An excellent wine at the end of its life just trying to hold on by its fingertips. There is still some dark red and black fruit. There is a little acidity left. The tertiary notes are wonderful and it is a joy to drink. It is exciting to drink history, but it is declining every day.
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A sort of blackish, translucent dark colour! Approaching the age of forty, it is surprisingly young, full of vibrant fruits, and full of energy. There are tons of powdery sediments, and they definitely need a brief decanting or should I say pour the wine in your glass very carefully! Complex nose of mild caramel fruits, a hint of sweetness and a hint of oriental spiciness, and of course, the benchmark seasoned cedar wood cigar leaves, gorgeous aroma. The palate is in my view, rich and dense, but not tight, very spicy, and slightly dry with a long finish! Drinking window? It is entirely up to you, now or within the next two decades, it really depends on how one stores it!
I opened it for the occasion of St Valentine ♥ day, the wine is on the masculine side, so my mission failed, not for the romantic atmosphere shall we say...
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Middag og noen Bordeaux 80-tall: Blind. Aske, noe brett, gammelt trevirke; middels munn, svinnende frukt som har veket og gitt plass til noe tørket, jern. Til tross at dette var en late release fra slottet - ikke en optimal flaske.
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[recorked by the winery and late release in 2015] Very much into the tertiary notes, layered with mushroom, leather and black tea, and mint. long finish. The fruit is not as fresh as the last bottle from almost 5 yrs ago. Still love it.
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this bottle more tertiary than previous experiences. Lots of gravel, cigar and drying fruits, to the point I would have guessed Graves if I were blinded. The fruit is still sporting good balance but the finish is a bit clipped. Still quite enjoyable though you should be consuming these
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5 of 6 Decanted for sediment @ 4:00 served @ 7:30. Dark ruby color with lightening rim. Nose tight but clean. This needed an hour or so of air before it opened up. Medium weight, well balanced, fine tannins. The fruit and elegance here is a little lacking compared with the 82, 86 and 90 LLC
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I’ve always loved this wine but now bottle variation is an issue. This was the best bottle in a decade - perfect. Initial cedar and tobacco. Very smooth and rich mouthfeel with charcoal and black cherry finish. Fresh and moorish. When on-form, 85 is one of my favourite LLC vintages (with 61, 66 and 82). The 96 may get there one day… 96pts and at peak, drink to 2030
Bordeaux 1985 Grand Tour; 5/5/2017-10/20/2023: Celebrating the incorporation of KW LLC. Dark magenta with an opaque core and some bricking at the rim. The nose showed aged leather, sweet plum, blackberries, and mint. On the palate sour cherry initially followed by black fruits, cedar, tobacco, and soy. Fully integrated, well-balanced and elegantly concentrated. This bottle needed a 2-hour decant to reveal itself.
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I having been drinking this annually for the last decade. I do find that the 1985 vintage was probably the most forward year of the decade, and the left bank wines were very approachable at an earlier age, and the Las Cases was no exception. This is fully mature, but the question is how long can it stay here. It still benefits from an hour or two in the decanter to blow off some of the rougher edges, but once it settles everything is integrated. Dark fruit, tobacco, graphite and cedar dominate. My only issue is with the finish which is becoming more exposed as the fuit has faded, and has become fractured. Addressing the earlier point with regards to longevity, I would be more inclined to be drinking it in the shorter term.
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Wow! Amazing. Cedar, tobacco, blackberry, cassis, saddle leather. Full bodied, amazingly generous and rich for the age. Delicious. Long and complex. Drinking beautifully but will age gracefully for years.
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Still great, but it ain’t going to lat much longer (granted, the cork was barely holding on); excellent balance, fruit very good after some decant, but the nose fading away; still fantastic.
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Pearl Dinner by Don Saunders (Doc's Hall, St. Louis Park, MN): Very dark red color. Double decanted for 20 minutes and flitered. Drank a glass plus over an hour plus. This was everything I'd hoped for. Showing a wonderfully again, perfumed with a pristine vein of cassis on the nose with a red raspberry underpin, filled with leath and pencil, damp forest notes, crushed violets, and dried cigar and wood spices. The palate is everything the nose promises, soft and caressing, medium full bodied, with a classic elegance and suave style that gives this that featherweight impression, plush cassis and red berries, the earth leather and pencil melding perfectly together with minerals and spice. Very long and blissful. No rush, these will reward you. 96+pts. .
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If you like wine, how can you not like this? It’s not a powerhouse, but because of the style of LLC it’s built to last. You get mature dark berries, excellent acidity, and heaps of cigar and leather. Find a well stored bottle and buy it
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Vital cracking nose of sweet genrous fruit, tobacco, smoke, leather and cedar. Darker fruit and more "a point" than earlier vintages. Super elegant and near perfect finish. Very harmouius and balanced and a bit richer than most of the other 70-80's vintages.
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1985 Bordeaux-o-rama (Noize): Oh boy. Very youthful, and with really intense brambly fruit that had an almost liquorish quality. Super clean, and perfectly formed, all its elements turned up to 11 but seamlessly integrated. Somehow still felt fresh despite everything (including a gravy note on the finish). A real treat - my WOTN and joint group #1.
