2018 Le Petit Lion du Marquis de Las Cases, Saint-Julien

Cassis, jammy blackberries, graphite, tobacco leaf, and earth characteristics all emerge from the 2018 Léoville Las Cases Le Petit Lion, and it has a terrific sense of elegance and purity, while still showing ample density and length. With building tannins, it's fresh, clean and pure on the palate, with a great finish. This beauty will keep for 25-30 years. It’s a match for just about every other estate’s top wine out there. The blend is 45% Merlot, 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 13% Cabernet Franc that’s still aging in 30% new barrels. - jebdunnuck.com, May 2019

The 2018 Le Petit Lion is blended of 45% Merlot, 42% Cabernet Sauvignon and 13% Cabernet Franc, harvested from September 15 to October 4 with yields of 35.5 hectoliters per hectare. The wine has 14.47% alcohol and will be aged in barriques, 30% new. The finished blend was put into barrels last December. Deep garnet-purple colored, it gives a wonderfully perfumed nose of violets, star anise and fragrant soil over a core of plum preserves, blackberry pie and blueberry compote plus a waft of spice cake. The palate is rich, seductive and spicy with plush, rounded tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and opulent. Love it!
- Lisa Perrotti-Brown, April 2019, The Wine Advocate

Plenty of blue fruit and hints of hazelnuts and walnuts. Full-bodied yet very tight with very fine tannins and a fresh finish. Tight second wine of Las Cases. - jamessuckling.com, April 2019

The 2018 Le Petit Lion is a magnificent second wine. Aromatic, sweet and pliant, the 2018 is also remarkably light on its feet, something that is especially notable given the alcohol at 14.5%. Silky, giving and super-expressive, the 2018 has it all. The Petit Lion is 45% old-vine Merlot, 42% mostly younger vine Cabernet Sauvignon and 13% Cabernet Franc. More importantly, it is a real overachiever in 2018.

Great minerality on the nose - really a baby Las Cases! Great energy and tension, real freshness. Red fruit spectrum gives clarity and expressiveness. Good finish too - a pretty complete wine. - April 2019

The 2018 Le Petit Lion is blended of 45% Merlot, 42% Cabernet Sauvignon and 13% Cabernet Franc, sourced from within the Las Cases enclosure. The wine has 14.47% alcohol and was aged in 30% new barriques. Deep garnet-purple colored, it sings of black and red cherry preserves, freshly crushed blackcurrants and smoked meats with hints of dried bay leaves, Sichuan pepper and clove oil plus a touch of tobacco leaf. Medium-bodied, the palate has a solid backbone of grainy tannins and bold freshness supporting the impressive black fruit and savory layers, finishing with an invigorating herbal lift.

The 2018 Le Petit Lion is picked from 15 September to 4 October and matured in 30% new oak. It has a very floral bouquet that at this precise moment is driven by the new oak. That will be subsumed with time. The palate is medium-bodied with a slightly sinewy entry, a firm tannic backbone here with a stern off-dry finish. It’s probably just at an awkward stage during its élevage and it should come good by the time of bottling.

42% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc. 30% new oak, pH 3.49. Barrel sample. Elderberry juice in colour. Refined, pure and intense black fruit, so concentrated but still expressive. Dark and rocky in its savoury elegance. Juicy, fresh tannic finesse, so juicy even with all this multi-layered tannin. Such refinement and great fruit with total purity and yet no excess sweetness. This is the classy side of 2018. (JH)