Vertical Tasting of Léoville Las Cases

TASTING REPORT

“Léoville Las Cases Vertical Tastings”: read Didier Frayssou’s account of our Oenoschool tasting on November 2, 2016, and discover our impressions of six different vintages of the Marquis de Las Cases’ fine wine, as well as the 2012 vintages of Clos du Marquis and Petit Lion.

Clos du Marquis 2012 **(*)

A wine with an intense purple color and a nose of subtle oak, dark fruit and blackcurrant. The opening on the palate is very fruity, rounded and appealing. The tannins are integrated, but the finish is a little short.

Petit Lion 2012 ***

The color is slightly less intense than that of Clos du Marquis. The nose is similar but a touch more vegetal. The palate has more pronounced acidity, yet the wine is far more elegant and has greater length. It has the pedigree of the fine wine without its concentration and remains approachable at this young age, just as you would expect of a second wine.

Léoville las Cases 1962 ***(*)

A very light mahogany color and a complex nose with smoky, meaty notes, cooked fruit and dried flowers, plus a hint of volatile acidity. The palate is medium-bodied, but the wine has great length and a long, gentle finish. A very appealing wine with fine aromatic complexity and fruit still present. 

Léoville las Cases 1981 ****

A medium-intensity brick-red color. A nose of red bell pepper, dried flowers and tobacco. A wine with plenty of substance: the palate is fleshy, with no vegetal notes, and offers aromas of stewed fruit and tobacco. The tannins are integrated, and the finish is long and gentle. A lovely wine that wears its age well.

Léoville Las Cases 1992 ****

A brick-red color with faint mahogany highlights. The nose is quite distinguished: coffee, cedar, cigar box… The palate is refined and fluid, with considerable aromatic persistence: ripe bell pepper, licorice and tobacco return, alongside fine acidity and integrated tannins. A fine wine in a lesser vintage

Léoville Las Cases 1989 ***(*)

The color is fairly intense and cloudy, with brick-red highlights. The nose offers olive, cooked fruit, tea and roasted bell pepper. The palate is still a little closed, sun-soaked yet balanced by the estate’s characteristic acidity, with bloody notes and integrated tannins.

Léoville las Cases 1998 ****(*)

The color is strikingly intense and shows little evolution. The nose is relatively restrained: coffee, cocoa and dark fruit. The palate is still holding back. This is a concentrated wine with noticeable but fleshy tannins. A model of balance that will need another 8 to 10 years to fully reveal itself. The evening’s finest wine in terms of potential, even if it leaves us wanting a little more today.

Léoville las Cases 2003 ****

The color is similar to the 1998, but a touch more evolved, cloudier and duller. Aromas of cooked fruit, light port notes, menthol and pine resin come through, along with oak that still shows in milky and vanilla notes. The opening is very fruity; the wine is concentrated and very long on the palate, yet above all shows no excess alcohol—remarkable given the vintage.

Conclusion: We tasted wines that excelled on the nose (1962, 1981, 1992), showing great aromatic elegance in vintages that were not always easy. We also tasted wines that shone on the palate: the somewhat disappointing 1989, a 2003 remarkable for such an atypical vintage, and a superb 1998. Even so, there was a real consistency throughout the tasting—in the wines’ freshness, finesse, elegance and Pauillac-like austerity. This consistency confirms their great elegance and reliable quality for those willing to wait for them.

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