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Jason’s 85 Claret @ Noizé, table 2 (Noizé, London): Slightly cloudy, full garnet. Stands out from the crowd on the nose, a bit spicier, a whiff of smoke, more energy and brighter dark red fruit. Vibrant, fat and leggy in the glass. Density but energy and line. Glorious. A freshness too. This remains a consistent class act. *****
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I'd been seeking this wine out for a while and it certainly did not disappoint. On pop n pour, this why showed that it subtly needed some air through it's understated structure and slight tartness. But immediately brimming with complexity. Absolutely lovely and classic Bordeaux. Pencil shavings, bit of cigar box. Just intoxicating nose. Try as I might though, I couldn't quite coax much of an extra gear out of this. It felt like it was sitting on the precipice of exploding out of the glass but never quite did. It stayed a touch reserved. Although I had a few tastes with food later in the evening that did take a step up. I am starting to believe that Las Cases is one of the few aged Bordeaux that I believe truly benefits from a decant and I will do that on my next bottle.
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WSET reunion tasting group+ (Home, Utrecht): This bottle was so far over the hill that I consider it flawed. Only tertairy notes; walnuts, coffee, meat, leather, dried vigs, maggi, potpourri
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The last bottle of the night and not entirely sure we needed it, but it was also drinking very well. Part of a 1985 horizontal of Bordeaux and across the board everything was really lovely. This is more power and structure and yet on this day I found that really appealing (sometimes this wine producer doesn't gel with me as much because of the bigger, more masculine style).
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Rich and mellow nose. A meatier, slightly fleshier rendition of 85 LLC. More evolved but also fleshier with some meat and a right bank element. A little more evolved than previous bottles but only slightly the worse for that. ****1/2
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1985 Las Cases vs Clos du Marquis: A Las Cases that is good to go. A little green and tight at first but the nose and palate opened up to become a seductive and sensual wine. Less brooding than the 82 or 90, more similar stylistically to 86 in terms of its hedonistic pure fruit and balance, but less complete in terms of depth. Not sure how often the descriptor gorgeous is applied to Las Cases but it would be quite apt here.
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A more sexy, elegant version of Las Cases without an over bearing structure. It needed a lot of air still to open up. I thought it was a Margaux(not Chateau) from 1989 vintage initially. But once in the decanter, it’s nose really had the tell tale Las Cases signature. This will still do well for atleast next five years. Great wine!
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Excellent wine with an inviting and fresh nose. Red and black berries. Precise and without plummy opulence- - also no cigar box. Reminds me of the better 1982 a few years ago. No hurry to drink.
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Opened 8 hours before drinking and left standing. Amazing concentration, sous bois and cigar box notes. Blackcurrants and ink, dense but approachable (well, with the aeration it got), full bodied and with fine tannins. One of the best Las Cases I can recall.
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It is easy to overlook this wine sandwiched as it is between two perfect vintages from 1982 and 1986, but it is a first class mature Bordeaux if not in the same league. Fully mature but still needing a few hours in the decanter to be enjoyed, it still has plenty of life ahead with well stored bottles. (Last time of tasting two years ago I had reservations but I think it was a dodgy bottle,). The nose is aromatic with blackcurrant and tobacco with a palate packed with graphite and dark fruits. It has excellent balance and depth with a lengthy finish, but I personally find the tannin a little challenging end palate before settling in perfect harmony.
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Guys Night Out - Holiday Edition!: First wine in a great lineup! What an awesome start! Lovely nose full of earth, pencil shavings, some cedar, some purple flowers and some dark fruit. Palate was more tertiary, with rich earthy notes, graphite, tobacco and tar, with some dark fruit and blue fruit and hints of spice and sweet oak. Palate was smooth, with tannins well rounded and well integrated. A great older Bordeaux! I admit, I was quite impressed that 1985 wines would hold up this well and this long! I remember first tasting them and thinking they will be short-term wines....glad my first impression was wrong! A solid 95 tonight....group's #2, my #3 (by a smidge).
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A Guys Night to Remember (Jason's house): Cherry, violets, clean funk. Wonderfully floral, nice acidity that I can even smell, graphite and pencil lead. This has the qualities of a well-aged bordeaux and is also quite lively.
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Guys Night Out: One to Remember - Heavy Hitters (Jason P's, St. Paul, MN): Very dark red color with a 5mm transition. Splash double decanted; drank a glass plus over 3 hours. Geez this was showing great. Gorgeous purple and blue fruits of cassis and boysenberry, wow; deep violet notes, ultra floral with a lifted perfume that adds leather, pencil, cigar wrapper and incense. The palate shows outstanding depth and harmony; damp earth, funk, leather, cassis, this is pencil city, coarse tobacco, and a lot of leather with impressive length and on some well rounded and polished tannins that can go for some time. This has it all, very complex and showing all the secondary and tertiary character you could ask for yet still having that exuberance that says, wait, just wait, I've got more to show you. 96+ to 97pts.
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Reached its peak at 2~4 hours in decanter after opening. Graphite dominant on the nose. Mainly cassis and some smoke from tobacco forming the backbone, minerality and spices, mainly oriental, showes this bottle was very well made. Silky on the palate as milk mixed with a hint of cream. Elegance and balance between the characters are, in my opinion, what makes Bordeaux such a great region. The wine is straightforward yet complex, for it is produced by one of the greatest chateaux of Bordeaux.
