The 2023 Léoville Las Cases is a total stunner. Dark, layered and seamless, it explodes from the glass with dark red/purplish fruit, lavender, spice and new leather. The 2023 boasts all of the power and explosive energy that this site is known for, but with more refined tannins than in the past. Brisk saline notes punctuate the driving, virile finish. Las Cases is, without question, one of the wines of the vintage.

Crème de cassis, graphite, freshly sharpened pencils, and crushed stone all emerge from the 2023 Château Léoville Las Cases, a blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Merlot that was aged 18 months in 80% new French oak. This serious 2023 brings a beautifully rich, dense, layered style that's very much Las Cases, yet also shows the more rounded, supple profile of the vintage. It's concentrated and rich on the palate, with medium to full-bodied power, terrific mid-palate depth, ripe, solid tannins, and a great finish. It will be a more accessible Las Cases, but I don't think that's going to hurt its ageability. Give bottles 4-5 years and enjoy over the following 30-40 years. Drink 2030-2065.

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.

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 keep 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 retains pure charm - this is out to please, certainly not tough or too serious, this is 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%. 43hl/ha yield. Harvest September 9 to October 2. 6.6% press. 3.79pH. Ageing 18 months, 50% new.

Exceptional quality of cabernet comes through here, with a lot of graphite, lead pencil, crushed stone, walnut and currant fruit. It grows and expands on the palate, remaining in focus at the same time. Refined and seamless with beautiful tannins that show power and intensity. It rolls across the palate with verve. 86% cabernet sauvignon, 10% cabernet franc and 4% merlot.

This is surprisingly approachable given how brooding and intense Las Cases can be en primeur, but that is not to say it lacks any intensity or DNA of this estate. Gravel, graphite, and wet rocks, with inky intensity here. The mid-palate is full of cassis and black plum which builds with a massive mineral crescendo. Unrelenting focus, this is pinsharp with accents of grilled herbs and iodine. So much intensity packed in the palate but without excess. A very dramatic yet poised Las Cases.

A blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc and only 4% Merlot, the 2023 Léoville Las Cases is one of the more serious, structured wines of the vintage, reminiscent of a modern-day version of the estate's excellent 2001. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of cherries, cassis and plums mingled with hints of licorice, mint and creamy new oak, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with a taut core of fruit, lively acids and plenty of fine, youthfully firm tannins. It will require and reward patience.

The 2023 Léoville Las-Cases was picked from September 9 to October 2 at 43hL/ha and matured in 80% new oak barrels. This has a very precise bouquet and like the Clos du Marquis it is imbued with an attractive estuarine element—aromatics that transport the imbiber to the banks of the Gironde. The oak is neatly integrated; 80% is much more optimal than 100% would have been. The palate is lightly spiced on the entry moderately deep and quite lively on the mid-palate. This is a more linear Las-Cases than recent vintages conveying a sense of "seriousness" toward the almost saturnine finish. Impressive in terms of persistence this is a worthy follow-up to the magnificent 2022 but it will demand patience.

86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, 4% Merlot. 43 hl/ha. First vintage vinified in the new cellars. Cask sample. A powerful statement but very embryonic. Subdued aromatically but dark fruit present. Tight and restrained but builds on the palate. Notable acidity and freshness. Good length on the finish. Clearly built for the long haul. (JL)