2019 Chateau Leoville-Las Cases 2ème Cru St. Julien

Winemaker Notes:  The exceptional qualities of the terroir of the Grand Clos made it possible to erase the climatic excesses. The end of winter brought mild temperatures, followed by a humid and cool spring. The summer conditions were dry and hot, but still within the ten-year average. The vines benefited from a good hydric stress relayed by good thermal amplitudes before the harvest, for an optimal maturation and a maintained acidity. The Leoville Las Cases offers abrilliant fruit with intense aromas, freshness, very tasty and long tannins, all for an exceptional ageing capacity.

Blend: 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc

CRITICAL ACCLAIM


Robert Parker's Wine Advocate - "The color is opaque purple-black, with a nose that unfurls slowly in the glass, beginning with vibrant, expressive black fruit notes of freshly crushed blackcurrants, ripe blackberries and fresh black cherries, followed by a beguiling array of floral and earth nuances—candied violets, lavender, fragrant soil, underbrush, crushed rocks and black truffles. The medium to full-bodied wine dances ever so gracefully on the palate, demurely revealing tightly wound layers of of bright, crunchy black fruits and tantalizing floral and mineral sparks, supported by a rock-solid structure of firm, finely grained tannins and fantastic tension, finishing with epic persistence. Although the style is completely different, the barrel sample is behaving a lot like the Haut-Brion sample was when I tasted it, in that it appears to be holding just that little bit extra back right now. I have to call it as I see it today, but I wouldn't be surprised if when I come back to taste this from bottle, it shows me all that and a lot more. (97-99+ pts)"


Wine Enthusiast - "This is an immense wine. Made from 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, it shows great structure, richness and aging potential. The tannins are ripe, showing the gentlest of extraction and are what is going to drive this wine for many years.This is an immense wine. Made from 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, it shows great structure, richness and aging potential. The tannins are ripe, showing the gentlest of extraction and are what is going to drive this wine for many years. (97-99pts)"


Jeb Dunnuck - "The 2019 Château Léoville Las Cases is one seriously majestic beauty that shows the elegant, pure, balanced style of this vintage to a T. The 2019 is a blend of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc that was raised in 90% new French oak. Notes of crème de cassis, smoked black cherries, graphite, tobacco, and damp earth all emerge from the glass, and it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, a fresh, chiseled texture, layers of ripe tannins, and a solid spine of acidity. The 2019 will be one for the ages and will need at least a decade of bottle age, but it will drink well for 50-60 years or more. (97-99pts)"


James Suckling - "So structured for the vintage, but there’s freshness and vibrancy from the acidity. Full-bodied, extremely creamy and polished. Plush silk. Extremely long, linear and compact. 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc. (98-99pts)"


Decanter - "I love it when a wine steals up on you, and you very definitely get that here, taking its time on the first attack then rapidly expanding outwards and upwards. Undoubtedly it will knit down as Las Cases can't help itself but do, but there is a creamy almost caramel side hiding among the tannins here. Beautiful power and layers of charcoal, slate, crushed stones, cassis, bilberry and tobacco - all displayed with elegance and tension."


Wine Spectator - "Remarkably sleek and pure, considering the generally burly and obvious tannic profile of the vintage. Delivers a pure and unadulterated beam of cassis and plum reduction flavors inlaid seamlessly with a glistening iron girder that seems to have no endpoint through the finish, where violet, anise and black tea notes shimmer. Reserved overall, with a beautiful austerity, this is an example of how great terroir always shines through—even in extreme years. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2030"