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Great nose of cassis, graphite and tobacco. Generous dark fruit and silky texture with well balanced tannins. Still very vigorous and drinking very well at the moment.
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21st of 24, opened 2 hours, perfect level, cork 3 quarter stained, reasonably consistent notes since 1996 very fine to very fine plus with my last bottle in 2012 a more muted outlier at merely fine - rich dark slightly transparent ruby, leggy with little rim development; cassis lead, some bramble, graphite, cedar, classy, classic and layered; fullish, long, persistent, silky and complex, quite concentrated but not overly so, very fine balance so typical of 85, tannins nicely integrated (they were never obtrusive in this vintage), energy for further development and good for 20 years plus on this showing. VF+ (19)...........always a top 85, a vintage to my mind underappreciated, along with Lafite and Palmer.
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From magnum, this wine was pristine. It showed great precision and delineation, such purity of fruit. The wine isn't overly tannic, but it's less evolved than one might expect at this age. One of the better Bordeaux wines I have had in recent years, and well stored bottles should continue to evolve gracefully for decades.
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Tasted blind. The nose was a bit rustic with tobacco, sweet fruit, some cassis, and a bit of green flavors. Significantly improved with air in the glass, though. The palate felt a bit more tired with red fruit, underwood, currants, and good balance overall. Good finish. This felt very mature and frankly a bit older than it is. It was very enjoyable nonetheless.
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Paolo visits Princeton... (Cellars at Chez Walker): A good excuse to check in on this bottle. Purchased at auction, in my cellar from 2012. Decanted and strained, drank over 2 hours alongside a 94 Vega Sicilia...
Medium ruby/garnet, some browning at the edge. Beautifully expressive nose showing red fruits, mineral/stone, graphite and rose petal. Silky smooth palate of red berry, plum, crushed stone, earth notes. Elegant and nicely persistent through the mid palate. Medium body and finish.
This is aged Bdx at its best, a beautiful wine on this evening. Nose is noteable, could have sat and smelled this for hours....:) Well stored bottles should go for a while...but why wait. Worth drinking now. I would go so far as to say this is a benchmark example of the best of the vintage....
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Youthful, dark red appearance. Has some green/leafy character, and tart/lean red fruit. Tannins still quite prominent. Fills out, becomes rounder, denser, more balanced on day two. Excellent, but perhaps needs more time.
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Gorgeous deep ruby. Blackcurrant leaf, cedar, tobacco and graphite on the nose. Densely silky palate, some mid palate padding and density. Long and fine finish. Nothing flashy, just latent power and elegance. Superb *****
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Bouchon plus qu'imbibé, et même fuyard. Après 1h30 de carafe, c'est un très beau Bordeaux, plus typé Pauillac que St Julien, terrien, complexe, long, avec un superbe grain de tanins, une texture soyeuse typique du Château. Compte tenu du bouchon, je suis impatient d'ouvrir une autre bouteille car quelque chose me dit qu'il peut être plus grand encore.
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excellent bottle again, from a different source. reminding me of good 1982s - engaging aromas and nose, very good fruit, long and consistent. Impressive. quite a bit ahead of 1989.
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During a Commanderie LLC dinner with ex-Chateau bottles. A lot of accolades went to this wine. A terrific showing. Complex and expansive nose of tertiary aromas around forest floor with dark fruit and a touch of barnyard. The palate is very precise here, not as sunny as the 89/90 but it makes up for it via its precision. Very long finish. A grand LLC showing. For those who have this in their cellar, worth the wait.
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Wow, who knew I'd be swept off my feet by a Bordeaux after so many years. But when it comes to Chateau Leoville, it's hard to think otherwise. This is at such a good stage right now. Developing, but not yet fully there. Open at just the right level where the tannins are still quite grippy and the acidity is bright, but the fruit is still going strong, not giving all the spotlight to the tertiary notes. Finish is long and dense, lifting this wine up to another level. Great bottle with 5-6 years more in it.
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Best bottle of the case that I have had to date. About the only difference is that I opened it without decanting, left it for 30 minutes, then poured. Had it with a disappointing dry aged steak, and the wine was the surprise of the night. No amber edge, just ample fruit despite the age and tobacco and leathery notes. Won't get better, but based on my tasing of 7 bottles so far, isn't fading away anytime soon either. I am comfortable drinking my last 5 bottles over the next five years.
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This bottle has been cellared at Las Cases until 2016, and it was recorked before shipping. Perfect fill and dark brick red color. The scent is classic west side Bordeaux, almost all anticipated markers checked in. Blackcurrant, blueberry, cedar, tobacco, pencil lead, leather, coffee, toast, forest floor. Fruit on the cool side of the spectrum, high concentration, integrated tannins, extremely long. Greatly balanced wine. This drinks magically now, but no hurry to run down in the basement to pop your bottles. These will last a long long time. Las Cases confirmes one more time that it's wines are made to last for generations.
