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CHÂTEAU LÉOVILLE LAS CASES

98-100 points

Neal Martin, Vinous

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Precocious, almost decadent blackberry & blueberry fruit on the nose, there is something lavish & 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”.

You want structure, confidence and longevity, you come here. The Léoville estate dates to the 1630s with the Marquis de Las Cases owner at the time of the French Revolution, when the estate was seized and split first into two, then three, parts. This is a wine that is often compared to its Pauillac neighbour Latour in profile, and is known for its ability to age – and then some more.

I have a particulalr soft spot for Léoville Las Cases, as I do any estate that features a Clos, our namesake. But here the Clos is very much the heart of the old estate, where vines grow on peyrosol gravel that is ten metres deep in some places.

The estate has an almost molecular level understanding of its own terroirs, underetaking detailed studies to uncover that the estsate features 16 different types of gravel, allowing them to treat these areas as individual parcels, and attend to the vines accordingly.

I tasted the 2022 with the winemaker at Ch. Nenin in Pomerol (one of the other estates in the Delon stable) and was enchanted, giving it a potential perfect score, and noting, "there is a cerebral nose that opens up with aeration, with blackberries, black plum & pink pepper. The palate shows delicious fruit profile and well-integrated tannins. Utterly superb.

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