1989 - Leoville Las Cases, Saint-Julien

The other contender for wine of the night, I have given it 98 points every other time I have tasted it recently, but this time around it has climbed up even further. No surprise that the low ph and natural fresh power of Las Cases would do well in a hot vintage like 1989, but it really is astonishing how much freshness you still find in the glass alongside incense, gunsmoke, liquorice, graphite and blackberry fruit. Showcasing the grace and pure drinkability of a perfectly mature Cabernet Sauvignon-driven Las Cases, lace-like melted tannins that exert an understated grip and support a mouthwatering finish. 50% new oak, harvest September 5 to 25. Michel Delon owner.

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.

One of the most youthful wines of the vintage, the 1989 Léoville Las Cases unwinds in the decanter and glass with aromas of blackcurrant and pencil shavings, framed by a discrete patina from its aging in oak. Medium to full-bodied, deep and tightly wound, it's impressively pure and vibrant, though it lacks the mid-palate plenitude of the vintage's best wines, displaying a touch of tannic asperity on the finish. I wouldn't be surprised to see it continue to improve with further aging, though my sense is that the Cabernet Sauvignon might have been picked a little prematurely in this vintage.