a wine of tremendous substance and pure power. Even with all of its textural intensity, Léoville Las Cases remains wonderfully light on its feet. The 2022 is part of the modern series of Las Cases, wines that won’t take decades to be at their best. I especially admire its brightness, energy and drive.

Producer Commentary:
2020 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 98.0

Drinking window: 2032 - 2065

Tasting notes: The 2020 Léoville Las-Cases has an intense nose with blackberry, wild strawberry, cassis and just a touch of licorice. It coheres wonderfully in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied and beautifully knit together, with filigree tannins and a bright, tensile finish that fans out with real panache. Of course, it's primal and nascent, yet you can already tell the class. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting. 

Producer Commentary:
2010 Le Petit Lion
Color: Red

Score: 88.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2030

Tasting notes: The 2010 Le Petit Lion has a tight, laconic nose with brambly red fruit scents intermixed with cedar and wild mint. The palate is marked by pliant tannins, though it seems like a fully mature Deuxième Vin with leather and sage toward the finish. Given its maturity, this has held up well, though I would drink it sooner rather than later. Tasted at Jeroboam's Bordeaux tasting.

Producer Commentary:
2022 Le Petit Lion
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2034

Tasting notes: The 2022 Le Petit Lion is silky, open-knit and quite gracious, all of which make it a fine choice for drinking over the next decade or so. Floral and spice notes meld into a core of blue/purplish fruit. Le Petit Lion is impeccably balanced throughout.

Producer Commentary:
2014 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 95.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2045

Tasting notes: The 2014 Léoville Las-Cases has a backward nose with the unenviable task of following the Léoville Poyferré. But there is complexity here, more tertiary in style, with autumn leaves and cigar smoke infusing the red fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with ripe tannins, fleshy to the degree that it disguises the backbone. Mouthfilling on the finish that actually reminds me of Léoville Poyferré. Seductive. Tasted blind at the Southwold 10-Year-On tasting. 

Producer Commentary:
2024 Le Petit Lion
Color: Red

Score: 90.0

Drinking window: 2027 - 2042

Tasting notes: The 2024 Le Petit Lion was raised for 14 months in 25% new oak barrels. The nose reveals a touch of undergrowth infused with mainly black fruit, as touches of melted tar develop with time. The palate is medium-bodied with insistent grip on the entry, quite fluid and harmonious towards the finish as the expressive Merlot imparts flesh. This is a capable Deuxième Vin. 

Producer Commentary:
2024 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 94.0

Drinking window: 2031 - 2050

Tasting notes: The 2024 Léoville Las Cases was picked between September 30 and October 9 at 31 hl/ha (compare that to 11 hl/ha next door at Latour!). It is aged for 18 months in 75% new oak barrels with 6.3% pressed wine. It has a backward, almost surly bouquet with introverted black fruit, cedar, touches of cumin and light sea spray scents. Superb delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with less structure than the last two vintages, yet it upholds wonderful balance with lace-like tannins. With crisp black fruit and beautifully assimilated new oak, this fans out towards the finish. It is paradoxically a more conservative Las Cases in keeping with the limitations of the growing season, but I suspect it will gain weight and sustain with time in barrel. 

Producer Commentary:
2024 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 95.0

Drinking window: 2034 - 2054

Tasting notes: The 2024 Léoville Las-Cases is gorgeous. All the Las-Cases signatures are present, just dialed down a touch. Blue/purplish fruit, lavender, grilled herbs, graphite and menthol are all beautifully delineated. The 2024 is distinguished by its precision and total class. Time in the glass brings out the wine's intensely floral, spice-inflected aromatics. Brisk acids and bracing mineral notes wrap it all together in style. I can't wait to taste this from bottle.

Producer Commentary:
2022 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 99.0

Drinking window: 2032 - 2080

Tasting notes: The nascent 2022 Léoville Las-Cases, matured in 85% new oak, instantly makes an impression and vindicates my rhapsodizing from barrel. Intense yet boasting exquisite delineation, the aromatics are endowed with immense depth, retaining those estuarine nuances, hints of blue fruit, fig and crushed violets. The palate is medium-bodied with svelte tannins. Stunningly balanced and poised, satin-like in texture yet with ample backbone and grip to guarantee longevity, this ranks amongst the best Grand Vins that I have tasted from Jean-Hubert Delon's Saint-Julien estate. This flirts with perfection.

Producer Commentary:
2022 Le Petit Lion
Color: Red

Score: 91.0

Drinking window: 2026 - 2040

Tasting notes: The 2022 Le Petit Lion has a classy bouquet, perhaps one of the best that I have tasted to date: beautifully defined black fruit, black olive, hints of cedar, juniper and wilted violets. It just blossoms in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins, a degree of salinity and more weight than expected, although it just loses a little delineation toward the finish. Nevertheless, it is a quite delicious Deuxième Vin, albeit one that requires two or three years in bottle.

Producer Commentary:
1989 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 94.0

Drinking window: 2024 - 2040

Tasting notes: This bottle of 1989 Léoville Las Cases is the second encountered within four months and is easily the best showing. It has a beautiful bouquet with a touch of menthol on the nose, leaning towards Pauillac with its vivacious cassis fruit. There's little of the ferrous note from the previous bottle. The palate is medium-bodied and the most youthful I have encountered. It's pure with supple black and blueberry fruit and fine tannins. It fans out wonderfully. As I have said, over a dozen bottles through the years, and this is a frustrating Las Cases to pin down. But when it's on, it's on. Tasted at the 1989 dinner at Piccolino in London. 

Producer Commentary:
1989 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 91.0

Drinking window: 2024 - 2034

Tasting notes: The 1989 Léoville Las Cases has been variable over a dozen-plus bottles drunk over the years, although this is definitely one of the better examples. The floral bouquet is much more expressive and endearing, with mainly red fruit mixed with ferrous notes and a touch of mulch. Fine definition but I would say the aromatics feel fully mature. The palate is elegant, not an adjective frequently used apropos this estate, with touches of tobacco and pencil shavings. It's slightly gamey towards the classically styled finish. It is not a profound LLC, and I maintain that it does not reach its full potential, but it is certainly a fine claret to enjoy. Tasted at the 1989 Bordeaux dinner at 67 Pall Mall. 

Producer Commentary:
2004 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2024 - 2034

Tasting notes: The 2004 Léoville Las Cases has a noticeable mintiness on the nose that actually complements the red fruit, though it deviates away from what you might call Saint-Julien typicité. After ten minutes, it coheres with ash and black tea aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with a rounded texture on the entry. The 2004 shows fine acidity and is lightly spiced with cracked black pepper towards the finish. A little conservative, but it acquits itself well considering the vintage. 

Producer Commentary:
1994 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2024 - 2040

Tasting notes: The 1994 Léoville Las Cases has a really lovely bouquet with red berry fruit, sous-bois, cedar and tobacco, an archetypical Las Cases with plenty of vigor. The palate is well balanced, a little austere but in a good way, with fine cohesion and freshness. Tobacco and black pepper appear on the finish. Given market prices, if you like traditional Claret, then this is for you. Tasted at the château. 

Producer Commentary:
1964 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 93.0

Drinking window: 2024 - 2034

Tasting notes: The 1964 Léoville Las Cases is a vintage that I have not tasted for many years, and then, by complete coincidence, two guests both bring the same wine that are both served blind. Both attest to a Left Bank wine that bucks the trend of this being an exclusively Right Bank vintage. The first offers a splendid bouquet with red berry fruit tinged with orange rind and mocha. It's finely balanced with a keen line of acidity on the ferrous palate. It has a beguiling, harmonious and smooth texture. The second is perhaps a little more diffuse on the nose and evolved on the palate with spice box and light meat juice aromas. A stronger tobacco element appears on the finish. Excellent. Tasted blind at Olivier Bernard's "4" dinner at Domaine de Chevalier. 

Producer Commentary:
2023 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 96.0

Drinking window: 2030 - 2065

Tasting notes: The 2023 Léoville Las-Cases was picked from September 9 to October 2 at 43hL/ha and matured in 80% new oak barrels. This has a very precise bouquet, and, like the Clos du Marquis, it is imbued with an attractive estuarine element—aromatics that transport the imbiber to the banks of the Gironde. The oak is neatly integrated; 80% is much more optimal than 100% would have been. The palate is lightly spiced on the entry, moderately deep and quite lively on the mid-palate. This is a more linear Las-Cases than recent vintages, conveying a sense of "seriousness" toward the almost saturnine finish. Impressive in terms of persistence, this is a worthy follow-up to the magnificent 2022, but it will demand patience. 

Producer Commentary:
2023 Le Petit Lion
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2028 - 2043

Tasting notes: The 2023 Le Petit Lion is a rich, exuberant wine. Ripe dark cherry/plum fruit, mocha, spice, new leather, licorice and chocolate are all amplified. There's less Merlot and more Cabernet than in most years, but in 2023, the typical blend would have likely been too forward and ripe. A range of savory graphite, floral and mineral tones linger on the nuanced finish. I expect this will drink well right out of the gate. Since 2022, Le Petit Lion has been a blend of Clos du Marquis and Las Cases. 

Producer Commentary:
“Our harvest in 2023 was even earlier than in 2022,” Vice-Chairman Jean-Guillaume Prats explained at Léoville Las Cases. “Yields were 44 hectoliters per hectare, high for the estate, but not especially high for the appellation in 2023.” Las Cases has been one of the top wines on the Left Bank for decades. These days, it is less brooding than it once was, but there is still plenty of the vertical stature that is such a signature. For what it is worth, Las Cases remains a personal favorite.
2023 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 95.5

Drinking window: 2033 - 2073

Tasting notes: The 2023 Léoville Las Cases is a wine of understatement and class. In so many vintages, Las Cases is quite authoritative, but I find the 2023 rather quiet and unexpressive today. It’s a rather intellectual Las Cases, a wine with tremendous potential, but also a wine that is quite reserved at this early stage. Time in the glass brings out hints of blueberry, graphite, spice and mocha. It will be interesting to see where this goes. This is a very austere, classically built Las Cases for readers who can be patient. 

Producer Commentary:
“Our harvest in 2023 was even earlier than in 2022,” Vice-Chairman Jean-Guillaume Prats explained at Léoville Las Cases. “Yields were 44 hectoliters per hectare, high for the estate, but not especially high for the appellation in 2023.” Las Cases has been one of the top wines on the Left Bank for decades. These days, it is less brooding than it once was, but there is still plenty of the vertical stature that is such a signature. For what it is worth, Las Cases remains a personal favorite.
2023 Le Petit Lion
Color: Red

Score: 86.0

Drinking window: 2026 - 2035

Tasting notes: The 2023 Le Petit Lion matured in 30% new oak for 14 months. It has an attractive, classic, well-defined nose of marine-tinged black fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with a sweet entry, though the mid-palate needs more precision, and there is a very slight herbaceous element toward the finish. I feel that there is a wider-than-usual difference between this and the Grand Vin this year. 

Producer Commentary:
2021 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 96.0

Drinking window: 2031 - 2061

Tasting notes: The 2021 Léoville Las-Cases is a wine of elegance and restraint. Yes, I am writing that about a young Las-Cases. Perhaps it is the higher level of Cabernet Franc in this year's blend that adds aromatic presence and gives the wine its refined character. Blue/purplish fruit, lavender, mint, spice and rose petal linger on the delicate, understated finish. 

Producer Commentary:
2021 Le Petit Lion
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2038

Tasting notes: The 2021 Le Petit Lion is a fine second wine. It offers terrific energy in a soft, approachable style that will offer plenty of enjoyment over the next 15-20 years. Crushed flowers, spice, red cherry fruit, mint and white pepper lend brilliance. The 2021 is an articulate, reserved Petit Lion. This is very nicely done. 

Producer Commentary:
2021 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 94.0

Drinking window: 2030 - 2070

Tasting notes: The 2021 Léoville Las Cases is beautifully defined on the nose: blackberry, raspberry, still that subtle marine element, a hint of Japanese wakame and shucked oyster shells. The oak (85% new) is very well integrated, though it needs some time to be completely subsumed. The palate has exquisite balance—very poised and pure. It is not a heavyweight or powerful Las-Cases, yet there is convincing tension and a judicious dab of spice toward the finish that fans out and lingers. It will require several years in bottle, but it will be worth waiting for. This has the substance to age with style. 

Producer Commentary:
2021 Le Petit Lion
Color: Red

Score: 90.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2040

Tasting notes: The 2021 Le Petit Lion has a very attractive bouquet that, compared to the preceding Potensac, has much more vigor and clarity: blackberry, raspberry, crushed rock and light graphite aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with a smooth texture, black olive and mulberry combining nicely toward a sapid finish that just needs a bit more refinement. A little chewy in texture, it could use another two years in bottle. 

Producer Commentary:
1990 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 95.0

Drinking window: 2023 - 2045

Tasting notes: Tasting the 1990 Léoville Las Cases just a few days after the 1989, it is clear which is the best vintage…this one. It has a sublime nose of melted black fruit, tar, cedar and bay leaf that shrugs off the heat of that summer better than most others. At 33 years of age, you could just lose yourself in these aromatics. The palate is clearly holding up well: beautifully defined and supple yet with typical Las-Cases backbone and depth. It builds magnificently in the glass toward a harmonious finish that reminds me of the 1985 in terms of its fleshiness. Wonderful. Tasted at the Lia's Wings/book dinner at Medlar restaurant. 

Producer Commentary:
2009 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 97.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2065

Tasting notes: The 2009 Léoville Las Cases is poured blind and just soars in the glass. What stunned me was the tension and precision on the nose, tropes that I do not find with many Left Bank wines in this vintage. It has fabulous mineralité with that crushed stone element more pronounced than ever. The palate has beguiling symmetry, perfectly poised with a peacock's tail on the finish. Just a fabulous Saint-Julien. Tasted at the Bordeaux versus Stellenbosch dinner in South Africa.

Producer Commentary:
2005 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 98.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2055

Tasting notes: The 2005 Léoville-Las-Cases is one of my favorite wines of the night. Now, after 17 years, the 2005 is in a place where it is not a crime to open a bottle. Elegant and regal in bearing, the 2005 Las-Cases is simply everything Las-Cases can and should be. This is a great, great bottle. I loved it. 

Producer Commentary:
I was delighted when one of our private clients reached out to schedule this celebratory dinner for a small group of friends and co-workers. Our guests took care of the arrangements with Wheeler Farms, and I chose several of my favorite wines, presented in thematic flights. Executive Chef Tom Harder, whom I had first met years ago at Mustard’s prepared a fabulous meal. The hospitality team led by Philip O’Conor and Patrick Memmott took care of every detail of service with the same precision. It was a fabulous night of wine, food and conviviality.
2019 Léoville–las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 97.0

Drinking window: 2028 - 2070

Tasting notes: The 2019 Léoville–Las Cases, bottled July 2021, retains the energetic, vivacious bouquet that I noticed last year from the barrel sample, offering intense blackberry, bilberry and still those faint shucked oyster shell scents in the background. The palate is medium-bodied with wonderful detail and precision, a mixture of black and blue fruit and enthralling clarity and length. Perhaps there is a little more creaminess in terms of texture toward the finish, a bit of "baby fat" that will be subsumed with time, so give this 8–10 years in bottle if you want to taste it in full flight. [Returning after 15 or 20 minutes, I discerned more pepperiness on the finish, and perhaps also less creaminess and more structure.] 14.02% alcohol.

Producer Commentary:
2000 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 97.0

Drinking window: 2021 - 2050

Tasting notes: The 2000 Léoville Las Cases is a vintage that I have encountered a dozen or so times. Jean-Hubert Délon oversaw a magnificent wine in this year. The nose of graphite-infused black fruit is still vivacious and very complex, very Pauillac-like, and supremely well focused. Hints of licorice develop with aeration. The medium-bodied palate features sappy black fruit and perfectly judged acidity. Complex and delineated, with marine-tinged mulberry and black currant notes given a deft Oriental touch on the finish. Bottles are only just beginning to drink perfectly now and will last another 30 or more years. 

Producer Commentary:
2001 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 94.0

Drinking window: 2021 - 2050

Tasting notes: The 2001 Léoville Las Cases is a vintage I’ve encountered many times. Now at two decades old, it has a generous nose with those black plums still in situ, along with graphite and cedar; this bottle is a little more backward, probably due to the provenance. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red fruit, white pepper and sage and fine grip. Though it’s not as precise or chiseled as recent vintages, there is admirable complexity on the lightly peppered, tobacco- and rooibos-tinged finish. Excellent.

Producer Commentary:
2011 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2021 - 2036

Tasting notes: The 2011 Léoville Las-Cases is a vintage that I have only tasted twice since bottling. Now, at 10-years old, it has an exquisite bouquet with pure blackberry, tobacco, cedar and sandalwood aromas that gently billow from the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins and just a touch of bitterness on the entry with a slight lactic note towards the finish where it just misses a bit of complexity. Quite dry and austere compared to other vintages. Examining this over several hours, I feel that the aromatics have more to offer than the palate, but it remains a rather "upstanding" Saint-Julien, even if not a "top-drawer" Léoville Las-Cases.

Producer Commentary:
2007 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 93.0

Drinking window: 2021 - 2032

Tasting notes: The 2007 Léoville Las-Cases is a vintage that I have not encountered for a couple of years. It has a tobacco-driven bouquet with the dried blood elements that I remarked upon in my previous tasting note. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red berry fruit, perhaps with less of the tobacco influence that I noticed before, harmonious with a fine bead of acidity. Now à point, this is a lovely Saint-Julien, quite mellow for this estate with a tingle of pepper on the aftertaste. Readers are advised to give this a 3 to 4-hour decant.

Producer Commentary:
2019 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 96.5

Drinking window: 2022 - 2049

Tasting notes: Just as it was from barrel, the 2019 Léoville Las-Cases is a wine of pure and total sophistication. There is not the size of some recent vintages, but instead that heft is replaced by cool refinement. The expression of fruit leans into the redder end of the spectrum as opposed to the typically darker Las-Cases profile. Hints of cedar, tobacco, mint and blood orange linger. I can't wait to see how it ages.

Producer Commentary:
1986 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 98.0

Drinking window: 2021 - 2050

Tasting notes: Having tasted the 1986 Léoville Las-Cases countless times, I wondered whether it would ever come round. The news is, it has, and it is beautiful. Stunning delineation on the nose, this has lazer-like focus and breathtaking tension, very mineral-driven with touches of blood orange emerging with time. The palate is medium-bodied with those once rigid tannins finally softening, layers of black fruit laced with cedar and tobacco with a silky-smooth finish. Heavenly! Tasted at the "Judgement of Clapham Junction" dinner in London. 

