Leoville Lascases

Tasting Notes:
One of BordeauxÕs top second wines, the 2004 Clos du Marquis exhibits crunchy, juicy, red cherry and currant fruit along with notions of herbs and spice box. Well-made, medium-bodied, elegant, and reminiscent of its bigger sibling, it should age well for 10-15 years. The Wine Advocate #165 Jun-06.
Parker Points: 87-89
Drinking Period: 2006-2021

Tasting Notes:
One of BordeauxÕs top second wines, the 2004 Clos du Marquis exhibits crunchy, juicy, red cherry and currant fruit along with notions of herbs and spice box. Well-made, medium-bodied, elegant, and reminiscent of its bigger sibling, it should age well for 10-15 years. The Wine Advocate #165 Jun-06.
Parker Points: 87-89
Drinking Period: 2006-2021

Tasting Notes:
One of BordeauxÕs top second wines, the 2004 Clos du Marquis exhibits crunchy, juicy, red cherry and currant fruit along with notions of herbs and spice box. Well-made, medium-bodied, elegant, and reminiscent of its bigger sibling, it should age well for 10-15 years. The Wine Advocate #165 Jun-06.
Parker Points: 87-89
Drinking Period: 2006-2021

Tasting Notes:
The 2003 Clos du Marquis possesses higher alcohol (13.4%) than the 2003 grand vin, no doubt because of the higher percentage of Merlot in the final blend. This impressive sleeper of the vintage boasts a deep ruby/purple color as well as abundant amounts of fleshy, black cherry and currant fruit interwoven with mocha, vanillin, and spice box. Pure, layered, upfront, and already delicious, it should be drunk over the next 12-15 years. Wine Advocate #164 (Apr 2006).
Parker Points: 90
Drinking Period: 2006-2021

Tasting Notes:
Perfectionist owner Jean-Hubert Delon believes the 2006 Leoville Las Cases recalls the greatness of the 1986 and 1996. The natural alcohol came in at 13.3%, and only 40% of the production made it into the final blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14.5% Merlot, and a dollop of Cabernet Franc. This backward, deep ruby/purple-hued effort exhibits sweet, pure black cherry, raspberry, and cassis characteristics, soft, ripe tannin, and medium body. It reveals a strong similarity to its next door neighbor, Chateau Latour. The 2006 Las Cases will require 5-8 years of bottle age, and should drink well for 25-30 years. Wine Advocate # 170 Apr 2007.
Parker Points: 93-95
Drinking Period: 2012-2037

Tasting Notes:
This wine has put on weight and, as impressive as it was from cask, it is even more brilliant from bottle. Only 35% of the crop made it into the 2000 Leoville Las Cases, a blend of 76.8% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14.4% Merlot, and 8.8% Cabernet Franc. The wine is truly profound, with an opaque purple color and a tight but promising nose of vanilla, sweet cherry liqueur, black currants, and licorice in a dense, full-bodied, almost painfully rich, intense style with no hard edges. This seamless classic builds in the mouth, with a finish that lasts over 60 seconds. Still primary, yet extraordinarily pure, this compelling wine, which continues to build flavor intensity and exhibit additional layers of texture, is a tour de force in winemaking and certainly one of the great Leoville Las Cases. In another sense, it symbolizes / pays homage to proprietor Michel Delon, who passed away in 2000. Michel has been succeeded by his son, Jean-Hubert, another perfectionist. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2040. The Wine Advocate, #146 Apr-03.
Parker Points: 99
Drinking Period: 2012-2040

Tasting Notes:
This wine has put on weight and, as impressive as it was from cask, it is even more brilliant from bottle. Only 35% of the crop made it into the 2000 Leoville Las Cases, a blend of 76.8% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14.4% Merlot, and 8.8% Cabernet Franc. The wine is truly profound, with an opaque purple color and a tight but promising nose of vanilla, sweet cherry liqueur, black currants, and licorice in a dense, full-bodied, almost painfully rich, intense style with no hard edges. This seamless classic builds in the mouth, with a finish that lasts over 60 seconds. Still primary, yet extraordinarily pure, this compelling wine, which continues to build flavor intensity and exhibit additional layers of texture, is a tour de force in winemaking and certainly one of the great Leoville Las Cases. In another sense, it symbolizes / pays homage to proprietor Michel Delon, who passed away in 2000. Michel has been succeeded by his son, Jean-Hubert, another perfectionist. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2040. The Wine Advocate, #146 Apr-03.
Parker Points: 99
Drinking Period: 2012-2040

