2018 - Leoville Las Cases, Saint-Julien

Of all the properties in Bordeaux that can benefit from a year where alcohols and ripe fruit combine to give a touch of gloss and richness through the mid-palate, the monumental Léoville Las Cases must be it. Nothing is taken away from the stately, concentrated and powerful character of the tannins, but it has a dense, velvety texture alongside cassis, bilberry, black chocolate and liquorice root, poised but hinting of generosity to come. One of my wines of the vintage, and impossible not to include in this list of top 50 to lay down. 90% new oak. 80IPT. 3.65pH. Yield of 35.5hl/ha. Harvest September 15 to October 4.

The 2018 Leoville Las Cases has a deep garnet-purple color. It bursts with notes of baked plums, fruitcake, and crème de cassis, plus suggestions of sandalwood, dusty soil, and powdered cinnamon. Medium-bodied, the palate has just enough tightly wound, restrained fruit, with a very fine-grained texture and a persistent, mineral-laced finish. Typically, it's retreated to its shell and will need a good five years more in bottle before it really shows its pedigree.

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.