Producer Commentary:
2011 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2022 - 2040

Tasting notes: The 2011 Léoville Las-Cases is much more introspective on the nose than its peers, though it unfolds to reveal quite mineral-driven black fruit, leather and graphite aromas. It never fully lets go. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins, fine acidity, fresh and lively with a focused, graphite-tinged finish. Maybe a little conservative in keeping with the vintage, though this is well crafted. Tasted blind at the annual 10-Year-On tasting.

Producer Commentary:
2021 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 95.0

Drinking window: 2031 - 2061

Tasting notes: The 2021 Léoville Las-Cases is classy, nuanced and so expressive. There's gorgeous depth, and yet the 2021 is not as explosive as it has been in the recent past. That's not a bad thing, not at all. Cabernet Sauvignon and Franc comprise fully 95% of the blend in a Las Cases that is beautifully persistent from start to finish. It's a wine that has one foot in its rich, historical past, and the other very much in the more modern style of contemporary vintages. There is so much to look forward to. 

Producer Commentary:
2012 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2042

Tasting notes: The 2012 Léoville Las-Cases is much more closed on the nose, quite strict with blackberry, cedar and gravelly aromas, later hints of cassis and a splash of soy. The palate is medium-bodied with a fairly oaky entry, though there is fruit concentration to soak that up with bottle age. Maybe it just lacks a bit of personality at the moment and a second bottle at Bordeaux Index's horizontal confirms a bit of roughness, a bit hard-edged at this stage. Give this time. Tasted twice at Bordeaux Index's Ten Year-On tasting and blind at the Southwold Ten-Year On tasting. 

Producer Commentary:
1982 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 93.0

Drinking window: 2022 - 2040

Tasting notes: The bottle of 1982 Léoville Las-Cases was sadly out of condition, though fortunately I tasted another example at a private dinner in Bordeaux a few weeks later. To be honest, I have always preferred the 1985 or 1986 to this vintage, and this gives me no reason to change my mind. It has a surliness on the nose that is uncharacteristic of this vintage, tightly wound tertiary scents, melted tar and pencil shavings. The palate is full-bodied with fine grip, dense and quite powerful, yet it is more impressive than pleasurable. The aforementioned vintages have pulled away from the 1982 in recent years, though it remains a very fine Saint-Julien. It just needs to turn its frown upside down. Tasted at the 1982 Dinner at Hatched. 

Producer Commentary:
2020 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 97.0

Drinking window: 2030 - 2070

Tasting notes: The 2020 Léoville Las-Cases, matured in 80% new oak and bottled in July, has retained that alluring Pauillac-like bouquet with disarming purity and intensity. There is a little more blue fruit joining the chorus line compared to its showing in barrel. Wonderful delineation. The palate is beautifully balanced with pliant, fine-boned tannins that frame the silky-smooth black fruit. Strawberry, cassis and spicy notes percolate through with aeration and flourish on the finish. This fulfills all its potential from barrel - a quite stunning Saint-Julien and a great Las-Cases. 

Producer Commentary:
2019 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 97.0

Drinking window: 2026 - 2055

Tasting notes: The 2019 Léoville Las-Cases is tasted from two bottles, but it is the second that really delivers the goods. It has a beautifully-defined bouquet with blackberry, black olive, subtle marine scents and touches of crushed stone. The palate is medium-bodied with fine grain tannins, cohesive, quite high toned towards the finish with touches of mint and cedar. Very fine. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting. 

Producer Commentary:
2022 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 99.0

Drinking window: 2032 - 2080

Tasting notes: The 2022 Léoville Las-Cases was picked 8-30 September with more infusion than extraction, matured in 84% new oak. Precocious, almost decadent blackberry and blueberry fruit on the nose, there is something lavish and audacious about this Saint-Julien. There is an underlying estuarine element, a whiff off the banks of the Gironde. The palate is medium-bodied with polished tannins, very detailed, extremely pure, what you might call a "vertical" Las-Cases with fabulous precision on the finish. This surpasses the 2018-2020 trio and to use that clichéd expression, is a "tour de force". 

Producer Commentary:
2013 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 91.0

Drinking window: 2023 - 2035

Tasting notes: The 2013 Léoville Las-Cases has the finest nose of the three Léoville: the best delineation and focus with more complexity and slightly more fruit, though it is still very "classic" in style. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, decent weight, not complex yet harmonious with just a touch of herbaceous that one can easily abide on the finish. Solid. Tasted at Bordeaux Index's 10-Year On tasting. 

Producer Commentary:
2003 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2023 - 2045

Tasting notes: The 2003 Léoville Las-Cases, a year when they green harvested, has an enticing bouquet with red fruit, orange rind, tobacco and loamy scents, gaining confidence with aeration (decanting really benefits this wine). The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins, quite strict for a 2003, but with adequate freshness and a grippy, cigar box-infused and persistent finish. This is an impressive showing, and at 20 years, it will give another 20 years of drinking pleasure, unlike many of its peers. Tasted at the château. 

Producer Commentary:
2022 Le Petit Lion
Color: Red

Score: 91.0

Drinking window: 2026 - 2040

Tasting notes: The 2022 Le Petit Lion now includes the best parcels of the second wine of Clos du Marquis. Dark berry fruit, black olive compote and a light estuarine scent on the nose. It is quite powerful and well-defined, one can admire the focus. The palate is medium-bodied with rather chalky tannins on the entry. Firm in structure and saline, there is just a touch of abruptness on the chewy finish that should fill out during its barrel maturation. 

Producer Commentary:
2022 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 99.0

Drinking window: 2030 - 2052

Tasting notes: The 2022 Léoville Las Cases is stunning. Fine-grained and nuanced, the 2022 Las Cases is breathtaking. Red/purplish fruit, rose petals, lavender, spice and mocha open gradually but what impresses most about the 2022 is its sublime finesse. Silky, plush and exceptionally beautiful, the 2022 Las Cases is shaping up to be one of the wines of the year. 

Producer Commentary:
“Over the last 20 years we have gotten better at dealing with excessively hot and dry vintages, but the vines have also adapted. I remember that in 2003, the vines only shut down in August,” Jean-Hubert Delon explained. The 2022s here are stellar, but Las Cases is otherworldly. Yields were a paltry 22 hectoliters per hectare as opposed to the 36-37 that are more typical.
2022 Le Petit Lion
Color: Red

Score: 93.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2037

Tasting notes: The 2022 Petit Lion is rich and sumptuous, but much more than that in terms of its complexity and distinction. Dramatic and sweeping, the 2022 is immediately captivating. Black cherry, gravel, scorched earth, licorice and lavender infuse the 2022 with tons of nuance. In this tasting, the Petit Lion is absolutely compelling. There’s terrific depth and density here, likely because of the high percentage of Merlot. What a gorgeous wine it is. 

Producer Commentary:
2020 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 98.5

Drinking window: 2032 - 2070

Tasting notes: The 2020 Léoville Las Cases has developed into a powerhouse. Then again, that is Las Cases. En primeur, I thought the 2020 was a bit shy, but its true personality has to emerge. Blackberry jam, gravel, spice, menthol, licorice, espresso and plum all saturate the palate. Vivid and explosive, the 2020 is dizzyingly rich, with plenty of Las Cases tannins that will require patience. I am not sure when the 2020 will be ready to drink, but it won't be anytime soon. Las Cases is one of the wines of the vintage in 2020, that much is pretty clear.

Producer Commentary:
2019 Le Petit Lion
Color: Red

Score: 91.0

Drinking window: 2024 - 2035

Tasting notes: The 2019 Le Petit Lion offers light brambly black fruit laced with browning autumn leaves and Earl Grey on the nose, which is classic in style, fresh and well-defined. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit, like the Clos du Marquis, gaining some density and muscle during its élevage. Crisp and quite saline on the finish, this will deserve a little longer in bottle than I anticipated before. Very fine. 14.01% alcohol.

Producer Commentary:
2020 Le Petit Lion
Color: Red

Score: 90.0

Drinking window: 2024 - 2036

Tasting notes: Representing around one-third of the total production, the 2020 Le Petit Lion sees 30% new oak. It has an attractive nose with blackberry, raspberry coulis, hints of iodine and pressed iris flowers. Not intense, but nicely focused. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins that frame the red berry fruit laced with white pepper and touches of thyme. This is a very capable Deuxième Vin. 

Producer Commentary:
2021 Le Petit Lion
Color: Red

Score: 91.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2040

Tasting notes: The 2021 Le Petit Lion represents one-third of the production from the Clos de Léoville. It is raised 40% new oak. It has a bright bouquet, a mixture of blackberry and blueberry fruit, fine delineation, quite floral and Margaux-like in style. The palate is medium-bodied with edgy, slightly chalky tannins on the entry, a fine salinity here that, for me, marks it out against the La Petite Marquise with quite a persistent tail on the finish. Just needs 2-3 years in bottle. Alcohol level is 13.27% here.

Producer Commentary:
News broke during en primeur that Jean-Guillaume Prats will be joining Jean-Hubert Delon. Delon himself was in a meeting during my visit, so I discussed the vintage with current export director, Antoine Gimbert. “It was important to avoid any hollow center,” he explained. “We had to be extremely careful with the balance. The tannic structure was flying quite high, so the Clos du Marquis, Le Petit Lion and Léoville Las-Cases contain around 4% vin de presse this year [lower than other châteaux]. We had to be careful during extraction and so did more of an infusion than extraction. We didn’t need to do any chaptalisation. We feel the 2021 is better than the 2014 and 2017. Maybe it has the structure of the 1988 with elements of the 1999 and 2001. It’s a classic Bordeaux.”
2021 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 95.0

Drinking window: 2030 - 2070

Tasting notes: The 2021 Léoville Las Cases was picked from 28 September until 8 October and includes just 5% Merlot from the northern sectors of the vineyard due to coulure. They found that increased percentages of Merlot did not contribute to the blend. Matured in 85% new oak, it has an intense nose with black fruit, graphite and light iris flower aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit, quite a potent marine influence at play, almost briny (perhaps accentuated by the changeable weather on the day of my visit). Very impressive in terms of depth and backbone/grip with iodine and oyster shells towards the finish, this is a cerebral Las-Cases that will demand patience. Then again, name me a vintage of Las-Cases that doesn't! Alcohol here is at 13.20%.

Producer Commentary:
News broke during en primeur that Jean-Guillaume Prats will be joining Jean-Hubert Delon. Delon himself was in a meeting during my visit, so I discussed the vintage with current export director, Antoine Gimbert. “It was important to avoid any hollow center,” he explained. “We had to be extremely careful with the balance. The tannic structure was flying quite high, so the Clos du Marquis, Le Petit Lion and Léoville Las-Cases contain around 4% vin de presse this year [lower than other châteaux]. We had to be careful during extraction and so did more of an infusion than extraction. We didn’t need to do any chaptalisation. We feel the 2021 is better than the 2014 and 2017. Maybe it has the structure of the 1988 with elements of the 1999 and 2001. It’s a classic Bordeaux.”
2021 Le Petit Lion
Color: Red

Score: 93.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2038

Tasting notes: The 2021 Le Petit Lion is a wine of real breath and textural intensity. Black cherry, plum, leather, spice, menthol, licorice and graphite all build in the glass. The Petit Lion has the potential to be one of the Sleepers of the vintage. It has all the class and breadth of its bigger sibling, but in miniature. I loved it. 

Producer Commentary:
2019 Le Petit Lion
Color: Red

Score: 93.0

Drinking window: 2024 - 2034

Tasting notes: The 2019 Le Petit Lion is plush, deep and layered, but in a mid-weight style that will be approachable with minimal cellaring. Élevage has rendered the 2019 quite a bit more accessible than the barrel sample suggested. Bright red-toned fruit, chalk and lifted floral accents all grace this mid-weight second wine from Las-Cases. The 2019 is built on a core of old-vine Merlot and younger vine Cabernet Sauvignon, with some Franc to round things out.

Producer Commentary:
2015 Le Petit Lion
Color: Red

Score: 91.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: The 2015 Le Petit Lion, the second wine from Léoville Las Cases is superb. Racy, opulent and inviting, the 2015 hits all the right notes. In this vintage, the blend includes all the old-vine Merlot off the property, which gives the Lion added texture, power and breadth. Those elements come through loud and clear. Crème de cassis, blackberry, spice, leather and menthol build to the cream, voluptuous finish. This is a terrific showing, not to mention one of the sleepers of the vintage and fabulous second wine from Las Cases.

Producer Commentary:
2015 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 96.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: A vivid, mesmerizing wine, the 2015 Léoville Las Cases is stunning in its beauty. Unusually rich and sumptuous for Las Cases, the 2015 possesses magnificent intensity and power from start to finish. Blackberry jam, charcoal, smoke, licorice and asphalt are some of the many notes that take shape in the glass, but the 2015 truly stands out for its vertical structure and overall intensity. At the same time, the 2015 is an unusually ripe, exotic Las Cases with much more flesh and voluptuousness in its curves than is the norm. In that sense, the 2015, is not at all typical for Las Cases. And yet it is striking. The 14.5% alcohol is the highest recorded here.

Producer Commentary:
2014 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 95.5

Drinking window: 2026 - 2044

Tasting notes: Readers will have to be patient with the 2014 Léoville-las-Cases, as it is not likely to show well for a number of years. Tightly wound but also medium-bodied and classic in its construction, the 2014 is going to need quite a bit of time to come together. Léoville-las-Cases is so often a wine of power, but here the refined site of the vintage is very much in evidence. The 2014 is a Las Cases built on finesse.

Producer Commentary:
2016 Le Petit Lion
Color: Red

Score: 91.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: The 2016 Le Petit Lion is plush, open and seductive. It offers striking freshness, with plenty of distinctly red ? flavors and silky tannins to match its creamy, nuanced personality. The 2016 is not a big wine, but it is charming and, above all else, absolutely delicious, especially if enjoyed within the first 10-15 years of its life. 

Producer Commentary:
I was quite taken with Jean-Hubert Delon's 2016s, especially on the Left Bank. Potensac, Clos du Marquis and the flagship Léoville Las Cases all made superb wines. The quality of the vintage is evident even in the second wines, which are terrific. Nenin, Delon's Pomerol property, appears to still be a work in progress, but otherwise, this is an impressive set of wines. Potensac is a terrific source for reasonably priced wines that punch above their weight.
2016 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 96.75

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Léoville Las Cases is usually a brutish, powerful wine, especially when young. The 2016, on the other hand, is a wine of total finesse. There is almost no sensation of tannin, even though the wine has the highest degree of tannin ever measured here. Sometimes wines can go from the merely outstanding into the realm of the sublime. That is very much the case with the 2016 Léoville Las Cases. I could describe the aromas and flavors, but that seems superfluous for a wine that delivers so much pure pleasure. Silky (yes, silky) tannins wrap around a super-expressive finish laced with the essence of blue/purplish fruit, crème de cassis, lavender and blueberry jam.

Producer Commentary:
I was quite taken with Jean-Hubert Delon's 2016s, especially on the Left Bank. Potensac, Clos du Marquis and the flagship Léoville Las Cases all made superb wines. The quality of the vintage is evident even in the second wines, which are terrific. Nenin, Delon's Pomerol property, appears to still be a work in progress, but otherwise, this is an impressive set of wines. Potensac is a terrific source for reasonably priced wines that punch above their weight.
2008 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 96.0

Drinking window: 2020 - 2050

Tasting notes: The 2008 Léoville Las Cases has a backward, broody, earthy bouquet with intense tobacco and graphite aromas, more like a Pauillac than a Saint Julien, no surprise given that it lies on the border. The palate is very impressive: layers of tobacco-tinged black fruit, sea salt and graphite. This is very precise and harmonious with a persistent and multi-layered finish that leaves you mightily impressed. (Tasted at BI Wine & Spirit’s annual 10-Year On tasting.)

Producer Commentary:
There was no easing into the job and frankly I would not want it any other way on my first day. Wines tasted in the morning at an annual ten-year on Bordeaux tasting on one side of the Atlantic, written up on the flight over to New York with my mouth still coated in tannin and completed on the other side of the Atlantic...just a day in the life, so that readers get an idea how things are going to roll with the 2008 Bordeaux.
2015 Le Petit Lion
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2020 - 2035

Tasting notes: The 2015 Le Petit Lion is layered, silky and super-expressive, with lovely aromatic nuance, nicely layered fruit and fine overall balance. Beautifully nuanced and expressive, with striking interplay of aromatics, fruit and structure, the 2015 Petit Lion is a very pretty second wine well worth taking a look at.

Producer Commentary:
1953 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 94.0

Drinking window: 2019 - 2030

Tasting notes: This bottle of 1953 Léoville Las-Cases came from a perfectly stored Nicolas bottling. It boasted an exquisite bouquet, one of mulberry and sandalwood and later a hint of overripe oranges stewing in a vase. This is one of the richest bouquets on a 1953 that I have encountered (apart from the 1953 Lafite-Rothschild.) The palate is sweet on the entry, smooth to the point of viscosity, a mixture of red and black fruit including mulberry once more and ripe strawberries, although the fruitiness ebbs away to reveal more tertiary and sous-bois characteristics, adopting a quintessential Saint Julien character. What a wonderful mature Las-Cases this is! 

Producer Commentary:
2014 Le Petit Lion
Color: Red

Score: 87.0

Drinking window: 2018 - 2025

Tasting notes: The 2014 Le Petit Lion has a tightly wound bouquet: blackberry and briary, pencil lead with a whiff of smoke. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red berry fruit, easy-going in style but there is commendable depth here, nicely balanced with just a subtle tang of spice towards the finish. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.

Producer Commentary:
2014 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 95.0

Drinking window: 2024 - 2055

Tasting notes: The 2014 Léoville Las-Cases has a (typically) more introverted, tertiary, austere bouquet compared to the Léoville Barton. Despite coaxing it does not possess much lift – sullen, a wine with a "Closed" sign dangling on the front door. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit, solid with a sweet core, nicely proportion but just not quite conveying the same joie-de-vivre and energy as its peers. "Perhaps it is saving everything for later?" are the words I penned before this wine's identity is revealed...well, I should have known. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.

Producer Commentary:
2017 Le Petit Lion
Color: Red

Score: 87.0

Drinking window: 2020 - 2027

Tasting notes: The 2017 Le Petit Lion comes from the youngest vines on the terroir and some old Merlot vines since they never have more than 15% in the final blend. It is matured in 30% new oak. This felt very backward on the nose, a little herbaceous compared to previous vintages, touches of pencil shaving and cedar accompanying the black fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannin, a nicely proportioned Le Petit Lion, that Merlot fleshing out the tender and quite persistent, slightly chalky finish. Perhaps the palate is offering more than the aromatics at the moment? This will be intriguing to taste once bottled. 

