Ch. Leoville-Las Cases
2nd Growth Grand Cru Classe
Saint-Julien
1986

The producer

Long considered not only the best of the three Leovilles, but also one of the Super Seconds that are prime contenders at First Growth quality. The whole of Leoville was owned by the Marquis de Las Cases until the French Revolution and subsequently – in two divisions – one became three. But Las Cases, appropriately perhaps, retained the Grand Clos, which is the core of the original estate’s vineyards – a walled in parcel of vines located in the north of Saint-Julien, close to the border with Pauillac.

The Delon family have owned the estate since 1900; the estate is today managed by Jean Hubert Delon and his sister Genevieve d’Alton.  With 97 hectares of vineyards – which are dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon, with around 20% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc – Leoville-Las-Cases is the largest of the three Leoville estates.

The Grand Vin matures in various percentages of new, French oak barrels, which vary from year to year depending on vintage characteristics. This is a glorious rendition of Saint-Julien with many traits of Pauillac – intense and powerful, while also enticingly elegant, and simply, delicious.

The wine

Most of the fruit for the Grand Vin is sourced from the Grand Clos, a walled and organically farmed vineyard plot north of Saint-Julien, bordering Pauillac. The blend varies with vintage conditions but usually includes a minimum of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon complemented with Cabernet Franc and Merlot. Fermentation takes place in a combination of concrete, wood, and stainless-steel tanks, and is followed by blending and then 18-20 months in barrel, with 80-90% new oak. Leoville-Las-Cases is a glorious rendition of Saint-Julien with many traits of Pauillac – intense and powerful, while also enticingly elegant, and simply, delicious. And well-known for its ability to age close to forever.

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.