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Drunk at Crown Super Deluxe in Hong Kong - The striking feature of this wine is that it lacks the often austere, rigid tannins that are typical of Las Cases. We decanted it and whilst you possibly don't need to, it did stimulate the lovely old school claret perfume. This is a very attractive wine in an extremely good place right now. I also think the plateau of maturity will last for some time.
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In line with prior notes - would drink over next few years - in a good place now with wonderful secondary aromas and not sure I will enjoy this as much with more age
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Nez évolué démarrant sur la cassis et la feuille de cassis puis évoluant vers le mélange de fruits rouges, la pivoine et la violette, le tabac blond, la fumée. Très joli même s'il m'a laissé l'impression d'une précision et d'une complexité en deçà de celles croisées sur les LLC 89 & 97 bus récemment. La matière est plutôt de demi-corps avec des tannins complètements fondus sur un rendu parfaitement soyeux. J'avoue avoir été déstabilisé au début, je m'attendais à plus de matière et de tannins, toujours un biais quand on sait ce qu'on boit ! En effaçant cet a priori, il apparaît clairement que la qualité se situe dans un tout autre registre, celui de l'élégance et de l'harmonie. L'équilibre proposé est absolument remarquable, on se délecte de cette présence sereine. Avec un peu plus de matière, ce vin était grand, à n'en pas douter ! Finale d'une très bonne persistance même si à nouveau un peu plus d'intensité ne lui aurait pas fait de mal...
Au final un très joli vin avec quelques petits bémols sur une bouteille plutôt sur la pente descendente
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The vintage as a whole seems to be starting to show its age, and very much like 1982 is starting to become a bit of a lottery. Unfortunately, in spite of excellent provenance and storage, this was not quite up there with previous bottles. That said, it was a glorious experience with the wine displaying a classic mature left bank profile. The fruit is crisp and combines with cedar for a deep fruity nose. It has a typical tannic backbone consistent with the estate and the vintage. The palate is deep and well balanced, and the finish is 30+ seconds. I do find that this does need a couple of hours in the decanter and ideally 30 minutes in the glass to shrug off some of the barnyard. I think I will look to consume my remaining bottles over the next couple of years, rather than risk the variance extremes of the present 1982 wines.
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One of the stars of the vintage, this is drinking perfectly today. Delivering its wealth of ripe, juicy, crisp, fresh red fruits in its stern, regal, refined, full-bodied character, 30 minutes in the decanter is all this beauty needs to start singing.
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With Andrew and Fletcher at Gezellig. Medium/deep garnet, pale garnet rim. Nose is quite developed, with dusty red fruit, mineral, spice. Medium bodied on the palate, red fruited, soil, quite lean, with fresh acidity and firm tannins kicking in on the good length, dusty earth finish.
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The wine looks garnet colored. The legs are medium. There is light sediment in the bottle. It smells like lead pencil, black pepper and forest floor. It tastes like forest floor, black pepper and toast. The body is medium. The wine has round texture. The wine finishes medium. The wine has medium acidity.
Surprisingly "young" or "younger" drinking. Fantastic deep color - would guess much younger from garnet color alone. tannin structure still intact. great roundness of body. fruit depleting - though, 85s from left bank were always a bit less ripe and lighter on fruity/ more perfumed. great classic bordeaux balance with soft, round body. subtle oak and pepper and lead pencil shaving notes. shorter to medium finish - not unlike most 85s i have tasted even 20 years ago. but maybe a bit of the perfume has diminished. provably will drink well for another 5 years
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Amazing vibrant fruit, colour still youthful, almost sweet it is so ripe. Palate also sweet, ripe and vivid, tannins absorbed, this feels like a perfect moment to enjoy this - super bottle.
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Peppery, powerful big wine. But paired well with my meal (veal sweetbread). Proud out the fruits and sweetness of the wine. Looking for more complexity though.
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Fragrant nose typical of the vintage. Palate reveals totally resolved tannins but fading fruit. Somewhat short finish. My 2nd of three ex-chateau bottles purchased 4 years ago. If this bottle is typical, my favorite Bordeaux vintage may be nearing the end of it's drinking window. '85 Latour had last summer seemed to have the legs to go on a few more years, but if you have any '85 Bordeaux in your cellar, I recommend drinking up!
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Powerful, peppery and aromatic nose, the palate follows the nose with its rich and intense presentation, a lot of youthful and fresh fruit, fleshy umami, new world style fruit driven powerhouse of a wine, not exactly classical bdx style, when consumed in a vertical along with -82, -83, -85, -89, -90, -95 and -96 it is evident that albeit a good vintage not as profound as the top vintages. In any case very good and drinking well now but will last.
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this was a magnum with a good fill. The wine was beautiful, beguiling even. Saint Julien bouquet with more than a hint of Pauillac. Tannins are totally resolved as one would expect.
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I don't drink lots of Bordeaux but this was one of my favorites thus far. Rich red berry fruit, tobacco and cedar. Opened beautifully over the course of 3 hours ands completely captivating when I was draining the last drops from my glass. Very classy stuff.
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Deep garnet colored with a slight hint of orange bricking, medium-full bodied, elegant, complex but nicely integrated dark berry and black cherry fruits with notes of floral violets, tobacco, oak and hints of graphite, cigar box and leather on a tangy black cherry lingering finish of supple smooth, polished tannins. Over the course of the evening, it opened more to reveal layers of floral and fruits and accents.