Producer Commentary:
Across the road from Léoville Poyferré at Léoville Las-Cases I met with general director Pierre Graffeuille. “There was just a little frost on the western side, close to Talbot, in two plots of Clos du Marquis,” he told me. “In June we had quite high hydric stress but it did not slow down the growth cycle. In summer it was strange because it was dry, but quite cool and so this tempered the hydric stress. We did some green harvesting in the summer to decrease the yield and de-leafed three times. You did not want to do it too early otherwise you risked burning the berries. When we saw that the summer was not going to be warm and hot, we decided to do two more rounds of de-leafing. The work in the vineyard was important and we had to do a little more sorting in the vineyard, which also explains the lower yield. Roughly 60% of the vineyard is now organic. The one major risk was to over-extract. We separate the press wine into many lots and so we are very precise in blending them. The wines here were blended in mid-December and put into barrels with the pressed wine.” It is becoming predictable but yes, of course, Las-Cases takes the gold medal in 2017. Since it virtually overlooks the estuary, the Grand Vin was protected by the frost and simply by reading Pierre’s comments you can understand how much work was expended in keeping the vineyard in tip-top shape. Compare this to say, Pontet-Canet that took a more laissez-faire approach in terms of traditional vineyard practices and yet still made a very fine 2017. Anyway, it is a great Las-Cases that like its stylistic cousin in Saint-Estèphe, Château Montrose, is a little more supple and approachable than other recent vintages.
2017 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 94.0

Drinking window: 2022 - 2050

Tasting notes: The 2017 Léoville Las-Cases was picked between 15 September and 4 October, cropped at 37hl/ha and as usual, comes from the oldest vines that average around 50-years old. This year there is 13.28° alcohol. It is matured in 90% new oak and contains 7.5% vin de presse. It has a very clean and precise bouquet with blackberry, just a touch of blueberry, violet and a hint of bay leaf. This gains intensity with aeration but it is not as detailed as last year’s 2016. The palate is medium-bodied with more supple tannins than usual (that word is apt – there is nothing “soft” about this Saint-Julien). It has great depth with layers of black fruit laced with graphite and a pinch of white pepper, whilst it delivers fine salinity on the sappy finish. Excellent. 

Producer Commentary:
Across the road from Léoville Poyferré at Léoville Las-Cases I met with general director Pierre Graffeuille. “There was just a little frost on the western side, close to Talbot, in two plots of Clos du Marquis,” he told me. “In June we had quite high hydric stress but it did not slow down the growth cycle. In summer it was strange because it was dry, but quite cool and so this tempered the hydric stress. We did some green harvesting in the summer to decrease the yield and de-leafed three times. You did not want to do it too early otherwise you risked burning the berries. When we saw that the summer was not going to be warm and hot, we decided to do two more rounds of de-leafing. The work in the vineyard was important and we had to do a little more sorting in the vineyard, which also explains the lower yield. Roughly 60% of the vineyard is now organic. The one major risk was to over-extract. We separate the press wine into many lots and so we are very precise in blending them. The wines here were blended in mid-December and put into barrels with the pressed wine.” It is becoming predictable but yes, of course, Las-Cases takes the gold medal in 2017. Since it virtually overlooks the estuary, the Grand Vin was protected by the frost and simply by reading Pierre’s comments you can understand how much work was expended in keeping the vineyard in tip-top shape. Compare this to say, Pontet-Canet that took a more laissez-faire approach in terms of traditional vineyard practices and yet still made a very fine 2017. Anyway, it is a great Las-Cases that like its stylistic cousin in Saint-Estèphe, Château Montrose, is a little more supple and approachable than other recent vintages.
1998 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 93.0

Drinking window: 2018 - 2030

Tasting notes: The 1998 Léoville Las-Cases is a blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot and 9% Cabernet Franc. This is fresh and lively on the nose, quite backward and certainly one of the most “undeveloped” of the 1998 Left Banks that I tasted. I appreciate the delineation on display here, the black fruit opening with time, secondary scents of seaweed, pencil lead and a touch of truffle emerging with time. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, plenty of taut black fruit laced with iron and that beguiling marine-like tincture that runs from start to finish. This is a solid Las-Cases and 20 years of age that probably still needs another four or five years in bottle. Excellent and moreover and it improved with aeration after a two-hour decanting. Tasted at the château. 

Producer Commentary:
2001 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 94.0

Drinking window: 2020 - 2045

Tasting notes: The 2001 Léoville Las Cases replicates numerous previous bottles, attesting one of the great successes of the vintage. The palate is perhaps more like the 2003, surprisingly opulent with black plum, cedar, pencil shavings and later, just a little iodine. It is certainly very well defined. The palate is medium-bodied with grippy tannins, a little more austere than the aromatics, more "serious" perhaps, with black fruit, tobacco and slightly meaty notes developing towards a very satisfying and long finish. Like most Léoville Las-Cases, it would benefit from a minimum of 20 years in the cellar, so do not be afraid to keep any bottles for another couple of years. Tasted at La Trompette in London. 

Producer Commentary:
2004 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2019 - 2035

Tasting notes: The 2004 Léoville Las-Cases feels stubborn and closed on the nose despite rigorous coaxing. Eventually it reveals attractive, tightly wound blackberry, briary, sandalwood and undergrowth notes. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannin, masculine as usual with Las-Cases, rather aloof and you might say a bit charmless. It is not a Saint-Julien that has resolved to give pleasure, the austerity on the finish is a little blunt at the moment. Being Las-Cases, perhaps it just needs longer time in bottle? Tasted at the annual CVBG tasting in London. 

Producer Commentary:
2009 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score:

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: The 2009 Léoville Las-Cases is a wine that I believe I misread blind, finding it uncharacteristically high-toned and monotone. I believe the note pertaining to BI Wines & Spirits' tasting more representative. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting. 

Producer Commentary:
2018 Le Petit Lion
Color: Red

Score: 92.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: The 2018 Le Petit Lion is a magnificent second wine. Aromatic, sweet and pliant, the 2018 is also remarkably light on its feet, something that is especially notable given the alcohol at 14.5%. Silky, giving and super-expressive, the 2018 has it all. The Petit Lion is 45% old-vine Merlot, 42% mostly younger vine Cabernet Sauvignon and 13% Cabernet Franc. More importantly, it is a real overachiever in 2018.

Producer Commentary:
2018 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 96.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: The 2018 Léoville Las Cases is a rich, sumptuous, exotic wine in 2018. Plush fruit and suave, silky tannins give the 2018 a level of textural richness that is unusual for a young Léoville Las Cases. Crème de cassis, lavender, mint and sweet spice all build in this extraordinarily beautiful wine. I can't recall tasting a young Las Cases with this much immediacy and sheer allure. The 2018 Las Cases has a very bright future. It is also one of the unquestioned stars of the vintage. In 2018, the blend is 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc and 9% Merlot. 

Producer Commentary:
2015 Le Petit Lion
Color: Red

Score: 90.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: The 2015 Le Petit Lion has fleshy red cherry and strawberry on the nose, nicely defined with touches of tar and undergrowth. The palate is medium-bodied with bitter cherry on the entry, moderate depth, quite fresh and taut with a straitlaced, rather Pauillac-inspired finish. This is a fine second wine from Las-Cases, although it has tightened up in the last few months. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting. 

Producer Commentary:
1969 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 86.0

Drinking window: 2019 - 2020

Tasting notes: The 1969 Léoville Las-Cases is an off-vintage poured blind chez moi by a friend. It turns out to be a pleasant surprise. Fresh and earthy on the nose, it foments aromas of stewed black tea with continued aeration. The palate is typically masculine and rather austere. Don't come here looking for bags of fruit. But it is balanced and enjoyable in a simplistic way. If your bottle has sound provenance, you might have one of the few surviving 1969s. Tasted at home. 

Producer Commentary:
1989 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 88.0

Drinking window: 2019 - 2025

Tasting notes: The 1989 Léoville Las-Cases came from a bottle that was recorked in 2017 at the property. The bouquet is rather muffled, and quite rustic and earthy in style, missing the breeding that Jean-Hubert Delon instills nowadays. The palate is medium-bodied with soft tannin. Rustic red fruit mixes with iron ore, orange peel, game and bacon fat notes. Old-school in style but missing the backbone and tension, the precision synonymous with this estate. Overall, it is slightly underperforming in the context of the vintage. Tasted at the property and in London, both bottles ex-château. 

Producer Commentary:
2018 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 96.0

Drinking window: 2024 - 2050

Tasting notes: The 2018 Léoville Las-Cases was picked from 15 September and 4 October at 35.5hl/ha and then matured in 90% new oak. This has the lowest pressed wine in history at only two or three percent. This has one of the most floral bouquets that I can recall on a Léoville Las-Cases at this stage with lavender and violet scents combining with the pretty black fruit, gaining intensity all the time in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, a more rounded Las-Cases with plenty of plush red and black fruit and a silky finish that caresses the mouth. It is a lovely and comparatively more approachable Las-Cases that is charming from start to finish. It is not quite up there with the ethereal 2016, though it is not too far off. 

Producer Commentary:
1985 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 98.0

Drinking window: 2019 - 2045

Tasting notes: The 1985 Léoville–Las Cases is not just one of the finest vintages from this Second Growth, but one of the high points for the entirety of Bordeaux in this decade. Here it eclipses the 1985 Lafite-Rothschild with ease. It has an exquisitely defined bouquet of red berry fruit infused with crushed stone and pressed rose petals, just like before. Ethereal. The palate is medium-bodied, a perfect marriage of structure and a degree of elegance that maybe the property has not matched before or since. It’s so, so harmonious on the finish. An absolute beauty. Tasted at Hameau de Barbaron in Burgundy.

Producer Commentary:
2010 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 96.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2060

Tasting notes: The 2010 Léoville–Las Cases has a very intense, multifaceted bouquet of blackberry, raspberry, orange blossom, pipe tobacco and light white pepper aromas. The oak is now fully enmeshed, and if anything it blossoms with aeration. The palate has softened a little since I tasted this in 2014, but there remains a wonderful arching texture, a fine bead of acidity and enormous length. The persistency here is outstanding, but there is also plenty of freshness. This may be a little more open than I imagined, though I would still give it another two or three years in bottle. Tasted at the château. 

Producer Commentary:
2012 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 93.0

Drinking window: 2022 - 2042

Tasting notes: The 2012 Léoville–Las Cases has a very fragrant bouquet of raspberry, wild strawberry and cedar aromas, all lively and focused; touches of potpourri develop in the glass. The medium-bodied palate delivers supple tannins matched with a fine bead of acidity. This is one of the more elegant Las Cases wines in recent years, nicely poised, offering succulent red berry fruit mixed with spice and white pepper toward the cohesive finish. Excellent. This is a very fine Las Cases and certainly the youngest and most approachable. Tasted at the château. 

Producer Commentary:
2017 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 94.0

Drinking window: 2023 - 2050

Tasting notes: The 2017 Léoville Las-Cases, which was bottled in July 2019, has a fragrant bouquet with rose petal and briary aromas married with cranberry, pomegranate and raspberry. A touch of tobacco emerges with time. It is certainly a more understated bouquet for this property. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin and a fine bead of acidity. This feels very pure and harmonious, quite complex, more so than in barrel, with darker, more savory and ferrous fruit towards the finish. This is an excellent Léoville Las-Cases with plenty of character.

Producer Commentary:
1945 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 97.0

Drinking window: 2020 - 2040

Tasting notes: The 1945 Léoville–Las Cases was one of the standouts of this monumental 1945 dinner. Conspicuously deep in color, it has a stunning bouquet, quite opulent in style, offering vivid red berry fruit, cedar and mint. Think of 1945 Mouton's younger cousin – that sense of deftly controlled opulence. The palate reins everything back in with layers of black fruit, a fine bead of acidity, perfect acidity and harmony and a dash of spice toward the persistent finish. You know, it reminds me of the exquisite 1985, yet this is from another generation. Fabulous. Tasted at Koala's 1945 dinner.

Producer Commentary:
2018 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 96.0

Drinking window: 2024 - 2050

Tasting notes: The 2018 Léoville–Las Cases, which was picked at 35.5hl/ha and matured in 90% new oak, still shows the exuberant floral bouquet that I remarked upon from barrel, featuring violets and (less so) lavender scents that complement the multilayered black fruit. On initial pouring, after a 60 minute decant, it blossoms and evolves greater delineation and poise. The palate is beautifully balanced with silky-smooth tannins that frame the plush, quite heady mixture of red and black fruit. Initially robust, over the ensuing hours it mellows nicely, though it retains the backbone and symmetry you expect from this redoubtable Saint-Julien. An exquisite wine that will age effortlessly over 25–40 years. 

Producer Commentary:
2020 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 97.0

Drinking window: 2030 - 2070

Tasting notes: The 2020 Léoville–Las Cases was picked September 12–29 and matured in 80% new oak with 13.68° alcohol. The Cabernet Sauvignon is in the driving seat on the nose, offering almost saturnine black fruit, pencil shavings and cedar, perhaps one of the most Pauillac-like bouquets that I have noticed on this wine out of barrel, which is no surprise considering its vines adjoin that appellation. The palate is medium-bodied, strict and linear at first, that Pauillac tincture the continuing theme thanks to conspicuous graphite/pencil lead notes interwoven into the black fruit. There is plenty of freshness here and impressive weight, yet no sense of heaviness toward the finish. 

Producer Commentary:
2020 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 96.5

Drinking window: 2035 - 2060

Tasting notes: The 2020 Léoville Las Cases comes across as a super-classic Saint-Julien that combines mid-weight structure of previous decades, with the greater textural finesse that has become the norm here in recent years. A shy introvert, the 2020 Las Cases won’t impress with size or brawn as is often the case, but with a total sense of finesse. Readers with classically leaning palates will flip out over the 2020. I can't wait to watch it evolve, hopefully for many decades to come. It is certainly one of the standouts of the year at this point. 

Producer Commentary:
2001 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 96.0

Drinking window: 2021 - 2051

Tasting notes: The 2001 Léoville Las Cases is simply stunning. I was fully prepared to decant it given that Las Cases is almost always a brute in its youth. And make no mistake about it, a twenty year-old Las Cases is still a youngster. Quite frankly, I am not at all prepared for the sheer intensity and richness that emanates from the glass. No decanting needed. The 2001 is simply magnificent upon opening. A rush of generous inky blackberry jam, spice, graphite and leather conveys superb textural intensity. Time in the glass helps the aromatics come alive. Shockingly rich and voluptuous, the 2001 is also wonderfully open today. Uncharacteristically so for Las Cases, in fact. But who’s complaining? Certainly not me. Even so, the 2001 is ultimately a mid-weight Las Cases, with plenty of opulent fruit, but not quite the tannic heft that is such a signature of this reference-point St. Julien. Readers lucky enough to own the 2001 are in for a real treat. This is an especially fine bottle, perhaps the finest I have come across. Aside from all the technical analyses and descriptors, what really matters most is that the 2001 is a wine that delivers immense drinking pleasure. I absolutely loved it. 

Producer Commentary:
2020 Le Petit Lion
Color: Red

Score: 90.0

Drinking window: 2024 - 2036

Tasting notes: The 2020 Le Petit Lion was picked September 10–29 and matured in 30% new oak. It has a straightforward bouquet of scents of raspberry, cranberry and touches of pomegranate, all intermixed with loamy aromas and undergrowth. But it is certainly fruit-forward, as you would expect. The palate is framed by lithe tannins, judiciously peppered red berry fruit and a harmonious, caressing finish. This will offer great pleasure in its youth but will probably age for longer than most will allow.

Producer Commentary:
2014 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 92.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: The 2014 Léoville-las-Cases is striking, even if it is reticent. Crème de cassis, blueberry jam, pencil shavings, cloves and new leather are all woven together effortlessly. Today, the 2014 comes across as restrained and finessed, with less of the volume and energy that is common. It's hard to imagine the notoriously slow-to-mature Léoville-las-Cases won't blossom during its élevage, but at this stage the elements aren't fully put together. The blend is 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc and 10% Merlot. 

Producer Commentary:
Most wines I tasted during the two weeks I spent in Bordeaux were decidedly open and expressive. Léoville-las-Cases was a rare exception, as both of the estate's wines came across as surprisingly reserved and hushed. Harvest took place between September 30 and October 13.
2003 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 90.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: (54.5% cabernet sauvignon, 42.6% merlot and 2.9% petit verdot; 13.43% alcohol, with a pH of 3.81 and 3.16 grams per liter of acidity) Bright medium ruby, Lively aromas of bitter cherry, licorice, minerals and tobacco, with a meaty nuance. Minerally and intense but tight, even a bit tough, today. Today, the tannins are a bit youthfully dominant, but this appears to be a very strong vintage in the making for Las Cases' second wine.

Producer Commentary:
Not surprisingly in light of the success of the Northern Medoc in 2003, this chateau has once again produced one of the wines of the vintage. The yield here was just 21.2 hectoliters per hectare, according to estate manager Jacques Depoizier, and the grand vin represents a selection of just 54% of the estate's fruit. Depoizier noted that the wine's oak is masking its fat today. "In fact," he told me, "the 2003 will probably close down after the bottling. But we said that about the '96 too, and the '96 is not terribly closed today. We may bottle the '03 later than usual; it appears to need a longer elevage Depoizier described the conditions of 2003 as "a green dryness: the vines didn't lack for water."
1998 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 88.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Good medium ruby. Reticent black cherry nose shows a Pauillac-like austerity. Tough, tight and concentrated, with a hint of game complicating the black fruit flavors. Finishes with nicely buffered tannins and sneaky length.

Producer Commentary:
The '99 harvest here featured a huge crop that required drastic eclaircissage, said Jean-Hubert Delon. Still, says Delon, there was less dilution here than on the water-retentive clay soils of St. Estephe and Pauillac. Las Cases carried out less osmose inverse than might be expected following a wet harvest due to the high grape sugars (the alcohol levels would have gone too high): the cabernet sauvignon was picked at the beginning of October with potential alcohol of 12.3%. The grand vin features a particularly severe 32% selection of the estate's best fruit and will age in just 50% new oak, down from 75% in '96 and 65% in '98. As always, this will be one of the top wines of the Medoc, although it remains to be seen if it will equal the tighter '98. Delon, for his part, believes the '99 is currently hiding its power and backbone.
2000 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 90.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Medium full ruby. Aromatic nose combines black cherry, violet, minerals, mint, chocolate and shoe polish. Sweet and lush in the mouth but with excellent vinosity and firm backbone giving the wine a penetrating quality. Finishes firmly tannic but not dry, with impressively persistent, sweet flavors of dark berries and minerals.