Tasting Notes:
The 1989 tasted California-like in its ripe, sweet, black cherry fruit, nicely-integrated, toasty new oak, and clean, pure winemaking style. A tighter, more compact finish is the result of elevated tannin, but this is an outstanding, rich, medium-weight Las Cases that tastes less well-endowed than I originally predicted. It is built more along the lines of the classy, elegant 1985 than the blockbuster 1982 and 1986. The wine is still youthful, with no amber at the edge of its healthy deep ruby/purple color. It will improve for another 8-12 years, and then plateau, offering very fine drinking over the subsequent two decades. I overrated this wine from cask. As appealing as I still find it, it lacks the concentration and intensity I originally thought it possessed. Robert Parker Bordeaux Book, 3rd Edition (1998).
Parker Points: 91
Drinking Period: 2004-2024

Tasting Notes:
This tasting consisted of each of the varietal components of Las Cases, followed by the final blend for Leoville-Las Cases. The weedy 1988 Merlot reveals a light ruby color with some lightening at the edge. Aromas of herbal tea clash with sweet fruit in this medium-bodied, high acid wine. The elegant Cabernet Franc is outstanding. It offers a medium dark ruby color, followed by a super-intense, penetrating fragrance of minerals, blackcurrants, spice, and a subtle mint note, as well as finesse. This was an impressive showing for a varietal component. The tough, backward Cabernet Sauvignon is tannic and closed, revealing muscle and strength. Tasted alone, it is nothing more than a building block for the final wine. The disappointing Petit Verdot possesses a vegetal character, astringent, harsh tannin, hollowness, and a lack of fruit and charm. Remarkably, the 1988 Leoville-Las Cases has always been one of the most successful wines of the vintage. In this tasting it clearly outshone all its component parts. With a rich, spicy, fruitcake, cedary, cassis-scented nose, this medium-bodied, moderately tannic Las Cases offers attractive sweetness and suppleness on the palate, a well-delineated and focused personality, and a moderately tannic finish. The wine is just beginning to reveal some aromatic development. Wine Advocate #101 (Oct 1995).
Parker Points: 92
Drinking Period: 1997-2015

Tasting Notes:
This is one of my favorite vintages of Las Cases for present day consumption. The wine reveals a youthful deep ruby/purple color, followed by a classic Las Cases bouquet of pain grille, lead pencil, minerals, and ripe black currants. Medium to full-bodied, with outstanding concentration, and soft tannin, this is a classic, fleshy 1985 that reveals none of the potential dilution noticeable in many wines from this vintage. At one time I thought this might turn out to be a modern day clone of the 1953, but it possesses a lot more flesh and intensity. Robert Parker Bordeaux Book, 3rd Edition (1998)
Parker Points: 93
Drinking Period: Now-2015

Tasting Notes:
This tasting consisted of each of the varietal components of Las Cases, followed by the final blend for Leoville-Las Cases. The 1981 cuvees of Merlot and Cabernet Franc were light, with the Merlot revealing a mature garnet color, a lean, compact, faded tea-scented nose, unimpressive richness, and hard tannin in the finish. Even less impressive, the Cabernet Franc's hard, tough tannin and high acidity gave the wine a lean, attenuated feel. The Cabernet Sauvignon possessed a healthy dark ruby color, a sweet, ripe nose of black currants and spice, medium body, fine elegance, and a clean, spicy finish. The 1981 Leoville-Las Cases appears close to full maturity, with an excellent deep ruby color, a spicy, cedary, tobacco and currant-scented nose, and good depth and ripeness. A classic, elegantly wrought wine, this is one vintage where the final blend was more complex, but no better than the Cabernet Sauvignon cuvee. Robert Parker Wine Advocate
Parker Points: 89
Drinking Period: 2003-2008