Very young and primary. No signs of age. Tons of cab Franc flora notes quite over powering. Well balanced structure with just enough fruit and tannins. Finishes long fruity and clean. Tone down the cab franc and we got a winner.
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Dinner at Home (Our House, Hong Kong): Brought by our guests. My 8th time with this wine over 12 years and my first disappointment.... a storage problem I think because the cork looked fine but pushed into the bottle on first contact...probably dried out. Very dark, opaque purple-red colour. Lovely nose - pencil lead, high-toned graphite and cassis, linear but lacking its normal level of acidic balance and freshness. Palate was higher acidity but to the point of harshness....and then just very flat and charmless. I had a super bottle 15 months ago and will keep that tasting note as my pole star.
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Very good mature Bordeaux. Dark fruit, leather, tobacco and cedar. Soft tannins. Long finish. I will enjoy my remaining bottles over the next year or two.
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Bardot Brasserie Léoville Las Cases Vertical Dinner (Las Vegas, NV): This deep garnet wine (a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot) defines seduction. Flaunting a gorgeous core of red fruit, it adds notes of cocoa, allspice, orange zest, tobacco and violets on both the nose and palate. Medium-bodied, freshly acidic, seamlessly alcoholic and with soft residual tannins, it retains good density throughout the middle while at the same time retaining its soft textures. The silky smooth finish lingers on and on. While likely on plateau, there is plenty of fruit here to last for many more years. I previously underestimated the longevity of this wine. Well-cellared bottles should easily make it through the next decade. Drink now-2030.
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A gorgeous, perfectly mature LB Bordeaux. Concentrated with mature, complex fruit and loaded with secondary and tertiary notes of aged cedar, dried tobacco leafs and bell pepper. Elegant with a leanness that doesn't compromise forward, fleshy fruit. Can hold but really no reason to hold -- drink now and enjoy a great, mature Bordeaux.
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Post Tasting Wine Dinner (Brasserie Margeaux - Chicago IL): Lots of bold black fruit with powerful tannins that are softening gracefully. Still not perfectly harmonious to me. Some others liked this more than I did tonight, considering it their WOTN.
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A Bordeaux symphony. Delicate nose, with abundant sweetness, cedar, dry fruit, nuts and fine leather aromas. Dense palate, with generous fruit, caramel, chocolate and leather, perfectly balanced with menthol, licorice and subtle vegetal aromas. Long, silky finish. Wow.
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Perfect bottle and best after about an hour decant. Quite full for an '85 at this stage with incredible flavors of dark earth, tobacco, cedar and graphite minerals. Very silky and fine and layered throughout. Finishes long with good intensity and perfect aged Bdx nuttiness. Fully mature but will still go on for a decade or more.
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Thrillingly good. Wonderful balance, the warmth/richness of St Julien tempered by the correctness of the left bank and the structure of a brilliant wine. Will go on for decades to come.
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Bordeaux 10th Anniversary WIMPS (La Trompette, London): Lovely dense nose, more Pauillac than St J. Ripe, dense, lovely. Proper. Virile too. Oodles of energy. Must be one of the best 85s. As it warms and develops it becomes more St J on the nose, and the restrained richness of the vintage softens the masculine line. Just gorgeous. *****
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Joanne Bordeaux Trip 2018 (Bordeaux): (Limited Notes and no official scores, as this was blind tasting with Jean Hubert Delon.) As for the '85, it was simply amazing; a wine that is still maturing and in excellent form; dark, earthy, floral, and herbaceous in all the best ways with vibrant fruit and enveloping textures--amazing. I hope to be able to taste this again one day, because I believe there is still more to come on the path of its maturity.
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Ma dernière et meilleure bouteille avec le moins bon niveau (base neck)... Ouvert 15 minutes et bu dans la foulée. Très joli grenat foncé, brillant. Au nez, les arômes de cassis se mêlaient à ceux des violettes, du tabac. En bouche, une fine trame acide était présente dès la prise et sous tendait le vin pendant toute la durée, amenant de la fraîcheur. Un vin aristocratique, noble avec une belle longueur. 93-94
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This is the best bottle I've had of this, and I think it has finally reached its peak. Blackcurrent, plum and cedar dominate with a deep aromatic nose. On the palate the wine is fully mature with musty old leather underpinning the fruit, but still with a satisfying tannic bite to remind you what you are drinking. There is great depth and a lengthy finish. It benefits from time in the decanter, and should stay at this level for the next 2 to 3 years.
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Betty's BDay (Intercontinental DTLA): Paired perfectly with our 42 day dry-aged steak. Reminded me a bit of the 85 Brane Cantenac I had a while ago: loads of vegetal cab franc notes followed by charcoal and a hint of black fruit. Excellent acidity on the palate and still showing a serious tannic streak on the finish. A tad wild for my tastes, but very nice.
Also, I'm not sure how seriously to take the vintage: this bottle had been recorked at the chateau at some point, so who knows what it had been topped up with.