Producer Commentary:
The grape sugars barely budged during the very cool, dry first half of September, allowing a nice slow ripening of the tannins, noted Jean-Hubert Delon. Ultimately, potential alcohol levels reached roughly the same level as in the previous year, requiring very little saignee or osmose inverse, and measurable tannins were actually a hair higher in 2001 than in 2000. Actually, Delon maintains, the grapes in 2000 were more fragile than those of 2001. The crop level in 2001 was just 32 hectoliters per hectare, and only 40% of the fruit will be used for the grand vin The 2000 is more massive and monolithic, but the '01 is finer and perhaps equally long.
2004 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 90.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: (13.2% alcohol; a blend of 57% cabernet sauvignon, 38% merlot, 3% petit verdot and 2% cabernet franc) Red-ruby. Cassis, licorice and menthol aromas lifted by a floral nuance. Sweet and supple, with pliant flavors of crushed blackberry and violet. The rising finish features lovely length.

Producer Commentary:
Jean-Hubert Delon noted that it was important to green-harvest in mid-July, rather than wait until August, by which time the vines had wasted too much energy on the heavy crop load. Delon told me he did gentler pumpovers in 2004 and a shorter, cooler cuvaison in general than in the two previous years in order to preserve fruit. The 2004 represents a strict 34% selection of the estate's production, compared to 54% in 2003.
2006 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 89.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: (44% cabernet sauvignon, 41% merlot, 13% cabernet franc and 2% petit verdot) Bright ruby-red. Aromas of raw crushed black fruits, violet and black pepper. Rich, broad and dry, with sound ripe acidity and a rather chewy texture to the primary flavors of cassis and plum. Some distinctly cool notes of herbs, black olive and pepper. Not at all a facile style. This rather serious, structured second wine finishes with substantial tongue-dusting tannins.

Producer Commentary:
I got the impression from maitre de chai Bruno Rolland that this chateau was very much aware that its dense and powerful 2005 was inscrutable during primeur week last year. According to Rolland, the fruit that was likely to be selected for the grand vin in '06 went directly into barriques in early December following an early malolactic fermentation, then into "cisterns," where it was blended with the press wine, "which brought fat without dryness." "We gained a month of elevage this way, and today the oak is more thoroughly integrated with the wine." My early tasting of this wine suggests that it is at the level of the Pauillac first growths, which is high praise indeed. Production in 2006 will be lower than that of 2005, due to saignee and reverse osmosis, and the estate's linear, tannic cabernet franc all went into the Clos du Marquis.
2007 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 88.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: (13.3% alcohol; a blend of 58% cabernet sauvignon, 35% merlot, 5% cabernet franc and 2% petit verdot) Good medium ruby. Blackberry, black cherry, licorice and camphor on the nose. Suave on entry, then a bit strict in the middle for a 2007, with real firmness to its black fruit and violet flavors. A moderately dense wine with a medicinal reserve. Finishes with firm, building tannins.

Producer Commentary:
Maussade" (gloomy) was maitre de chai Bruno Rolland's one-word description of the summer of 2007, and yet the results of the vintage are often cheerful and inviting. "We vinified a bit cooler to preserve the fruit, and we liked the press wine, which was charming and impressive," he said. In spite of the sullen weather, proprietor Jean-Hubert Delon noted that there was some hydric stress here during the first half of August (the stressed fruit, he said, eventually went into the estate's second wine, Clos du Marquis). But the cool nights of August led to more refined tannins, Delon added, and many of today's drinkers are going to prefer 2007 to 2006 for this reason. "The 2006 Clos du Marquis and Leoville-Las Cases are drier, tougher, more traditionally styled wines, maybe better for an older generation of claret drinkers." By the way, the 2006 Clos du Marquis is not exactly cheap for a second wine, but it's a major success in the making for this bottling.
2006 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 90.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Full ruby-red. Currant, licorice, graphite and smoky oak on the nose. Juicy, serious and insinuating, with sweet currant and mineral flavors framed by ripe acidity and firm tannic spine. Finishes with noteworthy persistence and purity. This received almost all of the estate's cabernet franc in 2006. This is hardly your typical second wine-on the contrary, it's a rather Pauillac style of St. Julien that will likely require at least seven or eight years of cellaring.

Producer Commentary:
Maussade" (gloomy) was maitre de chai Bruno Rolland's one-word description of the summer of 2007, and yet the results of the vintage are often cheerful and inviting. "We vinified a bit cooler to preserve the fruit, and we liked the press wine, which was charming and impressive," he said. In spite of the sullen weather, proprietor Jean-Hubert Delon noted that there was some hydric stress here during the first half of August (the stressed fruit, he said, eventually went into the estate's second wine, Clos du Marquis). But the cool nights of August led to more refined tannins, Delon added, and many of today's drinkers are going to prefer 2007 to 2006 for this reason. "The 2006 Clos du Marquis and Leoville-Las Cases are drier, tougher, more traditionally styled wines, maybe better for an older generation of claret drinkers." By the way, the 2006 Clos du Marquis is not exactly cheap for a second wine, but it's a major success in the making for this bottling.
1999 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 88.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Deep red-ruby. Currant, cedar and tobacco on the nose. Penetrating and firm; a shapely wine with moderate flesh and sweetness but very good balance and structure for the vintage. Finishes with supple tannins and very good length.

Producer Commentary:
The grape sugars barely budged during the very cool, dry first half of September, allowing a nice slow ripening of the tannins, noted Jean-Hubert Delon. Ultimately, potential alcohol levels reached roughly the same level as in the previous year, requiring very little saignee or osmose inverse, and measurable tannins were actually a hair higher in 2001 than in 2000. Actually, Delon maintains, the grapes in 2000 were more fragile than those of 2001. The crop level in 2001 was just 32 hectoliters per hectare, and only 40% of the fruit will be used for the grand vin The 2000 is more massive and monolithic, but the '01 is finer and perhaps equally long.
1998 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 89.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Deep ruby-purple to the rim. Aromas of black cherry, blueberry and mace. Bright, intensely flavored and firm, but surprisingly lush for the vintage. Not especially dense but shapely and fine. Finishes with serious but ripe tannins. Just 15% new oak used for this wine.

Producer Commentary:
Reverse osmosis was necessary in '98, said Michel Delon, as nearly 200 millimeters of rain fell during the harvest, which extended from September 23 through October 12 here. There an early austerity to the '98 Las Cases that has Delon describing this vintage as Pauillac in style; 1996, in comparison, is more classic St. Julien. Delon compares '98 to '94, another year that featured harvest-time rain and some not-quite-ripe tannins. But the tannins in '98 are a bit more successfully elaborated, he notes. Incidentally, Delon has been slowly reducing the percentage of new barrels used to make Leoville-Las Cases, down to 75% in '96 and 65% in '98.
2004 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 89.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Moderately saturated ruby-red. Currant, tobacco, minerals and smoky oak on the nose. Fairly rich and broad but less sweet than the 2005, and less expressive than many of its 2004 peers at this stage. A rather polite style of Clos du Marquis, with very good balance and cut, and good persistence.

Producer Commentary:
Here's a classic example of a 2005 that must have been difficult to taste in mid-March, if not downright inscrutable. Even in early April, it was a brooding monster, but the superior quality, opulence and vibrancy of the 2005 cabernet sauvignon were plain to see.
1996 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 90.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Deep ruby-red. Plum and roasted nuts on the nose. Large-scaled, vinous and deep; thick fruit is given clarity by sound acidity. Very long and subtle on the finish, with serious but harmonious tannins. An outstanding second label, as good as most classified growths from St. Julien.

Producer Commentary:
Reverse osmosis was necessary in '98, said Michel Delon, as nearly 200 millimeters of rain fell during the harvest, which extended from September 23 through October 12 here. There an early austerity to the '98 Las Cases that has Delon describing this vintage as Pauillac in style; 1996, in comparison, is more classic St. Julien. Delon compares '98 to '94, another year that featured harvest-time rain and some not-quite-ripe tannins. But the tannins in '98 are a bit more successfully elaborated, he notes. Incidentally, Delon has been slowly reducing the percentage of new barrels used to make Leoville-Las Cases, down to 75% in '96 and 65% in '98.
1997 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 87.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Medium ruby-red. Plum, game, nuts and saddle leather on the nose. Nicely textured, smooth and vinous, with enticing plum and smoke flavors; if the '98 is like Pauillac, this is quintessential St. Julien. Finishes with ripe tannins and good length.

Producer Commentary:
The '99 harvest here featured a huge crop that required drastic eclaircissage, said Jean-Hubert Delon. Still, says Delon, there was less dilution here than on the water-retentive clay soils of St. Estephe and Pauillac. Las Cases carried out less osmose inverse than might be expected following a wet harvest due to the high grape sugars (the alcohol levels would have gone too high): the cabernet sauvignon was picked at the beginning of October with potential alcohol of 12.3%. The grand vin features a particularly severe 32% selection of the estate's best fruit and will age in just 50% new oak, down from 75% in '96 and 65% in '98. As always, this will be one of the top wines of the Medoc, although it remains to be seen if it will equal the tighter '98. Delon, for his part, believes the '99 is currently hiding its power and backbone.
2000 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 90.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Good full medium ruby. Superripe, exotic aromas of roasted currant, smoked meat and cocoa powder. Sweet, lush and silky, with compelling depth of texture and an intriguing gamey note. Very long finish features lush tannins.

Producer Commentary:
Here's another shockingly ripe 2002, with 13.5% natural alcohol. Only in vintages 1986, 1989 and 1990 did Leoville-Las Cases surpass 13%, said Jean-Hubert Delon. With the severe coulure during the flowering and the hydric stress in the heat of summer, there were similarities to the 1961 vintage, noted Delon. This was one of the most impressive young wines of the vintage, with the Clos du Marquis also a notable success in 2002.
2005 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 90.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Good full red-ruby. Superripe aromas of plum, mocha, coffee and spicy oak. Big, dry, broad and rich, with a chewy quality and noteworthy sweetness to the plummy flavor. This has more baby fat than the young 2006 but not quite as much detail or verve. Finishes quite broad, with major ripe tannins and lingering sweet fruit.

Producer Commentary:
Maussade" (gloomy) was maitre de chai Bruno Rolland's one-word description of the summer of 2007, and yet the results of the vintage are often cheerful and inviting. "We vinified a bit cooler to preserve the fruit, and we liked the press wine, which was charming and impressive," he said. In spite of the sullen weather, proprietor Jean-Hubert Delon noted that there was some hydric stress here during the first half of August (the stressed fruit, he said, eventually went into the estate's second wine, Clos du Marquis). But the cool nights of August led to more refined tannins, Delon added, and many of today's drinkers are going to prefer 2007 to 2006 for this reason. "The 2006 Clos du Marquis and Leoville-Las Cases are drier, tougher, more traditionally styled wines, maybe better for an older generation of claret drinkers." By the way, the 2006 Clos du Marquis is not exactly cheap for a second wine, but it's a major success in the making for this bottling.
2001 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 89.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Bright, full ruby. Black cherry, cassis and bitter chocolate on the nose. Dense but lively, with lovely flavor definition and inner-mouth perfume. Finishes with firm but ripe tannins and very good persistence.

Producer Commentary:
The grape sugars barely budged during the very cool, dry first half of September, allowing a nice slow ripening of the tannins, noted Jean-Hubert Delon. Ultimately, potential alcohol levels reached roughly the same level as in the previous year, requiring very little saignee or osmose inverse, and measurable tannins were actually a hair higher in 2001 than in 2000. Actually, Delon maintains, the grapes in 2000 were more fragile than those of 2001. The crop level in 2001 was just 32 hectoliters per hectare, and only 40% of the fruit will be used for the grand vin The 2000 is more massive and monolithic, but the '01 is finer and perhaps equally long.
1999 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 89.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Good ruby. Grapey aromas of black cherry and licorice. Nicely delineated flavors of cassis and mint offer an enticing restrained sweetness. Finishes with firm tannins and very good length. Softer than the '98 but finishes with good grip.

Producer Commentary:
The '99 harvest here featured a huge crop that required drastic eclaircissage, said Jean-Hubert Delon. Still, says Delon, there was less dilution here than on the water-retentive clay soils of St. Estephe and Pauillac. Las Cases carried out less osmose inverse than might be expected following a wet harvest due to the high grape sugars (the alcohol levels would have gone too high): the cabernet sauvignon was picked at the beginning of October with potential alcohol of 12.3%. The grand vin features a particularly severe 32% selection of the estate's best fruit and will age in just 50% new oak, down from 75% in '96 and 65% in '98. As always, this will be one of the top wines of the Medoc, although it remains to be seen if it will equal the tighter '98. Delon, for his part, believes the '99 is currently hiding its power and backbone.
2005 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 91.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Deep red-ruby. Superripe but brooding nose offers black fruits and licorice, along with an almost exotic chocolatey element. Broad on entry, then large-scaled, ripe and quite full, with the impression of chocolatey ripeness carrying through in the mouth. The toothdusting tannins arrive late. Very long and impressive for this cuvee-and better than a second wine has any right to be.

Producer Commentary:
I got the impression from maitre de chai Bruno Rolland that this chateau was very much aware that its dense and powerful 2005 was inscrutable during primeur week last year. According to Rolland, the fruit that was likely to be selected for the grand vin in '06 went directly into barriques in early December following an early malolactic fermentation, then into "cisterns," where it was blended with the press wine, "which brought fat without dryness." "We gained a month of elevage this way, and today the oak is more thoroughly integrated with the wine." My early tasting of this wine suggests that it is at the level of the Pauillac first growths, which is high praise indeed. Production in 2006 will be lower than that of 2005, due to saignee and reverse osmosis, and the estate's linear, tannic cabernet franc all went into the Clos du Marquis.
2002 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 90.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Red-ruby. Deeply pitched aromas of plum, redcurrant, tobacco and chocolate. Suave, dry and fresh, with nicely dense flavors of plum and spices, enlivened by solid, well-integrated acidity. This offers a lot of personality for a second wine, not to mention length on the aftertaste.

Producer Commentary:
Not surprisingly in light of the success of the Northern Medoc in 2003, this chateau has once again produced one of the wines of the vintage. The yield here was just 21.2 hectoliters per hectare, according to estate manager Jacques Depoizier, and the grand vin represents a selection of just 54% of the estate's fruit. Depoizier noted that the wine's oak is masking its fat today. "In fact," he told me, "the 2003 will probably close down after the bottling. But we said that about the '96 too, and the '96 is not terribly closed today. We may bottle the '03 later than usual; it appears to need a longer elevage Depoizier described the conditions of 2003 as "a green dryness: the vines didn't lack for water."
1996 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 90.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Ruby-red. Sweet aromas of dark berries, shoe polish and flowers; has a distinctly eau de vie-like sappy quality. Inky dark berry fruit is framed, and currently kept under wraps, by firm acidity. Structured and intensely flavored, with lingering fruit outlasting the ripe, suave tannins. An extraordinarily impressive second wine.

Producer Commentary:
Michel Delon has managed to make one of the few outstanding wines of the Medoc in 1997, in part by doing a ruthless reduction of his crop: a vendange verte in July and substantial eclaircissage, or crop thinning, until the end of August, followed by the declassification of 60% of the remaining crop into his second and third wines. The '97 Leoville-Las Cases has terrific depth and structure for the year and appears destined for a fairly slow evolution in bottle. Fans of this estate wines may be interested in Delon's current assessment of recent vintages here: Delon ranks the '96 as his greatest vintage to date. One step down is the 1986, followed by the '90 and '82.
2008 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 90.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: (55% cabernet sauvignon, 41% merlot, 3% cabernet franc and 1% petit verdot; represents a 50% selection; 7.5% of press wine used; 13.5% alcohol; 25% new oak) Medium-deep ruby. Lovely profound nose of black cherry and violet, complicated by graphite and minerals. Full and sweet on entry, with ripe red and black fruit flavors, smooth tannins and a long, clean finish. A standout wine in 2008. Incidentally, proprietor Jean-Hubert Delon has always told me that the grapes used for the Clos du Marquis are not from vines within the walls of the clos, and that these vines go into the Las Cases.

Producer Commentary:
1995 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 89.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Very good ruby-red color. Expressive, pungent aromas of blueberry, raspberry, game and roasted nuts. Sweet and velvety yet still rather closed following the bottling. Lively acidity gives the wine a penetrating quality. Not quite as weighty as the '96, but stylish and impeccably balanced.

Producer Commentary:
Michel Delon has managed to make one of the few outstanding wines of the Medoc in 1997, in part by doing a ruthless reduction of his crop: a vendange verte in July and substantial eclaircissage, or crop thinning, until the end of August, followed by the declassification of 60% of the remaining crop into his second and third wines. The '97 Leoville-Las Cases has terrific depth and structure for the year and appears destined for a fairly slow evolution in bottle. Fans of this estate wines may be interested in Delon's current assessment of recent vintages here: Delon ranks the '96 as his greatest vintage to date. One step down is the 1986, followed by the '90 and '82.
2005 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 90.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Good full ruby-red. Brooding aromas of black cherry, black raspberry and flowers, showing the cool nights of the vintage. Then dense, solid and rather backward for this wine, with plenty of volume and a classic austerity to the dark fruit flavors. The substantial ripe tannins really spread out on the finish. A seriously built wine with very good aging potential, but this young sample is downright agreeable today next to its big brother Leoville-Las Cases. Looks to be a very strong vintage for this wine.

Producer Commentary:
Here's a classic example of a 2005 that must have been difficult to taste in mid-March, if not downright inscrutable. Even in early April, it was a brooding monster, but the superior quality, opulence and vibrancy of the 2005 cabernet sauvignon were plain to see.
2003 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 90.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Good ruby-red. Roasted plum, currant and leather on the nose. Thick, rich and deep, with uncanny sweetness and mouth coverage for this bottling. Finishes very long, with a suggestion of dried fruits and big tannins that are even sweeter than those of the 2005 (the IPT here is 71, vs. 65 in the '05).

Producer Commentary:
Here's a classic example of a 2005 that must have been difficult to taste in mid-March, if not downright inscrutable. Even in early April, it was a brooding monster, but the superior quality, opulence and vibrancy of the 2005 cabernet sauvignon were plain to see.
2004 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 88.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Deep red. Aromas of cherry, espresso and mellow smoky oak. Round but on the dry side, showing less flavor intensity in the middle than the 2006. A wine of moderate ripeness and punch. Today the tannins cut off the wine's fruit. Perhaps in an awkward stage.

Producer Commentary:
I got the impression from maitre de chai Bruno Rolland that this chateau was very much aware that its dense and powerful 2005 was inscrutable during primeur week last year. According to Rolland, the fruit that was likely to be selected for the grand vin in '06 went directly into barriques in early December following an early malolactic fermentation, then into "cisterns," where it was blended with the press wine, "which brought fat without dryness." "We gained a month of elevage this way, and today the oak is more thoroughly integrated with the wine." My early tasting of this wine suggests that it is at the level of the Pauillac first growths, which is high praise indeed. Production in 2006 will be lower than that of 2005, due to saignee and reverse osmosis, and the estate's linear, tannic cabernet franc all went into the Clos du Marquis.
1997 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 87.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Full ruby color. Expressive, enticing aromas of blackcurrant, black cherry, cedar and oak spice, along with a floral topnote. Supple and pliant in the mouth, with spicy currant and cedar flavors that carry through to the lingering finish.

