2013-CHÂTEAU-LÉOVILLE-LAS-CASES-2ème-Cru-Classé-Saint-Julien-Château-Leoville-Las-Cases

CHÂTEAU LÉOVILLE LAS CASES

2014 2ème Cru Classé Saint Julien

Colour Red
Origin France, Bordeaux
Sub-district Haut Médoc
Village Saint Julien
Classification 2ème Cru Classé
ABV 14%

Impressive stuff. Quite tightly focussed, dark fruit, lots of pencil lead too - not giving too much away. Lovely sophisticated cigar box spicy notes. Such power and drive. Incredibly lithe and powerful but with a sleek touch. Tannins build slowly but are ultra fine, the balance is perfect. Elegant and pure but with a serious, depth of concentration - very fine indeed. Will need patience. 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc. Rating: 95 L&S (Mar 2015)


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I love the 2014 vintage in this northerly stretch of the Haut-Médoc, and this is a monumantal Las Cases that is still in its austere phase. It's almost impossible to believe that this will soften in another decade, but it will, because this was fleshy and rich during En Primeur, and all that powerful fruit is still visible - just - but surrounded by tannins, mint bud, eucalyptus, earth, black pepper, cassis and slate minerality. As so often happens with Las Cases in its early stages, so much is about what is not said, rather what is felt but not yet articulated - in this case a sense of growing energy through the palate. Huge potential, but for now it's not giving much away. 50% new oak. Drinking range: 2024 - 2045 Rating: 96 Jane Anson, Decanter (Jan 2023)

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. Drinking range: 2024 - 2055 Rating: 95 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Mar 2018)

Sweet, velvety nose. Lots of intensity and glamour. A slightly animal, wild edge to this. Masses of tannin lurking under the fruit – pretty insistent and dramatic. Dry finish. Correct. Drinking range: 2024 - 2042 Rating: 17 Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Feb 2018)

Château Léoville Las Cases

St Julien Deuxième cru 1855 One of the leading "super-seconds" - a second growth chateau who's wines rival, in terms of quality and often price, the fabled First Growths of the Haut-Médoc. Before the Revolution, the Leoville estate was one of the largest and grandest in the region. At the time, it was in the aristrocratic ownership of the family of the Marquis de Las-Cases-Beauvoir. Unsurprisingly, the Marquis had to flee. To avoid Leoville being seized, the family decided to sell up but the complicated ownership of the estate, which was split between siblings, prevented the sale of Leoville as a whole and, in the end, only a small portion was sold off, to Hugh Barton, and this became Château Leoville Barton. The remainder of the estate came back to the Marquis' family when his son, Pierre-Jean, inherited most of Leoville, the only exception being a small portion inherited by his sister Jeanne. Jeanne's daughter married Baron Jean-Marie de Poyferré and, in 1840, this portion of the estate sheered off to become Château Leoville Poyferré. To stop further divisions among inheriting children, a holding company was founded to own Château Las Cases. Théophile Skawinski, who managed the estate, bought some shares which later passed to his son-in-law André Delon. The Delon family continued to buy share as they became available until, eventually, they became the owners of Château Leoville Las Cases. The bulk of Las Cases's vineyards - the Grand Clos - sit at the very northern end of St Julien, facing Château Latour across the Ruisseau de Juillac. The vines are planted to 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot. The hand-picked grapes are fermented in an unusual array of wooden, stainless-steel and cement tanks. Wines spend 20 months in oak, with the proportion of new wood for the grand vin varying from 50% to 100% depending on the vintage. Château Leoville Las Cases have one of the most highly regarded "second wines" in Bordeaux - Clos du Marquis. The first vintage was in 1902, long predating most of its competitors. Its status as a true "second wine" is sometimes disputed, as there is a distinct Clos du Marquis vineyard, a little way to the west of the Grand Clos, although the cuvée does include some declassifications from the grand vin and fruit of younger vines. Its status as a "second wine" also belies the quality which exceeds many of the region's "first" wines.

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