Château Léoville Las Cases

Domaine. [to find out more about the wines highlighted in blue, click and view a short reel]

Certainly the second cru classé closest, and for many vintages, when the cork does not betray, to the level of the best first growths. It owes its class and consistency to the plot selection that produces it on the large enclosure that adjoins that of Château Latour, and to an exemplary perfectionism initiated by Michel Delon in the 1980s and fully continued by his son Jean-Hubert. The finesse and subtlety of its flavour have few equals in the world, but the wine does us the favour of opening up more quickly than in the past. The young vines give the Petit-Lion, lighter but no less elegant, and the rest of the estate the remarkable Clos-du-Marquis, whose value for money remains as astonishing as ever.

• Grand Vin de Léoville du Marquis de Las Cases 2015. AOP Saint-Julien.
• Clos du Marquis 2011. AOP Saint-Julien. Lots of sap, still firm tannin, perfect expression of a northern Saint Julien! 17/20 
• Château Nénin 2011. AOP Pomerol. The tannins are distinguished and silky with dynamism. The wine has developed well since our first tastings and has gained in refinement. 17/20