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This is the best bottle of my case of 85 LLC. Like the 82 vintage, 85 has lots of bottle variation. The classic claret nose jumps out of the gate from the decanter with smoke, tobacco, olives, tea, ash, earth, dark fruit and cedarwood. Palate has endless power with the smootheness of the 85 vintage. The fruit is sweet and precise with a long finish. This is drinking beautifully. 93-94
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I've had several very good but not great bottles of this and for some reason felt strangely compelled to keep on trying. And tonight's bottle vindicated all of that; it's absolutely superb! Just ravishing; a head-turning and supremely classical nose of currant, cedar, pencil, funk, sous-bois, leather with lavender potpourri accents. Such a richly fruited nose, really. So slightly volatile which makes it a bit wild, but in a fun way. Very rich and long in the mouth. Compelling. Leoville las Cases takes forever to come round and this one has; as a result, this and the 90 are the ones to drink at the moment rather than the buttoned-up 82 and 86s. 96-7.
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This was a vertical tasting over dinner. I love Las Cases and fell its a tremendous value that in the best years approaches Grand Crus but is generally excellent and enjoyable. all of these wines fit the bill from the the sublime 82 and 90 downward. My ranking was as follows 82 90 86 89 83 96 85 95
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Two bottles decanted for 2 hours before serving vs. a similarly decanted 1985 Ducru Beaucaillou. A darker and more opaque deep ruby colour than the Ducru ‘85. Nose is deep, quite closed, intense pencil lead, opens up with time in the glass but still young and quite closed. Palate is absolutely drop dead gorgeous... dense, black fruits, extremely resonant inside the head even before you swallow. Dense and still half-inky but with nicely mellowed tannins. Extremely heady and deep... very long and reverberant. Young compared to the Ducru ‘85 which was a pristine ex-chateau bottle. 94 for now but better in 10 years’ time. This has greatness ahead of it....but not yet.
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The last bottle was more youthful, more reticent, yet more complex. This bottle holds nothing back - its nose leaps from the glass. Very prototypically Left Bank; pencil lead, cedar, raspberry, red currant, smoke. Beautiful poise, but one can't help but wonder if it's drying out a bit. The fruit density here isn't what it was, putting it in such very stark contrast with the still-reserved 1982 and 1986. Of course, this may have not been representative. Are other bottles more lively?. Regardless, so very St Julien. Not as spicy/floral as I recall from the last time around. If most bottles are like this, drink them now.
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Ausdrucksstarke Nase. Mittelstarker Körper. Sehr harmonisch gereifter Cabernet mit langem Abgang. Der Wein ist zugänglich, weich und wird von einer schönen Säure getragen. Zeigt seine Herkunft St.Julien auf eindrückliche Weise. Es ist keine Eile geboten. 96/100
Expressive nose. Medium body. Very harmoniously matured Cabernet with a long finish. The wine is accessible, soft and is carried by a nice acid. Shows its origins St.Julien in an impressive way. There is no hurry. 96/100
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Such a chance to taste a beautiful 32 year old Las Cases. By the way, the label did not carry an indication of alcolhol %
Nice ruby bright transparent. No sign of age at all, despite disintegrating cork!!
Non overly pronounced bouquet bit forrest not explicit.
Beautiful taste and continuing to fill. Loooong and fresh. Round. Full of fruit. No signs of age. Sweet of fruit very strong but nicely adopted. Surprisingly dominant cherry with light touch of background pepper. Possibly lacking a bit of tension, but incredibly pleasant. Fantastic experience.
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Medium ruby on appearance, pretty healthy for a 32-year-old bordeaux.
When it is out of bottle, the nose is dominated by barnyard funk, blackcurrant and prune notes.
In the 1st hour of decanting, plumy and prune notes are rather overwhelming.
In the 2nd - 3rd hour of decanting, blackcurrant, cedar and earthy notes start to develop and prune notes start to recede.
In the 4th hour of decanting, the wine starts to achieve a balance of primary and tertiary flavours. The nose is highly attractive and graceful. The acidity remains refreshingly high, tannins are ripe yet high. The flavours start to become more subtle and more well integrated.
It's quite a nice wine now, but I think it has potential of reaching its peak in 5-10 years.
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Wow. So bright and alive, a perfect blend of mature cassis, cedar and red berries with the vigour of youth.
Quite a fantastic experience, a heavily saturated cork, heavy with the wine its absorbed over the last 32 years. A colour that does not give much away, dark and serious. The nose was quite spectacular, leather, wood and liquorice. The pallete as stated, red berries, cassis, cedar, smoke and perfect sweetness and drive, balanced and to be honest, cracking aged claret. Bravo.
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Last bottle of a half case. Lovely complexity and balance throughout. The hint of green I had noted previously had finished. Is it past its peak. I doubt it but would doubt it will improve from here.
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So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodnight: A Night to Remember (Capitalle Grille, Mpls, MN): Very dark red/purple color. Slow ox for 2 hours, drank 1 glass over 2 hours. On a night where the shining stars were the wines from the 50's and 60's, this was nearly as magical, and on any other night might have been WOTN. A beautiful wine that is maybe, just maybe ready to go. Lovely dried herbs and spice on the nose, tobacco leaf, lively, cherry and cassis, mint, an elixir of silken texture that is actually almost delicate in its elegance. The is one of the best LLC's I've had. 95+ to 96pts.
