Château Léoville Las Cases 2023

Once again, a nose to make you dream, deep, noble, floral, playful, pure emotion; on the palate, densely built, a monument, with elegance and impressive lightness, sensational tannin quality, crisp fruit, all elements perfectly balanced, great length. A majestic Las Cases.

Bright, gorgeous, expressive aromatics of dark purple and black fruit. A sense of opulence and clear Cabernet effects on the nose. Supple and agile, juicy and succulent, a rich, almost thick cherry juiciness—fleshy, ripe and cool. Lovely minty, liquorice and graphite undertone that keeps the freshness going to a long finish. It’s a bit bolder than I expected for LLC and also a bit bigger for the vintage. A characterful style, certainly not missing any body but retaining pure charm—this is out to please, certainly not tough or too serious, more easy to approach. Lots of herbal elements, pencil lead, graphite and wet stone with cloves and cinnamon. It’s still compact, no doubt, but despite the power there’s finesse and it ends clean and lifted. Up there with the best of the vintage. With 4% Merlot, it’s the lowest percentage ever in the blend—2022 was 5%. 43 hl/ha yield. Harvest September 9 to October 2. 6.6% press. pH 3.79. Ageing 18 months, 50% new.

It takes just a bit of effort to explore the perfume, before revealing its essence of ripe blackberries, cigar wrapper, cassis, flowers, espresso, and a variety of spices. Clearly traditional in style, but not harsh, green, or dry. Instead, the wine is restrained, elegant, and regal, with layers of ripe, dark fruits, minerality, cherries, and dried herbs. One of the longest-lived wines of the vintage, but for Leoville Las Cases, it will drink well before or around 10 years of age. It can also evolve for 30 years or more. Made from a blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Merlot. This marks only the third time in the estate’s history that the blend contains more Cabernet Franc than Merlot. It is also the smallest amount of Merlot ever placed into the Grand Vin. Drink from 2030-2065.

Deep dark ruby, opaque core, purple reflections, delicate edge brightening. Nuances of tobacco, wild blueberry, fresh and clear. Slightly peppery, but no paprika. A large amount of very high-quality tannins on the palate, fresh and releasing good juice, with a suitably supple base, good palate fruit, integrated alcohol, very good length with tactile mineral components.

Structured and powerful, this is not as forbidding as En Primeur in many vintages of Las Cases, showing both flesh and florality, but the tannic walls of this great estate remain fully in place, coupled with layers of cassis and bilberry fruits, subtle hints of bitter aniseed, fennel, cola, espresso, squid ink, textured slate tannins. Expect inky depths and unashamed austerity, a wine that will take its time to open, making no excuses for demanding patience. So so good, with a balance and classicism that delivers on the best of the vintage. 80% new oak, 6.6% press wine, 3.79h, harvest September 9 to October 2, 43hl/h yield. First year in the new cellars, with 43.5ha going into the main wine from the historic walled vineyard site.

Score: 95–97. A deep, beguiling aromatic profile with stony, charry notes, ripe wild blueberries, and molasses caramel. On the palate, the flavors are in high definition: very pure blue and black fruits, inky nuances, and an iris-like earthy edge. A classic Las Cases that should age forever.