Producer Commentary:
Reverse osmosis was necessary in '98, said Michel Delon, as nearly 200 millimeters of rain fell during the harvest, which extended from September 23 through October 12 here. There an early austerity to the '98 Las Cases that has Delon describing this vintage as Pauillac in style; 1996, in comparison, is more classic St. Julien. Delon compares '98 to '94, another year that featured harvest-time rain and some not-quite-ripe tannins. But the tannins in '98 are a bit more successfully elaborated, he notes. Incidentally, Delon has been slowly reducing the percentage of new barrels used to make Leoville-Las Cases, down to 75% in '96 and 65% in '98.
1998 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 89.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Ruby-red. Cool aromas of black cherry, tobacco, currant leaf, minerals and toasty oak. Intensely flavored and sinewy, with less fat than the '99 but plenty of personality. Finishes with firm, nicely buffered tannins and very good persistence. A rather elegant, Pauillac-styled Clos du Marquis.

Producer Commentary:
"The summer was difficult but the fruit ripened well at the last moment," said Jean-Hubert Delon. "In fact, the estate old cabernet vines surpassed 13% for the first time, and the cabernet overall was riper than that of 1996." Polyphenol levels were the highest ever recorded at Leoville-Las Cases. Very little reverse osmosis was needed.
1999 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 88.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Medium ruby. Redcurrant, licorice, minerals and nuts on the nose, along with a slight inky nuance. Sweet, supple and vinous; showing more personality today than the infant 2000. Finishes with rather tight tannins and good length. Delon says this wine will be more refined when it in bottle.

Producer Commentary:
"The summer was difficult but the fruit ripened well at the last moment," said Jean-Hubert Delon. "In fact, the estate old cabernet vines surpassed 13% for the first time, and the cabernet overall was riper than that of 1996." Polyphenol levels were the highest ever recorded at Leoville-Las Cases. Very little reverse osmosis was needed.
2005 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 94.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: (this was in cuve, being prepared for the bottling) Deep ruby-red. Slightly stunted but pure aromas of cassis, minerals, mocha and nutty oak; very cabernet sauvignon. Powerful, thick and deep but almost musclebound in its current state. The tannins are lush and noble. This huge wine is likely to shut down following the bottling and will be very long-lived. And yet today I find more personality in the 2006, which has a higher IPT and pH (75 vs 70, and 3.72 vs. 3.66, respectively).

Producer Commentary:
I got the impression from maitre de chai Bruno Rolland that this chateau was very much aware that its dense and powerful 2005 was inscrutable during primeur week last year. According to Rolland, the fruit that was likely to be selected for the grand vin in '06 went directly into barriques in early December following an early malolactic fermentation, then into "cisterns," where it was blended with the press wine, "which brought fat without dryness." "We gained a month of elevage this way, and today the oak is more thoroughly integrated with the wine." My early tasting of this wine suggests that it is at the level of the Pauillac first growths, which is high praise indeed. Production in 2006 will be lower than that of 2005, due to saignee and reverse osmosis, and the estate's linear, tannic cabernet franc all went into the Clos du Marquis.
2001 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 92.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: (a blend of 69% cabernet sauvignon, 19.5% merlot and 11.5% cabernet franc) Saturated medium ruby. Pungent aromas of blackcurrant, mint and licorice. Extremely tightly wound and firm; a rather muscular, powerful Las Cases in a distinctly Pauillac style. Almost monolithic today in the middle palate. But pure and classically proportioned, with serious tannins that reach the front teeth. This very backward wine will need a good 12 to 15 years to blossom in bottle.

Producer Commentary:
The grape sugars barely budged during the very cool, dry first half of September, allowing a nice slow ripening of the tannins, noted Jean-Hubert Delon. Ultimately, potential alcohol levels reached roughly the same level as in the previous year, requiring very little saignee or osmose inverse, and measurable tannins were actually a hair higher in 2001 than in 2000. Actually, Delon maintains, the grapes in 2000 were more fragile than those of 2001. The crop level in 2001 was just 32 hectoliters per hectare, and only 40% of the fruit will be used for the grand vin The 2000 is more massive and monolithic, but the '01 is finer and perhaps equally long.
2003 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 93.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Full ruby-red. Plum, tar, cedar and nutty oak on the nose; less exotic than most '03s. Then massive and full on the palate; almost too big for the mouth. As silky as this is, it also possesses very good acidity for the vintage. Finishes with huge but lush tannins and superb length. The IPT here is 74, compared to 70 in 2005, and the alcohol is a tad higher, at 13.2%. A perfect vintage of Las Cases for tasters who normally find this wine too rigorous, but this still promises to be long-lived.

Producer Commentary:
Here's a classic example of a 2005 that must have been difficult to taste in mid-March, if not downright inscrutable. Even in early April, it was a brooding monster, but the superior quality, opulence and vibrancy of the 2005 cabernet sauvignon were plain to see.
1999 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 91.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Medium ruby. Crystallized currant, minerals, tar and mint on the nose. Sweet and fat, with roasted currant and bitter chocolate flavors. Rather subdued today and not currently expressive, but this shows a more sensual texture than the '98. Finishes with big, mounting tannins that spread over the entire palate.

Producer Commentary:
"The summer was difficult but the fruit ripened well at the last moment," said Jean-Hubert Delon. "In fact, the estate old cabernet vines surpassed 13% for the first time, and the cabernet overall was riper than that of 1996." Polyphenol levels were the highest ever recorded at Leoville-Las Cases. Very little reverse osmosis was needed.
2003 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 94.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: (a blend of 70% cabernet sauvignon, 17% merlot and 13% cabernet franc; 13.27% alcohol, 3.82 pH and 3.29 acidity) Medium ruby. Complex aromas of kirsch, black raspberry, minerals, graphite and curry powder, with a suggestion of crushed berries. Hugely dense, rich and full. Compellingly sweet but brooding and tight, currently dominated by its powerful structure. The IPT here is 74, or about the same as the last two vintages. Powerful, mounting aftertaste suggests that this massive Las Cases will be very long-lived.

Producer Commentary:
Not surprisingly in light of the success of the Northern Medoc in 2003, this chateau has once again produced one of the wines of the vintage. The yield here was just 21.2 hectoliters per hectare, according to estate manager Jacques Depoizier, and the grand vin represents a selection of just 54% of the estate's fruit. Depoizier noted that the wine's oak is masking its fat today. "In fact," he told me, "the 2003 will probably close down after the bottling. But we said that about the '96 too, and the '96 is not terribly closed today. We may bottle the '03 later than usual; it appears to need a longer elevage Depoizier described the conditions of 2003 as "a green dryness: the vines didn't lack for water."
1998 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 93.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Black-ruby to the rim. High-pitched, extremely primary aromas of blackberry, minerals and mint. Brilliantly delineated black fruit flavors are totally unevolved; has a brooding austerity that contributes to the impression of impenetrability. The major but ripe tannins coat the teeth. Very long and strong on the finish. Has the powerful structure of a Pauillac first growth, but the acidity level is not particularly high. Impressive for the vintage, but a very difficult wine to read at this early stage.

Producer Commentary:
Reverse osmosis was necessary in '98, said Michel Delon, as nearly 200 millimeters of rain fell during the harvest, which extended from September 23 through October 12 here. There an early austerity to the '98 Las Cases that has Delon describing this vintage as Pauillac in style; 1996, in comparison, is more classic St. Julien. Delon compares '98 to '94, another year that featured harvest-time rain and some not-quite-ripe tannins. But the tannins in '98 are a bit more successfully elaborated, he notes. Incidentally, Delon has been slowly reducing the percentage of new barrels used to make Leoville-Las Cases, down to 75% in '96 and 65% in '98.
2000 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 94.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Full medium ruby. Superripe aromas of blackberry, boysenberry, cassis and bitter chocolate; suggestion of surmaturite Sweet on entry, then smooth, dense and rather dominated by its sheer size and structure. A classic Las Cases, with a note of bitter chocolate and terrific thrust on the back end. The huge, chewy tannins are less fine than those of the 2001 but really coat the palate. Rather stubbornly backward today, but built to last three decades or more.

Producer Commentary:
The grape sugars barely budged during the very cool, dry first half of September, allowing a nice slow ripening of the tannins, noted Jean-Hubert Delon. Ultimately, potential alcohol levels reached roughly the same level as in the previous year, requiring very little saignee or osmose inverse, and measurable tannins were actually a hair higher in 2001 than in 2000. Actually, Delon maintains, the grapes in 2000 were more fragile than those of 2001. The crop level in 2001 was just 32 hectoliters per hectare, and only 40% of the fruit will be used for the grand vin The 2000 is more massive and monolithic, but the '01 is finer and perhaps equally long.
2011 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 93.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: (76% cabernet sauvignon and 12% each merlot and 12% cabernet franc; 26 hectoliters per hectare): Good deep red. Outstanding verve to the aromas of raspberry, white pepper, violet, rose petal and sweet spices; today the cabernet franc component is very apparent. At once velvety and racy on the palate, with great energy and class to the red fruit, floral and mineral flavors. An electric wine that jolts the palate, and yet the exceptionally silky finish features creamy-sweet mouth-saturating tannins. If the 2007 was more Saint-Julien in style and the 2008 more like Pauillac, the subtly complex 2011 is very much LÃ©oville. I'm not sure Jean-Hubert Delon could make a bad LÃ©oville-Las-Cases even if he tried to. This should turn out to be one of the top five wines of the vintage.

Producer Commentary:
1999 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Deep ruby. Vibrant aromas of cassis, bitter chocolate, violet and mint. Thick, sweet and impressively concentrated for the year, with solid underlying backbone. Subtle, juicy and long. The substantial tannins spread out to coat the teeth and palate. This comes across as deceptively easy today, but the wine's underlying power, balance and excellent length suggest it will enjoy a leisurely evolution in bottle.

Producer Commentary:
The '99 harvest here featured a huge crop that required drastic eclaircissage, said Jean-Hubert Delon. Still, says Delon, there was less dilution here than on the water-retentive clay soils of St. Estephe and Pauillac. Las Cases carried out less osmose inverse than might be expected following a wet harvest due to the high grape sugars (the alcohol levels would have gone too high): the cabernet sauvignon was picked at the beginning of October with potential alcohol of 12.3%. The grand vin features a particularly severe 32% selection of the estate's best fruit and will age in just 50% new oak, down from 75% in '96 and 65% in '98. As always, this will be one of the top wines of the Medoc, although it remains to be seen if it will equal the tighter '98. Delon, for his part, believes the '99 is currently hiding its power and backbone.
1995 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 94.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Deep ruby-red. Deep, lively aromas of red- and blackcurrants, licorice, tobacco and grilled nuts. Great sweetness and silky texture in the mouth currently overshadows the wine strong supporting acidity and tight core of spice and minerals. The toothcoating tannins don't cover as much of the mouth as those of the '96 do, but this wine offers uncanny length.

Producer Commentary:
Michel Delon has managed to make one of the few outstanding wines of the Medoc in 1997, in part by doing a ruthless reduction of his crop: a vendange verte in July and substantial eclaircissage, or crop thinning, until the end of August, followed by the declassification of 60% of the remaining crop into his second and third wines. The '97 Leoville-Las Cases has terrific depth and structure for the year and appears destined for a fairly slow evolution in bottle. Fans of this estate wines may be interested in Delon's current assessment of recent vintages here: Delon ranks the '96 as his greatest vintage to date. One step down is the 1986, followed by the '90 and '82.
2010 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 95.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: (a blend of 82% cabernet sauvignon, 10% merlot and 8% cabernet franc; 74 IPT; 3.56 pH; 75% new oak; 13.7% alcohol) Deep ruby with purple highlights. Sexy, classic, captivating cabernet sauvignon aromas of blackcurrant, graphite and cedar complicated by minerals. Silky-sweet, fine-grained and almost gentle on entry, with well-integrated acidity contributing to an impression of finesse. Then dense and firm in the mid-palate, with rich, brooding cassis, gunflint and mineral flavors. This is considerably less showy today than the 2009 was at a similar stage of development, conveying a more austere aspect to its dark fruit flavors. Finishes pure, seamless and very long, with incredibly silky tannins. How Jean-Hubert Delon manages to get tannins this sweet and smooth every vintage is beyond me.

Producer Commentary:
Also recommended: 2010 Le Petit Lion Saint-Julien (84-86).
2004 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Full ruby-red. Plum, currant and cedary cigar box scents on the nose. Rich and dense but less sweet than the 2005, and showing signs of shutting down; like the Clos du Marquis, this seems downright unforthcoming compared to most 2004s from the Medoc. A tight, serious 2004 with excellent density and breadth for the vintage. This is fresh fruits, while the 2005 is more crystallized fruits.

Producer Commentary:
Here's a classic example of a 2005 that must have been difficult to taste in mid-March, if not downright inscrutable. Even in early April, it was a brooding monster, but the superior quality, opulence and vibrancy of the 2005 cabernet sauvignon were plain to see.
2006 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 94.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Deep ruby. Knockout perfumed nose offers cassis, blackberry, violet, licorice, tar and minerals. Superripe, rich and seamless, combining great vinosity with compelling sucrosite Incredibly full for the vintage. Finishes with powerful but late-arriving tannins and outstanding palate-saturating persistence. Think of this as a modern version of the estate's 1986, with today's technology bringing a silkier mouth feel and more civilized tannins.

Producer Commentary:
I got the impression from maitre de chai Bruno Rolland that this chateau was very much aware that its dense and powerful 2005 was inscrutable during primeur week last year. According to Rolland, the fruit that was likely to be selected for the grand vin in '06 went directly into barriques in early December following an early malolactic fermentation, then into "cisterns," where it was blended with the press wine, "which brought fat without dryness." "We gained a month of elevage this way, and today the oak is more thoroughly integrated with the wine." My early tasting of this wine suggests that it is at the level of the Pauillac first growths, which is high praise indeed. Production in 2006 will be lower than that of 2005, due to saignee and reverse osmosis, and the estate's linear, tannic cabernet franc all went into the Clos du Marquis.
1996 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 96.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Saturated bright, dark ruby. Perfumed, vibrant, very youthful aromas of cassis, violet and bitter chocolate. Dense and powerful, with great clarity of flavor thanks to a terrific spine of acidity. Almost painfully structured wine but not at all hard. Finishes very long and gripping, with a note of bitter chocolate. Drink 2012 through 2040.

Producer Commentary:
2011 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 92.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Brilliant dark red-ruby. Captivating aromas of raspberry, blackcurrant, Asian spices and graphite. Brisk and juicy in the mouth, showing excellent cut to its flavors of red berries, pepper, sweet spices and minerals. Finishes with a firm tannic spine and lingering notes of dark cherry and violet. Backward but very promising. As usual, owner Jean-Hubert Delon has come up with one of the top ten wines of the vintage. This 2011 lacks only the incredible silkiness of tannins of LLC's best vintages; otherwise it's an absolute gem.

Producer Commentary:
2010 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 95.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Bright ruby-red. Vibrant nose combines black and blue fruits, lead pencil and crushed-stone minerality, with a note of kirsch emerging with air. Utterly silky in texture yet extremely backward, with a medicinal quality keeping the penetrating dark berry flavors under wraps today. But with a powerful impression of tangy energy, a superb spine of saline minerality, and an extremely long, lively, firmly tannic finish, this classic Las Cases should be a knockout with 12 or 15 years in the bottle.

Producer Commentary:
1999 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Full ruby-red. Captivating nose of roasted currant, cedar and minerals, with a floral lift; quite fresh for the year. Sweet, supple, dense and full, with no dip in the middle. This is impressively chewy and concentrated for a '99. Finishes long and flavorful, with sweet, building tannins.

Producer Commentary:
The grape sugars barely budged during the very cool, dry first half of September, allowing a nice slow ripening of the tannins, noted Jean-Hubert Delon. Ultimately, potential alcohol levels reached roughly the same level as in the previous year, requiring very little saignee or osmose inverse, and measurable tannins were actually a hair higher in 2001 than in 2000. Actually, Delon maintains, the grapes in 2000 were more fragile than those of 2001. The crop level in 2001 was just 32 hectoliters per hectare, and only 40% of the fruit will be used for the grand vin The 2000 is more massive and monolithic, but the '01 is finer and perhaps equally long.
2007 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 91.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: (a blend of 82% cabernet sauvignon, 10% cabernet franc and 8% merlot) Good full ruby. Very pure aromas of blackberry, black cherry, violet and licorice. A sweet, juicy midweight with supple, attractive fruit and lovely inner-mouth floral character. Serious and firmly structured in the style of Las Cases but harmonious from the start and not at all forbidding. Finishes with sweet tannins and very good length.

Producer Commentary:
Maussade" (gloomy) was maitre de chai Bruno Rolland's one-word description of the summer of 2007, and yet the results of the vintage are often cheerful and inviting. "We vinified a bit cooler to preserve the fruit, and we liked the press wine, which was charming and impressive," he said. In spite of the sullen weather, proprietor Jean-Hubert Delon noted that there was some hydric stress here during the first half of August (the stressed fruit, he said, eventually went into the estate's second wine, Clos du Marquis). But the cool nights of August led to more refined tannins, Delon added, and many of today's drinkers are going to prefer 2007 to 2006 for this reason. "The 2006 Clos du Marquis and Leoville-Las Cases are drier, tougher, more traditionally styled wines, maybe better for an older generation of claret drinkers." By the way, the 2006 Clos du Marquis is not exactly cheap for a second wine, but it's a major success in the making for this bottling.
2009 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 95.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: (76% cabernet sauvignon, 15% merlot, and 9% cabernet franc; ph 3.65; IPT 70; 13.4% alcohol; 65% new oak) Purple ruby. Initially closed nose opens slowly with air to reveal blackcurrant, blueberry, tobacco and minerals. Then remarkably supple and pliant in the mouth, with extremely sweet red and black fruit flavors complicated by graphite, tobacco and minerals. The youthful, building tannins start silky-smooth, then become a bit aggressive on the long, complex finish. Compared to Latour, whose vineyards lie practically next door, this has a much softer texture and is very much Saint-Julien, though over time it may toughen up and shut down. This wine reminded me of the excellent '66, but despite such high praise, I'm not sure it's that much better than the excellent '08 made here. Las Cases's reputation is built on some of Bordeaux's finest cabernet sauvignon of all, but Delon told me that he felt it needed a touch more merlot than usual in the final blend this year. "While normally it can do with very little merlot, not this year," said Delon. "The merlot adds a touch of charm that is lovely."