Addendum: First of all, I need to get Chablis28 to stop copying my paper, cheater...J. It is amusing, because I didn't read his note til after I wrote mine, only to find our impressions so similar. Funny.
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On any other night this is a WOTN but how could it ever compete with a '55 Haut Brion, '59 Latour, '61 Montrose and a 61 GPL??? And still this wine, while seemingly youthful at only age 32 :), rose to the occasion and held its own in such rarified company. Elegant, balanced, caressing; dark cherry, mineral, cedar and tobacco leaf. Terrific cigar box, earthy dark fruit on the nose. This was a great btl of wine! Paired wonderfully with great steaks at Capital Grill.
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Bordeaux 1985 horisontal (Oslo): Ren, elegant og tiltalende på duft Deilig stram frukt - mange fine år igjen her. Helt nydelig presis vin. Fin kurve og sitter meget lenge med suberbe faste tanniner. 93-94p
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This has really come around and is showing all its fabulous charm. Concentrated, deep, fresh and juicy, with freshness, crisp, red fruits, tobacco, cedar and tobacco leaf, the fruit in the finish shows a freshness and purity that makes you want to keep drinking it. It took a while to come around but it was worth the wait. This could be the best LLC for current drinking today.
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Supersmooth og lekker med typiske toner av solbær, lær, sigarkasse, og cedertre. Flott frukt, en solid munnfull av modne mørke bær, smak følger duften med søtlige solbærtoner og duse vaniljetoner. Meget pent utviklet. I blant glemmer man hvor godt bordeaux kan være, dette er suverent.
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A classic nose of blackberry and cedar and cigar box, the wine really develops in the glass eventually giving a deep concentration of fruit and sweet tannin on the palate before completing with a good long finish. Drinking at its peak there is no reason not to consume this now.
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50th Birthday Winefoolishness (Chicago, IL): An elegant Bordeaux. Full nose has mature cherry fruit layered with green pepper, tobacco leaf and herbs. Palate is light-to-medium bodied with good mature fruit. Nice complex array of flavors. Elegant style and well proportioned. Drinking in harmony and offering a lot of pleasure.
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50th Birthday Celebration Dinner with Wine (Hughes House - Chicago IL): Black currant and cherry with faint green bell pepper hints that added some intrigue. Very good balance with elegant tannins. Good concentration. Drinking beautifully. Probably no upside from here, but lots of life remaining.
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Ex-Chateau perfect bottle. A transparent and charming wine at its peak. The nose and palate show the complexity from left bank. I wish I have 2 cases so I can drink every quarter for 6 years. I love 85 left bank!!!
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Opened for 30-60 minutes before drinking. Got better with time but lacked any punch or complexity. Very drinkable and a little more came out over the evening but would definitely drink this now
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Really tremendous nose, with a big cedary blast and loads of herbs and tobacco. Good balance, resolved tannins (surprisingly so, given we're talking a LLC that's "only" 30 years old), and a middleweight palate with sweet, old fruit. Despite the only light grip, this has plenty of spine to go longer, but I don't see much upside here, so recommend drinking this very fine, if not head-spinning, Bordeaux.
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Right off the bat, there is an aromatic explosion that nearly overwhelms the senses: leather, dark cherries, cedar, violets and green tobacco all compete for attention. Medium-bodied, with a solid core of mostly dark fruit, minerals and hints of earth and mint. A long, complex finish is capped off with good acidity and gentle tannin. This is the best 1985 Las Cases that I have drunk -- of course, this is my last bottle! Fully mature, but will last for another 10+ years without a problem. Perhaps lacking the density of the 1986, but better balanced and more enjoyable to drink...at least to me. Great stuff! 96.
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Long and balanced. Complex and constantly changing in decanter and glass over two hours. Lead, mint, flowers, earth and red berries. Peppery finish with a hint of spice and cedar. Just a hint of tannin left in this. Silky smooth and so elegant. Perfect balance. Still going strong. Drink 2016-2024.
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From recent ex-Château release, the 1985 Léoville-Las Cases might be my favorite vintage for this estate. A beautifully pure and extrovert bouquet of creamy cassis, blackberry, pencil shavings and a classy framing of new oak. On the palate the wine is youthful, vibrant and supple, with great depth, concentration and length, and still underpinned by a chassis of fine, detailed tannins.
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The '85 Leoville Las Cases shows a beautifully elegant nose of blackberry currant, cedar, tobacco and green pepper that lead way to a smoky, black cherry driven flavor profile that is fully resolved and carries good acidity as it lingers on the finish.
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Stood up for weeks, and decanted for sediment. Clean cork. Consumed over two hours. A favorite house and anniversary year. A virtually perfect bottle. I squawk about holding wine too long, but here is an example that defines the other side of the coin. Still showing lush fruit as tannins are mostly integrated. Wonderful composure and acid, which I too often ignore with Bordeaux. Fun and fabulous! Drink (!) or hold 5 more years.
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85 Leoville Las Cases- decanted for two hours, nose had dark fruit, ash, green pepper and ink. Palate has a bold structure with deep black fruit. It lacks the smoothness of many 85 bordeaux that I enjoy. Very high acidity. This is still too young with 15 more years in its drinking window.
