Tasting Notes
Robert Parker 98
This comes from 50- to 90-year-old vines and is a blend of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc and 10% Merlot with 13.28% alcohol, 3.72 pH and an IPT of 71. The 2017 Leoville Las Cases is deep garnet-purple in color, and wow, the nose bursts with beautiful blackcurrant cordial, blackberry pie and blueberry preserve notes followed by hints of lilacs, dark chocolate, cedar chest, sassafras and licorice with emerging wafts of oolong tea, lavender and iron ore. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is an exercise in elegance and soft-spoken nuances within a mouth-coating palate of almost electric black and blue fruits, framed by very firm, exquisitely ripe, fine-grained tannins and seamless freshness, finishing epically long and wonderfully perfumed. Damn, that’s good.
Anticipated maturity: 2023-2070
JancisRobinson.com 17
Tasted blind. Deep ruby colour. Slightly reductive nose that masks the fruit. Subdued and tightly wound, there is potential here but the tannins are mouth-coating and dominant for now. Underneath, there is cool blackcurrant and layers of leather, nutmeg and tobacco. A wine for those with patience while it slowly unfurls in bottle. A long and driven finish hints at the potential here. (TP)
Anticipated maturity: 2028-2040