Producer Commentary:
Along with the line-up of wines presented by Domaine Clarence Dillon (Haut-Brion) in Pessac-Leognan, there was no better all-around performance from any estate in '09 than this one. Ultra-talented Jean-Hubert Delon has managed to achieve deep, layered middle palate texture and outstanding length and smoothness in all his wines (including Nenin, Potensac and Clos du Marquis) without any apparent sign of heaviness or excessive tannins. "For once I was happy to see higher alcohol levels than usual," Delon told me. "For with this much concentration, tannin and acidity the wines would have been undrinkable without the balance provided by the extra alcohol. The alcohol allows the wines to be a little flashier and more generous up front." Not that there is so much more alcohol than usual: Leoville is 13.7% instead of its more typical average of 13.2%. The 2009 vintage is also the second time that Le Petit Lion, Leoville-Las Cases's true second wine, was made (the Clos du Marquis is technically another wine made from parcels that were not originally part of the old Leoville estate). "I really needed to make a true second wine," Delon explained, "because I didn't want to keep putting a lot of merlot in the Clos du Marquis, since this would have risked costing it its Saint-Julien typicity."
2001 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 93.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Ruby-red. Aromas of kirsch, currant, graphite, minerals, camphor and smoky oak. Subtly sweet and penetrating, with lovely energy and clarity of flavor. Classic claret, finishing lively and very long, with the tannins reaching the front teeth.

Producer Commentary:
Not surprisingly in light of the success of the Northern Medoc in 2003, this chateau has once again produced one of the wines of the vintage. The yield here was just 21.2 hectoliters per hectare, according to estate manager Jacques Depoizier, and the grand vin represents a selection of just 54% of the estate's fruit. Depoizier noted that the wine's oak is masking its fat today. "In fact," he told me, "the 2003 will probably close down after the bottling. But we said that about the '96 too, and the '96 is not terribly closed today. We may bottle the '03 later than usual; it appears to need a longer elevage Depoizier described the conditions of 2003 as "a green dryness: the vines didn't lack for water."
2004 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 92.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: (76% cabernet sauvignon, 13% merlot and 11% cabernet franc) Bright ruby-red. Cassis and licorice aromas hint at a medicinal austerity. Sweet, brooding flavors of inky purple fruits and violet, with exotic hints of dried fig, mango and apricot. A rather powerful, beefy style of Las Cases, but a bit softer on the mouthcoating back end than the nose would suggest. Chewy, lively and tasty wine, but perhaps a bit less classic and gripping on the finish than the 2002.

Producer Commentary:
Jean-Hubert Delon noted that it was important to green-harvest in mid-July, rather than wait until August, by which time the vines had wasted too much energy on the heavy crop load. Delon told me he did gentler pumpovers in 2004 and a shorter, cooler cuvaison in general than in the two previous years in order to preserve fruit. The 2004 represents a strict 34% selection of the estate's production, compared to 54% in 2003.
2000 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 95.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Full, bright ruby. Superripe aromas of roasted currant, violet and black licorice. Powerful and highly aromatic in the mouth, with brooding black fruit, violet and chocolate flavors. A step up in acidity from the Clos du Marquis, giving the wine great vinosity and cut. Extremely long and aromatic on the finish, with big, chewy, thoroughly ripe tannins.

Producer Commentary:
Here's another shockingly ripe 2002, with 13.5% natural alcohol. Only in vintages 1986, 1989 and 1990 did Leoville-Las Cases surpass 13%, said Jean-Hubert Delon. With the severe coulure during the flowering and the hydric stress in the heat of summer, there were similarities to the 1961 vintage, noted Delon. This was one of the most impressive young wines of the vintage, with the Clos du Marquis also a notable success in 2002.
2002 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 93.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Moderately saturated red-ruby. Captivating if cooler nose of blackcurrant, licorice and minerals. Very intensely flavored and gripping if currently quite tight. The black fruit and menthol flavors show an almost medicinal austerity and uncanny penetration on the palate. Very ripe for 2002, at 13.5%, with a pH of 3.85. Today, I find a more classically firm finish and a bit more personality than in the young 2004, but then the new vintage has a long way to go before it's in bottle.

Producer Commentary:
Jean-Hubert Delon noted that it was important to green-harvest in mid-July, rather than wait until August, by which time the vines had wasted too much energy on the heavy crop load. Delon told me he did gentler pumpovers in 2004 and a shorter, cooler cuvaison in general than in the two previous years in order to preserve fruit. The 2004 represents a strict 34% selection of the estate's production, compared to 54% in 2003.
1996 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 96.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Saturated, deep ruby-red. Brooding aromas of blackcurrant, black cherry, minerals and shoe polish; the sheer strength of fruit here struck me as almost California-like. Thick with extract and wonderfully sweet and ripe in the mouth; builds slowly and inexorably to an amazingly long finish. Substantial, ripe tannins coat the entire mouth. Today the considerable power of this wine is masked by its perfect balance. A strong candidate for wine of the vintage.

Producer Commentary:
Michel Delon has managed to make one of the few outstanding wines of the Medoc in 1997, in part by doing a ruthless reduction of his crop: a vendange verte in July and substantial eclaircissage, or crop thinning, until the end of August, followed by the declassification of 60% of the remaining crop into his second and third wines. The '97 Leoville-Las Cases has terrific depth and structure for the year and appears destined for a fairly slow evolution in bottle. Fans of this estate wines may be interested in Delon's current assessment of recent vintages here: Delon ranks the '96 as his greatest vintage to date. One step down is the 1986, followed by the '90 and '82.
2006 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 94.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Bright, full ruby. Brooding aromas of cassis, black cherry, minerals, bitter chocolate, shoe polish and violet; more Pauillac than Saint-Julien on the nose. Then rich, lush and powerful, with impressive fullness and volume. As full and sweet as this is, there's no impression of excess weight and the back end shows a distinctly austere quality, even if the serious tannins are nicely buffered by the wine's rich middle. Really stains the palate with flavor on the aftertaste. Wonderfully ripe cabernet sauvignon here; in fact, most of the cab franc in 2006 was declassified into the Clos du Marquis.

Producer Commentary:
2001 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 93.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Medium ruby-red. Reticent aromas of cassis, violet and minerals. Dense, sweet and backward; began a bit sullen but showed lovely brightness and vinosity as it opened in the glass. This was just racked in preparation for the fining, with the result that the middle palate is a bit muddled, but this distinctly Pauillac-styled Las Cases has all the elements for a long, graceful evolution in bottle. Finishes with big, rich tannins and excellent persistence. A bit overshadowed today by the 2002 and 2000 examples, but this is a superb 2001.

Producer Commentary:
Here's another shockingly ripe 2002, with 13.5% natural alcohol. Only in vintages 1986, 1989 and 1990 did Leoville-Las Cases surpass 13%, said Jean-Hubert Delon. With the severe coulure during the flowering and the hydric stress in the heat of summer, there were similarities to the 1961 vintage, noted Delon. This was one of the most impressive young wines of the vintage, with the Clos du Marquis also a notable success in 2002.
2004 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 90.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Deep red-ruby. Expressive aromas of currant, plum, mocha, tobacco and minerals, with a slight dusty character. Supple but a bit youthfully inky, with a dusty quality to the moderately sweet fruit. This is a bit dry compared to the young 2006, and one has the impression that the oak tannins are less successfully integrated with the wine's fruit. This concentrated, persistent wine really needs seven or eight years of cellaring.

Producer Commentary:
I got the impression from maitre de chai Bruno Rolland that this chateau was very much aware that its dense and powerful 2005 was inscrutable during primeur week last year. According to Rolland, the fruit that was likely to be selected for the grand vin in '06 went directly into barriques in early December following an early malolactic fermentation, then into "cisterns," where it was blended with the press wine, "which brought fat without dryness." "We gained a month of elevage this way, and today the oak is more thoroughly integrated with the wine." My early tasting of this wine suggests that it is at the level of the Pauillac first growths, which is high praise indeed. Production in 2006 will be lower than that of 2005, due to saignee and reverse osmosis, and the estate's linear, tannic cabernet franc all went into the Clos du Marquis.
2008 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 93.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: (78% cabernet sauvignon, 12% cabernet franc and 10% merlot; includes 10% press wine; 13.4% alcohol; 65% new oak; from a yield of 37.9 hectoliters per hectare) Full, deep ruby-red. Beautiful nose redolent of violet, blackcurrant and minerals. Balanced and pure on entry, with almost sweet ripe red cherry and marzipan flavors, this is wonderfully suave and seamless, but with great purity and precision of flavor and terrific inner-palate perfume and lift. With a touch more length, it may well have been the wine of the vintage.

Producer Commentary:
2012 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 93.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: (74% cabernet sauvignon, 15% merlot and 11% cabernet franc; 3.6 pH; 5.4 g/l total acidity; 70 IPT; 13.5% alcohol; 80% new oak; 33 h/h): Dark ruby-red. Spice and vanillin nuances complicate red cherry, blackcurrant, cedar and graphite on the captivating, classic nose. Then suave and refined in the mouth, with clean flavors of blackcurrant, cedar and herbs. Finishes very long and pure, with insidious complexity and atypical levels of sweet creamy flesh for a 2012 Bordeaux from the Left Bank. I found this outstanding wine to be very LLC in style, not unlike a lighter version of the 2010. The grapes were picked on 12 different days between October 4 and 18. For my money, it's one of the two best wines from the Left Bank in 2012.

Producer Commentary:
2020 Le Petit Lion Du Marquis De Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 93.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2040

Tasting notes: The 2020 Le Petit Lion du Marquis de las Cases is a very serious second wine. The aromatics alone are immediately enchanting. This mid-weight Saint-Julien is so expressive today. Crushed flowers, bright red-toned fruit, mint, rose petal and cedar are all very nicely lifted. Firm, but precise tannins lend energy and proportion. The Petit Lion is a blend of young vine Cabernet and old-vine Merlot from Las Cases.

Producer Commentary:
2012 Le Petit Lion Du Marquis De Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 87.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: The 20120 Le Petit Lion du Marquis de Las Cases is floral, lifted and also understated. Crushed flowers, sweet tobacco, smoke, game, worn-in leather and rose petal are all laced into the soft, inviting finish. Dark red cherry, pomegranate, spice and mint add the final shades of nuance. The 2012 is a bit lacking in depth, but is also pretty for what it is. In 2012 the blend is 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Merlot and 8% Cabernet Franc.

Producer Commentary:
2014 Le Petit Lion Du Marquis De Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 88.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: The 2014 Le Petit Lion du Marquis de las Cases is open-knit, gracious and quite pretty, but also understated and therefore completely different in style than the Grand Vin. Dark red plum, spice, new leather and cedar grace the silky finish. The 2014 is mostly old-vine Merlot that the winemaking team deemed not suitable for the Grand Vin, along with younger-vine Cabernet Sauvignon. The blend is 57% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc.

Producer Commentary:
Most wines I tasted during the two weeks I spent in Bordeaux were decidedly open and expressive. Léoville-las-Cases was a rare exception, as both of the estate's wines came across as surprisingly reserved and hushed. Harvest took place between September 30 and October 13.
2016 Le Petit Lion
Color: Red

Score: 90.0

Drinking window: 2021 - 2033

Tasting notes: The 2016 Le Petit Lion comes from the young vines in Léoville Las-Cases. It has great clarity on a nose of bright black fruit infused with pencil shavings; I appreciate the focus here. The palate is medium-bodied with supple, slightly candied red fruit laced with Chinese five-spice and sandalwood, gently fanning out toward a focused finish with ample grip. Very fine. 

Producer Commentary:
2016 Le Petit Lion
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2021 - 2031

Tasting notes: The 2016 Le Petit Lion is a very pretty wine, but it is also going to need a few years to come into its own, as the tannins are quite firm post-bottling. There is good energy to the red cherry fruit, spice and chalky notes, but, at the same time, Le Petit Lion is a rare second wine that is going to need a few years to come into its own. Tasted two times. 

Producer Commentary:
2017 Le Petit Lion
Color: Red

Score: 89.0

Drinking window: 2020 - 2030

Tasting notes: Matured for 15 months in around 25% new oak, the 2017 Le Petit Lion has a perfumed, quite floral bouquet with pressed rose petals infusing the cranberry and wild strawberry aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red berry fruit, quite saline in the mouth with a very harmonious and quite persistent finish. This is an excellent Deuxième Vin. 

Producer Commentary:
2019 Le Petit Lion
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: The 2019 Le Petit Lion is a blend of old-vine Merlot and younger vine Cabernet Sauvignon. Deep and savory in the glass, the Petit Lion is wonderfully expressive today. Readers should plan on cellaring the 2019, as it has quite a bit of tannin lurking beneath all the rich fruit. More than anything else, it is the wine's persistence and finish that really stands out.

Producer Commentary:
2018 Le Petit Lion
Color: Red

Score: 89.0

Drinking window: 2023 - 2030

Tasting notes: The 2018 Le Petit Lion has a light, earthy bouquet of dusky black fruit, a light marine scent emerging with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with grippy tannins and a fine bead of acidity. A little orange zest emerges toward the finish, which lingers nicely. This is an approachable Deuxième Vin, which is what I suspect is its intention, but it will give up to 10 years of drinking pleasure. 

Producer Commentary:
2019 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 95.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: The 2019 Léoville Las-Cases is a gorgeous, sophisticated wine. Deep and beautifully layered, the 2019 has remarkable depth and simply impeccable balance. Here, too, the integration of fruit, tannin and acidity is simply remarkable, especially for such a young wine. In so many vintages, Las Cases can be a brute, but the 2019 is incredibly polished. If anything, it is uncharacteristically shy at this stage. The 2019 saw 3-4 weeks on the skins, with malolactic fermentation in tank. Press wine is 6.5%, which is on the lower end for Las Cases. The wine was barreled down in December, fully blended. 

Producer Commentary:
2005 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 97.5

Drinking window: 2025 - 2055

Tasting notes: The 2005 Léoville Las Cases is one of the most brooding, potent wines of the year. When will it be ready? The answer is not yet. Although I have had other bottles that have been showier. Inky, powerful and potent, the 2005 is a real showstopper. If opened now, the 2005 needs a good 12 hours in the decanter to start performing well. Over time, the 2005 shows it is just at the very beginning of a first plateau of maturity, with lovely aromatic complexity, layers of radiant fruit and tremendous structure to back it all up. The high percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon (88%) foreshadows the style that has now become the norm. Time in the glass brings out the red/purplish fruit nicely. Still, I would prefer to give the 2005 a few more years in bottle. The 2005 is a must have for readers who love Las Cases. Tasted two times.

Producer Commentary:
2005 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 98.0

Drinking window: 2020 - 2045

Tasting notes: A wine for the ages, the 2005 Léoville Las Cases is slow to come out of the gate, but its beauty and pedigree are evident. The 2005 Las Cases is one of the only wines in this tasting that still needs time in bottle, something that won't come as a surprise to fans of this St. Julien estate. The 2005 offers plenty of the typical Las Cases power, but it is also remarkably nuanced and translucent for a wine of its sheer size. When all is said and done, it is in my top three or four wines of the night. 

Producer Commentary:
This wine was tasted as part of our 2005 Bordeaux with Stephen Tanzer and Antonio Galloni event held in October, 2015.
2016 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 98.0

Drinking window: 2026 - 2060

Tasting notes: The 2016 Léoville Las-Cases underwent three more months in barrel than usual, and was bottled in September 2018. It has an extremely intense bouquet that manages to retain otherworldly delineation. It is not as expressive as its peers at this early stage (but then again, it rarely is). Yet there is palpable coiled-up energy on the nose, and you can feel the mineralité. The palate is medium-bodied with super-fine tannin and layers of pure black and blue fruit laced with allspice and a pinch of white pepper. It fans out wonderfully on the finish, which exerts fine grip but never overwhelms. This is undoubtedly one of the best wines ever made by the estate. Close to perfection. 

Producer Commentary:
2018 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 97.0

Drinking window: 2028 - 2058

Tasting notes: The 2018 Léoville Las Cases is a very sensual wine. Silky and nuanced, the 2018 exudes extraordinary finesse from start to finish. The 2018 is a bit closed in on itself at first, but then again, that is Las Cases. At the same time, the tannins are nowhere as brooding as they once were. Inky dark fruit, crème de cassis, mocha and a whole range of savory Cabernet nuances run through a dense, packed Las Cases that is all class. The 2018 is 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc, 9% Merlot and that spent 21 months in oak, 90% new. One of the recent developments at Las Cases has been a decease in the use of press wine, about 2.7% for the 2018 versus the average of 5-10% and the 15% or so that was the norm in the 1980s. I imagine that, plus the ripeness that is common these days, goes a long way towards explaining the seductive quality of many recent vintages. This is a fabulous effort from proprietor Jean-Hubert Delon and his team.

Producer Commentary:
2002 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 88.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Medium red-ruby. Redcurrant and nutty oak. Less dense than the 2004, showing a distinctly cooler black cherry flavor and a slightly tart edge. Quite tight at this early stage of its life in bottle, with the tannins a bit sullen today.

Producer Commentary:
Jean-Hubert Delon noted that it was important to green-harvest in mid-July, rather than wait until August, by which time the vines had wasted too much energy on the heavy crop load. Delon told me he did gentler pumpovers in 2004 and a shorter, cooler cuvaison in general than in the two previous years in order to preserve fruit. The 2004 represents a strict 34% selection of the estate's production, compared to 54% in 2003.
2002 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 90.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Medium bright ruby. Bright aromas of cassis, redcurrant, violet and licorice. Juicy, bright and sweet, with sharply delineated flavors of dark berries, shoe polish and bitter chocolate. Showing a medicinal austerity today, but this is dense and rich. Finishes with substantial palate-dusting tannins. "Better than the 1996 version," says Delon, who noted that the selection in 2002 was more severe.

Producer Commentary:
Here's another shockingly ripe 2002, with 13.5% natural alcohol. Only in vintages 1986, 1989 and 1990 did Leoville-Las Cases surpass 13%, said Jean-Hubert Delon. With the severe coulure during the flowering and the hydric stress in the heat of summer, there were similarities to the 1961 vintage, noted Delon. This was one of the most impressive young wines of the vintage, with the Clos du Marquis also a notable success in 2002.
2002 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 93.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Good full ruby. Knockout aromas of cassis, violet, shoe polish and spices; pungent and lively. Thick and dense, with great energy and penetration in the middle palate. Finishes very long, with a strongly floral cabernet character and very broad tannins coating the entire palate. The strong tannins are nicely rounded by the wine's high alcohol. Already boasts first-growth richness, polish and clarity of flavor.

Producer Commentary:
Here's another shockingly ripe 2002, with 13.5% natural alcohol. Only in vintages 1986, 1989 and 1990 did Leoville-Las Cases surpass 13%, said Jean-Hubert Delon. With the severe coulure during the flowering and the hydric stress in the heat of summer, there were similarities to the 1961 vintage, noted Delon. This was one of the most impressive young wines of the vintage, with the Clos du Marquis also a notable success in 2002.
1997 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 91.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Dark ruby color. Blueberry, spices and flowers on the nose. Very intensely flavored, with a deep core of spice, sound acidity and a very firm spine. The dark berry fruit is primal and deep. Finishes with toothcoating but not excessive tannins and excellent length.

