EP23 Release: Leoville Las Cases "So so good" Jane Anson
Bordeaux Index
30 April 2024
Leoville Las Cases 2023
An exciting start to this year's En Primeur campaign and a big early statement from the Bordelais. Château Léoville Las Cases has just released this morning with a notable recognition of the pricing on release for buyers and collectors. What a start! We hope to see this across the board in Bordeaux as they continue to release their 2023 wines...
A worthy successor to the dazzling 2022, the 2023 Leoville Las Cases delivers the signature gravel infused Cabernet of the Medoc in spades.
Tasting this wine last week, this is an ode to Cabernet Sauvignon which makes up 86% of the blend this year, with 10% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Merlot. Showing the distinctive gravel and graphite core that is famous from this estate, the 2023 Las Cases delivers classicism and modernity all at once. Like the best wines from this estate, it will require patience.
“So so good, with a balance and classicism that delivers on the best of the vintage.” Jane Anson
One of the most legendary wines of Bordeaux, Leoville Las Cases borders the northern end of St Julien and the southern tip of Pauillac and carries many of the characteristics of both. The heart of the Las Cases vineyard is the Grand Clos: 50ha of vines with two small hills with deep gravel soils on clay and sand. Sharing exact proximity to the river with Chateau Latour and separated from this First Growth only by a meagre dribble of water known as the Ruisseau de Juillac, Las Cases delivers a perfect combination of intensity and minerality much like its next-door neighbour.
“Impressive in terms of persistence, this is a worthy follow-up to the magnificent 2022” Neal Martin
Las Cases’ stoic proprietor Jean-Hubert Delon and his ultra-talented team made the very best of this complex, yin-yang vintage, sculpting a wine of incredible class, finesse, and precision.
“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” William Kelley
Add Leoville Las Cases 2023 to my cellar
98pts Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux “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.”
96-98pts Robert Mathias MW, Bordeaux Index “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.”
97-98pts James Suckling “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."
95-97pts Neal Martin, Vinous “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.”
94-96pts William Kelley, The Wine Advocate “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.”