Producer Commentary:
Michel Delon has managed to make one of the few outstanding wines of the Medoc in 1997, in part by doing a ruthless reduction of his crop: a vendange verte in July and substantial eclaircissage, or crop thinning, until the end of August, followed by the declassification of 60% of the remaining crop into his second and third wines. The '97 Leoville-Las Cases has terrific depth and structure for the year and appears destined for a fairly slow evolution in bottle. Fans of this estate wines may be interested in Delon's current assessment of recent vintages here: Delon ranks the '96 as his greatest vintage to date. One step down is the 1986, followed by the '90 and '82.
2016 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 98.0

Drinking window: 2026 - 2066

Tasting notes: The 2016 Léoville Las Cases is a majestic, seamless, opulent wine. Yes, I am talking about Las Cases, traditionally one of the Left Bank's most austere, forbiddingly tannic wines. Sumptuous and full-bodied, the 2016 takes over all the senses, with seemingly endless layers of inky, purplish fruit. Mint, lavender and white flowers are some of the many notes that emerge from the exotic, arrestingly beautiful bouquet as the 2016 makes its case for consideration as one of the wines of the vintage. The 2016 got an extra three months in barrel and was therefore bottled on the later side, but that does not appear to have done anything to close the wine down. The 2016 was magnificent on both occasions I tasted it. Put simply, the 2016 Las Cases is a total stunner. Don't miss it! 

Producer Commentary:
1999 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2019 - 2035

Tasting notes: The 1999 Léoville Las-Cases is a vintage that I have not encountered for several years. It has a generous bouquet for the vintage, showing slightly gamy red fruit on the nose, and perhaps just a touch of Brettanomyces. Yet it remains attractive, with orange peel scents developing alongside cedar and sous-bois. The medium-bodied palate presents sappy red fruit and a touch of black truffle alongside cedar and a hint of dark chocolate. It is not a complex Las-Cases, yet feels long and quite tender. Drink now and over the next 15 years. Tasted from an ex-château bottle at the estate. 

Producer Commentary:
1997 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 90.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Expressive aromas of smoked plum, roast coffee, nuts and game. Lush, dense and smooth; currant, cedar and leather flavors are more primary than those of the above wine. Finishes with rich, smooth tannins. Lovely wine.

Producer Commentary:
The '99 harvest here featured a huge crop that required drastic eclaircissage, said Jean-Hubert Delon. Still, says Delon, there was less dilution here than on the water-retentive clay soils of St. Estephe and Pauillac. Las Cases carried out less osmose inverse than might be expected following a wet harvest due to the high grape sugars (the alcohol levels would have gone too high): the cabernet sauvignon was picked at the beginning of October with potential alcohol of 12.3%. The grand vin features a particularly severe 32% selection of the estate's best fruit and will age in just 50% new oak, down from 75% in '96 and 65% in '98. As always, this will be one of the top wines of the Medoc, although it remains to be seen if it will equal the tighter '98. Delon, for his part, believes the '99 is currently hiding its power and backbone.
1959 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2019 - 2030

Tasting notes: The 1959 Léoville Las-Cases, which was a Nicolas bottling, was surprisingly limpid in color. This bottle did not exhibit the kaleidoscope of aromatics as previous examples, vestiges of red fruit mixed with rose petal, sandalwood and antique bureau. The palate is medium-bodied with a sweet core of decayed red fruit laced with black pepper and cedar. I was expecting just a little more body and density towards the finish whereas this seemed to run out of puff around three-quarters of the way through. Not bad, but there are superior bottles out there. 

Producer Commentary:
1961 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 97.0

Drinking window: 2019 - 2045

Tasting notes: The 1961 Léoville Las-Cases is a wine that I have not tasted for quite some time, although I have several notes from the last decade. This is unquestionably the best bottle that I have encountered. It has a show-stopping, lively bouquet with black fruit, bay leaf and cedar, light mulch aromas developing with time. I actually thought it might have been Trotanoy before its identity was revealed. The palate is medium-bodied with a fleshier opening than I recollect, quite atypically for Léoville Las-Cases, hints of orange rind and curry leaf enhancing the magnificently structure and vivacious finish. Outstanding. Tasted at the 1961 dinner Chairman Miaow’s in Hong Kong.

Producer Commentary:
1985 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 96.0

Drinking window: 2018 - 2045

Tasting notes: The 1985 Léoville Las-Cases is quite simply one of the finest Saint-Julien wines of the decade and over a dozen encounters have reaffirmed this as the most pleasurable Las-Cases ever made. This is a stupendous bottle, perhaps the best that I have ever encountered. It has a brilliantly defined bouquet that soars from the glass: red berry fruit, crushed stone, pressed flower, a hint of blood orange and woodland aromas. You could nose this all day. The palate is medium-bodied with the depth and structure one expects from this Second Growth. But what the 1985 has in spades, a virtue not always found at this address, is charm. Silky smooth in texture, the pure red fruit seduces the sense with a shimmering sense of energy on the finish. It is drinking now after three decades and based on this showing could give another three before it declines. 

Producer Commentary:
La Trompette, established 2001, used to be a good local restaurant but lagged behind others owned by Nigel Platts-Martin, such as Chez Bruce, The Ledbury, The Glasshouse and The Square (the latter since sold and frankly a pale imitation of what used to be one of the capitals finest restaurants.) Located in Chiswick in West London, it literally lies round the corner from Hedone that Antonio recently reviewed. Refurbishment in 2013 saw La Trompette shut its doors and reopen with more ambition. Rob Weston, who had worked at La Gavroche and subsequently as Phil Howard’s right hand man at The Square for 15-years, took the menu to a completely different level. I am probably not the only person opining that La Trompette is the most consistent, well-priced, Michelin-starred restaurant in London and I say that as someone who has eaten there 30 or 40 times.
2017 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 95.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: The 2017 Léoville Las Cases is remarkably elegant and polished for this typically brutish Saint-Julien. Persistence more than power is the key element that distinguishes the 2017 from most other vintages and most other Saint-Juliens as well. The classic Las Cases flavor profile is very much in evidence, but in a wine that is silky, nuanced and exceptionally polished. In 2017, Las Cases is truly magical, and one of the most complete wines of the Left Bank. In a word: sublime. Don't miss it. Tasted two times.

Producer Commentary:
2010 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score:

Drinking window: 2026 - 2060

Tasting notes: The 2010 Léoville Las Cases has a youthful, very oaky bouquet, even after 10 years, modern in style but very pure and charming. The palate is rounded and fleshy on the entry with candied black fruit, sweet and more like a 2009 stylistically. Lovely cassis notes mixed with blueberry furnish the finish. Very seductive, although I find more nobility and classicism in other Saint-Julien’s in this flight. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners 10-Year On Bordeaux horizontal. 

Producer Commentary:
1997 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 90.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Full ruby. Superripe, complex aromas of blackcurrant, cedar, oak spice, caramel and saddle leather. Pliant, vinous, and refined; offers impressive density and depth for the vintage but there still a bit less extract here to support the tannins than in the '98. Impressively long on the back end.

Producer Commentary:
Reverse osmosis was necessary in '98, said Michel Delon, as nearly 200 millimeters of rain fell during the harvest, which extended from September 23 through October 12 here. There an early austerity to the '98 Las Cases that has Delon describing this vintage as Pauillac in style; 1996, in comparison, is more classic St. Julien. Delon compares '98 to '94, another year that featured harvest-time rain and some not-quite-ripe tannins. But the tannins in '98 are a bit more successfully elaborated, he notes. Incidentally, Delon has been slowly reducing the percentage of new barrels used to make Leoville-Las Cases, down to 75% in '96 and 65% in '98.
2009 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 95.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Brilliant medium ruby. Brooding, medicinal aromas of cassis, blueberry, exotic spices and sexy oak. Large-scaled, dense and deep, with superconcentrated dark fruit and spice flavors given definition by strong acidity. Hugely rich but impeccably balanced Saint-Julien wine with a great, slowly building finish featuring a boatload of harmonious, noble, fully ripe tannins. This endless, subtle wine is at first growth level in 2009.

Producer Commentary:
2004 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 93.0

Drinking window: 2021 - 2044

Tasting notes: The 2004 Léoville–Las Cases has the tough job of following the 2005. It offers black fruit mixed with sous-bois, smoke and sage aromas, now moving into its secondary stage but without the intensity of great vintages like 2005 or 2010. The palate is well balanced, with off-dry tannin. Classic in style, fresh and poised, leading to a lovely, quite sensual finish that leaves you wishing for another sip. Very fine. 

Producer Commentary:
2008 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 93.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Full ruby-red. Deep, mineral-driven aromas of cassis, camphor, peat and spicy oak. Large-scaled and deep; at once powerful and seamless, with impressively concentrated, sharply delineated black fruit and mineral flavors. Seriously structured wine but at the same time quite suave. The rising, very long finish stains the palate with black fruits.

Producer Commentary:
1994 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 93.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Excellent deep, saturated color. Sexy aromas of black cherry, cassis, and toasty, smoky oak. Wonderful sweetness and texture, with terrific perfume. More pliable than the '95 Las Cases. Tannins are extremely well integrated for a cabernet-based '94. I don't find the austerity that Delon cites. 

Producer Commentary:
2017 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 97.5

Drinking window: 2027 - 2047

Tasting notes: The 2017 Léoville Las Cases captures all the best the vintage has to offer. Rich, unctuous and stunning in its beauty, the 2017 possesses tremendous richness and textural intensity that carry through to the very long finish, all with the regal, statuesque feel that is the quintessential signature of Las Cases. Just as it was from barrel, Las Cases is wonderfully polished. Tasted two times. What a wine!

Producer Commentary:
2012 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 93.0

Drinking window: 2022 - 2042

Tasting notes: The 2012 Léoville-Las-Cases offers lovely up front voluptuousness, something I am almost shocked to write about one of the Left Bank's most notoriously slow agers. Sweet red cherry, dried flowers and pipe tobacco scents meld into a translucent, mid-weight Las Cases that should drink relatively early by this wine's standard. The silky finish only adds to the wine's considerable early appeal. The blend is 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot and 11% Cabernet Franc. 

Producer Commentary:
1990 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 94.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Saturated ruby-red to the rim. Bound-up but intense nose of licorice, blackcurrant, and chocolate, with lovely oak treatment. Brooding and unevolved on the palate, but the great extract and depth of flavor are easy to appreciate. Brilliantly delineated, thanks to sound acidity. Proprietor Delon declassified more than 60% of his crop to make this sensational wine. Endless, firm aftertaste. 

Producer Commentary:
2000 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 94.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Deep bright ruby. Pungent, brooding aromas of blackcurrant, licorice, violet and menthol; very aromatic and very cabernet. Dense, highly concentrated and seamless, but with terrific verve. Lush and compellingly sweet but not at all heavy thanks to harmonious acidity. Finishes with superripe, fine, toothcoating tannins and great persistence. An uncanny combination of power and elegance. Already displaying great force of personality.

Producer Commentary:
"The summer was difficult but the fruit ripened well at the last moment," said Jean-Hubert Delon. "In fact, the estate old cabernet vines surpassed 13% for the first time, and the cabernet overall was riper than that of 1996." Polyphenol levels were the highest ever recorded at Leoville-Las Cases. Very little reverse osmosis was needed.
2015 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 97.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: The 2015 Léoville-Las Cases has an almost clinical, brilliantly defined bouquet of mineral-rich black fruit, cedar and veins of fresh mint. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannin, beautifully judged acidity, exquisite balance and tangible energy toward the finish of graphite-infused blackberry and a hint of clove. This is one of the appellation’s most sophisticated offerings in 2015. Chapeau, Jean-Hubert Delon. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting. 

Producer Commentary:
2010 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 96.0

Drinking window: 2026 - 2060

Tasting notes: The 2010 Léoville Las Cases has a clean and precise bouquet, beautifully focused with blackberry, melted tar, cigar humidor and crushed stone aromas. It gains intensity with aeration without ever losing its precision. The palate is medium-bodied with lithe tannins, a fine bead of acidity, a sense of abiding symmetry and detail as it fans out on the mineral-driven finish. This is an absolutely awesome Saint-Julien with a long life ahead. Tasted from an ex-château bottle at the BI Wines & Spirits 10-Year On tasting. 

Producer Commentary:
2018 Le Petit Lion
Color: Red

Score: 89.0

Drinking window: 2023 - 2030

Tasting notes: The 2018 Le Petit Lion is picked from 15 September to 4 October and matured in 30% new oak. It has a very floral bouquet that at this precise moment is driven by the new oak. That will be subsumed with time. The palate is medium-bodied with a slightly sinewy entry, a firm tannic backbone here with a stern off-dry finish. It’s probably just at an awkward stage during its élevage and it should come good by the time of bottling. 

Producer Commentary:
2017 Le Petit Lion
Color: Red

Score: 90.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: The 2017 Le Petit Lion is a very serious second wine with real potential to surprise somewhere down the line. Creamy, silky and beautifully expressive, but with plenty of supporting structure, the Petit Lion is terrific. The blend this year includes a tank of old-vine Merlot that at times has gone into the Grand Vin. This potent, structured Petit Lion captures the essence of the chateau nicely. Tasted two times.

Producer Commentary:
2017 Le Petit Lion
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2022 - 2032

Tasting notes: The 2017 Le Petit Lion is a gorgeous second wine from Léoville Las-Cases. Sweet, floral aromatics give the wine its perfumed, gracious personality. Classy, expressive, and refined to the core, the Petit Lion is a wine built on tension, energy and finesse more than anything else. It is a Saint-Julien that emphasizes classic structure and nuance more than power. 

Producer Commentary:
2014 Le Petit Lion Du Marquis De Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 91.0

Drinking window: 2019 - 2029

Tasting notes: The 2014 Le Petit Lion du Marquis de las Cases is soft, slender and very pretty. Crème de cassis, violet, dark spice and menthol are nicely delineated in this attractive, midweight Saint-Julien. The 2014 is a very pure, if somewhat compact, expression of this great estate. 

Producer Commentary:
2013 Le Petit Lion Du Marquis De Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 89.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: The 2013 Le Petit Lion is an attractive, juicy offering laced with red stone fruits, wild flowers, mint and spices. A fleshy, resonant wine for the year, the 2013 shows good balance and plenty of breadth. Violets, rose petals and sweet spices linger on the supple, inviting finish. This is unusually good for a second wine. Le Petit Lion is mostly young-vine Cabernet, plus old-vine Merlot that does not make it into the Grand Vin. The blend is 53% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Cabernet Franc. Tasted twice.

Producer Commentary:
2019 Le Petit Lion
Color: Red

Score: 91.0

Drinking window: 2022 - 2032

Tasting notes: The 2019 Le Petit Lion, matured in 30% new oak, was slightly muted on the nose and required 10-15 minutes to really open. Eventually it reveals crisp black fruit laced with ash and sous-bois scents. The palate is medium-bodied with pastille-like purity on the entry. Fleshier than the aromatics suggest, it is very well balanced with just a dab of sea salt towards the crisp, fresh finish. This will be a delight to drink over the next decade. 

Producer Commentary:
2001 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 89.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Red-ruby. Highly aromatic nose combines cassis, minerals, coffee, black licorice, smoke and camphor. Sweet, juicy and bright, but showing limited flesh today. Intriguing floral and licorice notes lift the fruit. Finishes a tad tough, with firm tannic spine. Part of this wine was in tank following the December fining.

Producer Commentary:
Here's another shockingly ripe 2002, with 13.5% natural alcohol. Only in vintages 1986, 1989 and 1990 did Leoville-Las Cases surpass 13%, said Jean-Hubert Delon. With the severe coulure during the flowering and the hydric stress in the heat of summer, there were similarities to the 1961 vintage, noted Delon. This was one of the most impressive young wines of the vintage, with the Clos du Marquis also a notable success in 2002.
2009 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 90.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: (a blend of 70% cabernet sauvignon, 20 % merlot, 8% cabernet franc and 2% petit verdot; pH 3.7; IPT 62; 13.7% alcohol; 25% new oak) Dark ruby. Pure strawberry and blackcurrant aromas soar from the glass. Enters fairly large and soft, with a pretty violet note lifting the ripe blackcurrant, spicy plum and chocolate flavors. Even though there's a good bit of merlot here, the high quality of the cabernet sauvignon in '09 gives this plenty of Saint-Julien typicity. "This time around, I do think that the merlot has added much-needed charm," conceded Delon.

Producer Commentary:
Along with the line-up of wines presented by Domaine Clarence Dillon (Haut-Brion) in Pessac-Leognan, there was no better all-around performance from any estate in '09 than this one. Ultra-talented Jean-Hubert Delon has managed to achieve deep, layered middle palate texture and outstanding length and smoothness in all his wines (including Nenin, Potensac and Clos du Marquis) without any apparent sign of heaviness or excessive tannins. "For once I was happy to see higher alcohol levels than usual," Delon told me. "For with this much concentration, tannin and acidity the wines would have been undrinkable without the balance provided by the extra alcohol. The alcohol allows the wines to be a little flashier and more generous up front." Not that there is so much more alcohol than usual: Leoville is 13.7% instead of its more typical average of 13.2%. The 2009 vintage is also the second time that Le Petit Lion, Leoville-Las Cases's true second wine, was made (the Clos du Marquis is technically another wine made from parcels that were not originally part of the old Leoville estate). "I really needed to make a true second wine," Delon explained, "because I didn't want to keep putting a lot of merlot in the Clos du Marquis, since this would have risked costing it its Saint-Julien typicity."
2008 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 90.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Good dark red. Bitter cherry, fresh bay, sage and coffee on the nose, with a floral element emerging in the glass. Supple and nicely concentrated, with attractive mid-palate sweetness and a seamless texture for the year. This rather silky Saint-Julien finishes with good floral lift.

Producer Commentary:
2001 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 89.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Good ruby-red color. Currant, tobacco, minerals, graphite and sexy oak on the nose. Dusty flavors of redcurrant and tobacco. At once broad and penetrating, with a subtle sweetness and very good intensity and cut. Very suave but also strong and long on the back end.

Producer Commentary:
Not surprisingly in light of the success of the Northern Medoc in 2003, this chateau has once again produced one of the wines of the vintage. The yield here was just 21.2 hectoliters per hectare, according to estate manager Jacques Depoizier, and the grand vin represents a selection of just 54% of the estate's fruit. Depoizier noted that the wine's oak is masking its fat today. "In fact," he told me, "the 2003 will probably close down after the bottling. But we said that about the '96 too, and the '96 is not terribly closed today. We may bottle the '03 later than usual; it appears to need a longer elevage Depoizier described the conditions of 2003 as "a green dryness: the vines didn't lack for water."
2010 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 87.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: (75% cabernet sauvignon, 17% merlot and 8% cabernet franc; 66 IPT; 37% new oak; 13.6% alcohol) Bright, deep red. Subtle aromas of red berries, cherry, flowers and minerals. A ripe, sweet midweight with good tension to its supple red fruit, licorice and fresh herb flavors. Finishes with moderate length and a refined quality; currently a little subdued, and although the tannins are smooth, I get a hint of green at the back.

Producer Commentary:
Also recommended: 2010 Le Petit Lion Saint-Julien (84-86).
2003 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 90.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Red-ruby. Aromas of redcurrant, cedar, graphite, tobacco and oak spices. Sweet, sappy and layered, with sweet flavors of redcurrant, tobacco and minerals. Finishes with chewy tannins and excellent persistence.

Producer Commentary:
Jean-Hubert Delon noted that it was important to green-harvest in mid-July, rather than wait until August, by which time the vines had wasted too much energy on the heavy crop load. Delon told me he did gentler pumpovers in 2004 and a shorter, cooler cuvaison in general than in the two previous years in order to preserve fruit. The 2004 represents a strict 34% selection of the estate's production, compared to 54% in 2003.
2006 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 90.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Bright, full ruby-red. Ripe aromas of blackberry, kirsch, cedar and sexy oak. Rich, broad and pliant, with chewy, vibrant flavors of black fruits and licorice. This boasts excellent texture and depth for a second wine. Finishes with substantial dusty, fine tannins and excellent length. A serious and full vintage for Clos du Marquis, but less forbidding now that it's in bottle than a sample I tried from barrel last spring.

Producer Commentary:
1997 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 88.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Dark ruby color. Floral, ripe aromas of blueberry, blackberry and shoe polish, with an almost candied note. Sweet, silky and concentrated. Firm tannins are in harmony with the wine.

Producer Commentary:
Michel Delon has managed to make one of the few outstanding wines of the Medoc in 1997, in part by doing a ruthless reduction of his crop: a vendange verte in July and substantial eclaircissage, or crop thinning, until the end of August, followed by the declassification of 60% of the remaining crop into his second and third wines. The '97 Leoville-Las Cases has terrific depth and structure for the year and appears destined for a fairly slow evolution in bottle. Fans of this estate wines may be interested in Delon's current assessment of recent vintages here: Delon ranks the '96 as his greatest vintage to date. One step down is the 1986, followed by the '90 and '82.
2009 Clos Du Marquis
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2022 - 2038

Tasting notes: The 2009 Clos du Marquis is tightly wound on the nose, gradually unfurling to reveal blackberry pastilles, boysenberry, pencil shaving and subtle mint aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, good weight in the mouth, and crisp acidity. Fresh and vibrant with a gentle grip on the finish that perhaps would benefit from more persistence. Otherwise this is very fine. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting. 

Producer Commentary:
2000 Clos Du Marquis Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 89.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Medium ruby. Blackberry, cassis, black licorice and menthol on the nose. Large-scaled and voluminous for this wine, but inky and a bit monolithic today. Fresh black fruit flavors are nicely framed by sound acidity. Finishes with substantial ripe tannins. Will make a big mouthful of wine.

Producer Commentary:
"The summer was difficult but the fruit ripened well at the last moment," said Jean-Hubert Delon. "In fact, the estate old cabernet vines surpassed 13% for the first time, and the cabernet overall was riper than that of 1996." Polyphenol levels were the highest ever recorded at Leoville-Las Cases. Very little reverse osmosis was needed.
2006 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 93.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Full ruby-red. Highly complex aromas of currant, mocha, tobacco, minerals, camphor and musky bitter chocolate. Lush and silky in the mouth if a bit youthfully subdued today. This dense, cabernet-dominated wine is big, rich and backward, finishing with serious tannic spine (at 75, this has the highest IPT since the '01). I got the impression that cellarmaster Bruno Rolland prefers this wine to the 2005, and time may yet prove him right.

Producer Commentary:
Maussade" (gloomy) was maitre de chai Bruno Rolland's one-word description of the summer of 2007, and yet the results of the vintage are often cheerful and inviting. "We vinified a bit cooler to preserve the fruit, and we liked the press wine, which was charming and impressive," he said. In spite of the sullen weather, proprietor Jean-Hubert Delon noted that there was some hydric stress here during the first half of August (the stressed fruit, he said, eventually went into the estate's second wine, Clos du Marquis). But the cool nights of August led to more refined tannins, Delon added, and many of today's drinkers are going to prefer 2007 to 2006 for this reason. "The 2006 Clos du Marquis and Leoville-Las Cases are drier, tougher, more traditionally styled wines, maybe better for an older generation of claret drinkers." By the way, the 2006 Clos du Marquis is not exactly cheap for a second wine, but it's a major success in the making for this bottling.
1996 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 96.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Deep saturated ruby. Quintessential Medoc perfume: black cherry, cassis, violet, minerals, leather, cedar and roasted nuts. Large-scaled and thick, with a texture that truly three-dimensional. Powerful structure gives the wine an extraordinary solidity. Sweet, supple and impressively deep. Tasted alongside the '95, the '96 came across as more refined and considerably more minerally, with the tannins hitting the palate later. Superb claret.

Producer Commentary:
Reverse osmosis was necessary in '98, said Michel Delon, as nearly 200 millimeters of rain fell during the harvest, which extended from September 23 through October 12 here. There an early austerity to the '98 Las Cases that has Delon describing this vintage as Pauillac in style; 1996, in comparison, is more classic St. Julien. Delon compares '98 to '94, another year that featured harvest-time rain and some not-quite-ripe tannins. But the tannins in '98 are a bit more successfully elaborated, he notes. Incidentally, Delon has been slowly reducing the percentage of new barrels used to make Leoville-Las Cases, down to 75% in '96 and 65% in '98.
2019 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 97.0

Drinking window: 2026 - 2070

Tasting notes: The 2019 Léoville Las-Cases was picked from 18 September to 8 October and matured in 90% new oak barrels. Typically deep and limpid in colour, it has a knockout nose with penetrating blackberry, bilberry and blueberry fruit struck through with an accentuated marine/oyster shell element. The palate is beautiful, the fine-grain tannins framing delineated, mineral-infused black fruit. There is a clarity to this Grand Vin that places it amongst Jean-Hubert Delon's finest releases in recent years and it is blessed with astounding length. You come away with the feeling of a nascent wine boasting immense coiled-up energy that will guarantee its longevity. Stunning. 

Producer Commentary:
2003 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 94.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Medium red-ruby. Explosive nose of currant, cedar and lead pencil; shows near-perfect integration of the new oak. Sweet and lush but bright and light on its feet, possessing plenty of harmonious acidity. This has a wonderfully fine-grained texture and really saturates the palate with flavor. The very suave tannins reach the front teeth. Impressively dense, large-scaled wine.

Producer Commentary:
Jean-Hubert Delon noted that it was important to green-harvest in mid-July, rather than wait until August, by which time the vines had wasted too much energy on the heavy crop load. Delon told me he did gentler pumpovers in 2004 and a shorter, cooler cuvaison in general than in the two previous years in order to preserve fruit. The 2004 represents a strict 34% selection of the estate's production, compared to 54% in 2003.
2007 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2020 - 2040

Tasting notes: The 2007 Léoville–Las Cases has a classic Saint-Julien bouquet of black fruit infused with smoke and cigar humidor; savory and dried blood scents emerge with time. Complex if not as intense as the 2010 tasted alongside. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins and fine acidity. Secondary notes of mushroom and sous-bois surface with time, and there is fine weight toward the finish, even if this is not the most persistent Las Cases in recent vintages. There is a splash of balsamic on the aftertaste. You could broach this now, although it will give another two decades of drinking pleasure. Tasted at the château. 

Producer Commentary:
1982 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Sadly, it is not a great night for Bordeaux. The 1982 Léoville Las Cases is powerful but also incredibly compact, with little appeal or mid-palate depth. This is a very stubborn wine, even within the context of Las Cases. 

Producer Commentary:
This wine was tasted informally at the Rusty Staub Charity Dinner, held in April 2015 at the Bouley Test Kitchen in New York City.
2015 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 98.0

Drinking window: 2030 - 2055

Tasting notes: The 2015 Léoville Las Cases is simply captivating. Sumptuous, racy and explosive in the glass, the 2015 is endowed with tremendous energy from start to finish. An exotic melange of crème de cassis, graphite, menthol and licorice bursts onto the palate as the 2015 shows off its alluring personality. Spectacularly rich, dense and full-throttle, with huge tannins that are nearly buried underneath the fruit, the 2015 is an unusual Las Cases. It is also breathtakingly beautiful. Readers who can find it should not miss it.

Producer Commentary:
2009 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 97.0

Drinking window: 2024 - 2060

Tasting notes: The 2009 Léoville Las-Cases simply delivers on the nose with intense blackberry, wild hedgerow, graphite and crushed stone aromas on the nose. You would put this down as a Pauillac if served blind, unsurprising given that it borders that appellation. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, silky smooth in texture with immense depth. It is blessed with quite brilliant delineation and the precision on the finish is magnificent. Chapeau Mon. Delon. Tasted at BI Wines & Spirits Ten Year On tasting. 

Producer Commentary:
2005 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 95.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Saturated ruby-red. A confiture of dark berries on the nose, with a complicating torrefaction note of coffee. Fat, sweet, plump and full, with a silky, enveloping texture rare for this wine in its youth. The highly concentrated cassis, violet and bitter chocolate flavors really take over the mouth and stay awhile. The huge, chocolatey finish features big, ripe, building tannins. One can easily taste this massive wine today, but there are great reserves here to ensure a long and slow evolution in bottle-and I would not be at all surprised if it shut down soon for a very long time. Our cabernet sauvignon was perfectly ripe in both '05 and '06, noted cellarmaster Rolland.

Producer Commentary:
Maussade" (gloomy) was maitre de chai Bruno Rolland's one-word description of the summer of 2007, and yet the results of the vintage are often cheerful and inviting. "We vinified a bit cooler to preserve the fruit, and we liked the press wine, which was charming and impressive," he said. In spite of the sullen weather, proprietor Jean-Hubert Delon noted that there was some hydric stress here during the first half of August (the stressed fruit, he said, eventually went into the estate's second wine, Clos du Marquis). But the cool nights of August led to more refined tannins, Delon added, and many of today's drinkers are going to prefer 2007 to 2006 for this reason. "The 2006 Clos du Marquis and Leoville-Las Cases are drier, tougher, more traditionally styled wines, maybe better for an older generation of claret drinkers." By the way, the 2006 Clos du Marquis is not exactly cheap for a second wine, but it's a major success in the making for this bottling.
2005 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 97.0

Drinking window: 2022 - 2060

Tasting notes: The 2005 Léoville–Las Cases is a wine that needs more time. The nose remains broody compared to the 2007, but is an absolute joy, featuring brambly red fruit, tobacco, smoke, morels and light estuarine scents. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins that have become more supple over the last couple of years. There is wonderful depth and gentle grip, superb balance and a sense of symmetry on the finish that is quite brilliant. I suspect this will turn out to be one of the château’s greatest achievements of recent years.

Producer Commentary:
2002 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 94.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Very good medium ruby color. Classic Las Cases aromas of blackcurrant, black cherry, minerals and camphor. Dense, suave and intense, with enticing sweetness for the vintage. But also penetrating and powerful. The black cherry and mineral notes carry through in the mouth. Very long finish features toothcoating tannins and chocolate and mineral nuances. The 2003 may be even denser, but this is very strong.

Producer Commentary:
Not surprisingly in light of the success of the Northern Medoc in 2003, this chateau has once again produced one of the wines of the vintage. The yield here was just 21.2 hectoliters per hectare, according to estate manager Jacques Depoizier, and the grand vin represents a selection of just 54% of the estate's fruit. Depoizier noted that the wine's oak is masking its fat today. "In fact," he told me, "the 2003 will probably close down after the bottling. But we said that about the '96 too, and the '96 is not terribly closed today. We may bottle the '03 later than usual; it appears to need a longer elevage Depoizier described the conditions of 2003 as "a green dryness: the vines didn't lack for water."
2013 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 90.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: (74% cabernet sauvignon, 14% cabernet franc and 12% merlot; 3.69 pH; 13% alcohol; 31 h/h; 85% new oak): Bright ruby-red. Very floral, minty red fruits and minerals on the captivating nose. Then tougher on the palate, with the spicy red fruit flavors kept under wraps by serious tannins and lively acidity. The bright, long finish features very pure floral and red berry nuances. Not the most charming LLC in memory, but a major success for the vintage. I especially like its lovely aromatic nose, which owes a lot to the strong cabernet franc presence, one of the largest percentages ever in this wine (at 50+ years, LLC has some especially old cabernet franc vines, and that makes a big difference on the Left Bank). Keep in mind that the 2008 also had a similarly high percentage of cabernet franc (12%), and I believe that this wine is also one of the stars of its vintage. 

Producer Commentary:
1988 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 89.0

Drinking window: 2018 - 2026

Tasting notes: The 1988 Léoville Las-Cases is a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot (this bottled had been re-corked at the property in 2014). This was a late harvest that began on 4 October and lasted for 12 days. This seems to have matured on the nose since I last tasted it in 2011, more secondary aromas - undergrowth, mushroom and hickory infusing the black fruit. It feels a little rustic now. The palate is medium-bodied with soft tannin, a little dry in the mouth, the fruit having ebbed away in the last few years. I have fonder memories of this in the 1990s and 2000s. There is still a presence here but it feels as if it is drying out on the finish. I felt that this Second Growth was a little inconsistent around this era, especially compared to nowadays. Tasted at the château. 

Producer Commentary:
1982 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 95.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Full medium ruby. Aromas of currant, black cherry, licorice, minerals and flowers. Thick, sweet and deep; still young but in a gentler, lower-acid style than either the '86 or '96. Still, this boasts sneaky intensity and wonderful persistence. Tannins are substantial but thoroughly ripe. Drink 2004 through 2025.

Producer Commentary:
2007 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Deep, bright ruby-red. Rather medicinal aromas of cassis, licorice, dark chocolate, menthol and shoe polish went into a shell in the glass. Then suave and surprisingly ripe in the mouth; classically dry but not at all austere, with well-judged extraction to the fla vors of black raspberry, graphite and minerals. Rich, structured wine with a slow-building finish featuring substantial but harmonious tannins and terrific sweetness for all its backbone.

Producer Commentary:
1986 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 97.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Saturated dark ruby. Cassis, shoe polish, camphor and rose petal on the nose; this reminded me of a great vintage of Latour. Dense and extremely concentrated; explosive yet totally backward. There nothing playful about this infant claret. Finishes with extraordinary, slow-building persistence. Very serious juice; one of the great Bordeaux of the 1980s. Drink 2010 through 2035.

Producer Commentary:
2016 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 98.0

Drinking window: 2026 - 2060

Tasting notes: The 2016 Léoville Las-Cases was tasted from two bottles, this one more in line with prior experiences. It has a very detailed, powerful bouquet of blackberry, cedar, potpourri and iris aromas that soar from the glass. The palate is very well balanced with fine tannins, pitch-perfect acidity and a sense of harmony throughout. It fans out wonderfully on the finish. A 2016 with a sense of completeness and bewitching symmetry. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting. 

Producer Commentary:
1998 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 92.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Very good full ruby. Spicy aromas of crystallized black cherry, cassis, blackberry, minerals, camphor and dark chocolate; also rather reminiscent of Pauillac. Very tightly wound and intensely flavored, with terrific thrust. Not huge on entry (or as sweet as the '99) but builds inexorably in the mouth. Still, this is dominated today by its rather severe structure. Finishes with chewy, mouthcoating tannins and impressive length.

Producer Commentary:
The '99 harvest here featured a huge crop that required drastic eclaircissage, said Jean-Hubert Delon. Still, says Delon, there was less dilution here than on the water-retentive clay soils of St. Estephe and Pauillac. Las Cases carried out less osmose inverse than might be expected following a wet harvest due to the high grape sugars (the alcohol levels would have gone too high): the cabernet sauvignon was picked at the beginning of October with potential alcohol of 12.3%. The grand vin features a particularly severe 32% selection of the estate's best fruit and will age in just 50% new oak, down from 75% in '96 and 65% in '98. As always, this will be one of the top wines of the Medoc, although it remains to be seen if it will equal the tighter '98. Delon, for his part, believes the '99 is currently hiding its power and backbone.
2013 Léoville Las Cases
Color: Red

Score: 92.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: The 2013 Léoville-las-Cases is wonderfully deep and layered in the glass. Violets, cloves, menthol and licorice add dimensions of complexity to the dark fruit. Hints of cassis, white flowers and sweet herbs develop later as the wine continues to flesh out. So many 2013s offer up their charms quite easily. Léoville-las-Cases is a rare wine endowed with a sense of mystery and intrigue. The power and breadth of this site come through, but tempered by the medium-bodied structure of the year. This is a terrific showing. The 2013 is 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Cabernet Franc and 12% Merlot. Tasted twice.

Producer Commentary:
2005 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 94.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: (88% cabernet sauvignon, 7% merlot and 5% cabernet franc; 13.1% alcohol; 65% new oak) Good full ruby. Brooding, primary, cabernet-dominated aromas of cassis, currant, bitter chocolate and minerals. Dense and opulent in the mouth, with the vibrant black fruit flavors lifted by a violet quality. Still a bit youthfully austere, but wonderfully consistent and energetic from start to finish. Quite explosive on the end, finishing with big but noble tannins and palate-saturating fruits and minerals. Jean-Hubert Delon felt that adding any more merlot or cabernet franc could only have diluted the great cabernet sauvignon of 2005. This will need at least a decade of cellaring and should go on for decades.

Producer Commentary:
Here's a classic example of a 2005 that must have been difficult to taste in mid-March, if not downright inscrutable. Even in early April, it was a brooding monster, but the superior quality, opulence and vibrancy of the 2005 cabernet sauvignon were plain to see.
1998 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 92.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Medium ruby. Spicy, highly aromatic nose combines currant, lead pencil, licorice, minerals and roasted nuts. Dense, spicy and penetrating, with lovely clarity of fruit and considerable power. Quite suave and stylish. Finishes very long, with firm tannins that are quite fine for the year. "We'll prefer the '99 for the first ten years, but afterwards this '98 may be better," notes Jean-Hubert Delon.

Producer Commentary:
"The summer was difficult but the fruit ripened well at the last moment," said Jean-Hubert Delon. "In fact, the estate old cabernet vines surpassed 13% for the first time, and the cabernet overall was riper than that of 1996." Polyphenol levels were the highest ever recorded at Leoville-Las Cases. Very little reverse osmosis was needed.

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