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Bought ex chateau this past spring. Not as evolved (or as good) as my bottles cellared since release. Fill high neck and cork pristine with only slight red staining at the wine end. Very little sediment. Could this wine have been reconditioned at the chateau, or even late bottled? Wines this old don't have a cork that looks like this. That being said, beautiful fragrant nose typical of the great wines of the '85 vintage. Vibrant fruit and acidity on the palate and a lingering finish. Well balanced and tasting young.
This shows why great Bodeaux is a v different exoerience. Light, savoury with a hint of green on the nose. Wonderful complex and as listed below unbelievable length. Tied against Margaux 94 and this is better if you are going to auction!
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The usual powerful cedar and tobacco nose. With air this still develops great persistancy but seems to have less of the mouthfeel I loved in this wine 5yrs ago (see my previous CT notes). The wine was from my cellar but slightly too warm to show its merits fully. Still has by far the biggest LLC nose. The charcol and sweet black cherry finish was still there with air, but I just wonder if this is finally beginning to fade. Will need to try another bottle at home soon to be sure, but based on this I think best to drink now to 2025 with 2hr double decant...
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Belle bouteille, niveau mid neck. Bouchon très imbibé mais sorti d'une seule pièce. Couleur grenat avec reflets orangés. Non carafé mais ouvert 90 minutes avant dégustation. 1er nez très varié, vanille, cèdre, cassis, tabac, puis écurie et finalement sang, fer. En bouche, belle attaque vive, bonne acidité, mais manquait de fraîcheur globalement, tanins légèrement amers, assez bonne longueur. Cette bouteille était moins bien, sur le déclin.
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Of course not bad at all, but no wow, because the peppers were too obvious in the bouquet. I also found the wine too hefty and edgy, with very firm tannins. Is it unripeness, is it a bad period in its evolution, or simply a bottle out of balance?
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Opened two bottle. One of them was corked. It took 2 hours in the decanter to open up the wine. It was younger than the 85 lynch bage. The nose was a bit restrained initially. It then opened up with tar, sous bois, green peppers, leather and soil. Palate had leather and good amount of fruit. But the nose and palate did not really fully express itself. Need to revisit it. Could be an imperfect bottle.
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Has developed a rather austere note over the last few years but still is a classic old fashioned Bordeaux with a good balance of fruit and somewhat harsh tannins. Good long finish, it needs to be consumed over the next 5 years.
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Chateau-reconditioned bottle. Decanted for a couple of hours then consumed over the next two. Perfect condition and still a very robust if lightening colour. Nose is classic Las Cases cedar shingles, cigar box and graphite with some lovely blackcurrant fruit and is in full bloom (unlike the 1982). The palate follows the nose and is a delight. Reasonable resonance and reverberance on the finish. A feminine vintage of Las Cases that is currently drinking at its apogee and will do so for at least a few more years.
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Smoke, tar and dry tobacco led on this bottle, followed by white pepper and old leather, then ending with black raspberry. Refined but not overly robust on the palate. Decanted 45 minutes, consumed over the following two hours. Ex-chateau bottle
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Yummy! Very well balanced mature Bordeaux. Double decanted for about an hour and drank over next 3 hours. Showing some faint fruit early then quickly shifting to classic earthy tobacco flavor. Showing great. Good for at least another 5-10 yrs.
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November 2015 - Copenhagen On a 1985 vertical of 16 wines. For me Is this amoung the top 5 Bordeaux 85 !!! Still massive, as Barton quite masculin, but even deeper dark fruit, tobaco, classy bouquet who tells you that this is great terroir, with almost no sign of age, a wine in balance, and with an aftertaste with last more than 1 min, after 30 years it still look like it is 8-10 years. In top five this year, and in the top three of Las Cases in the 80' together with 82 and 86, who is best of the 3 only time will tell .... . Drink 2015-2030
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°°° Bordeaux 1985 °°° (Emmen, Switzerland): Intensive quite deep red. Nose of coffee, leather and red berries. Powerful, sweet and long. Feels much younger than its vintage. Superb LLC. Drink now over the next 1-2 decades
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Another cracking good bottle. However, some evidence of heat from internally ingrained sediment at the shoulder, although level excellent and source was "ex chateau 2015", from Farr. Cork saturated to the top, also consistent with some heat. I am beginning to doubt the worth (and the extra cost) of ex chateau stock. Fabulous deep colour, intense tertiary flavours, no sweetness, a very senior wine. But earlier bottles from this case were better, if not by much.
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85 Claret (La Trompette, London): Blind. Significantly darker and denser. A little more austere on the nose. Lead and blackcurrant. Still some tannin. Quite mineral with some tobacco. Very dense and brooding with an underlying richness that's still slightly suppressed by the relaxing structure. Very impressive, and this bottle needs a little longer. Long and complex. LLC? *****
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Like the Leoville Barton quite dark in colour for the age, a bit brighter and glowing even. Great nose, elegant and understated with notes of mint, tobacco, dark fruit, spices. Slightly more depth than Leoville Barton. Same on the palate - more intensity and concentration, good texture with round tannins, good acidity, plenty of fruit. Elegant, fresh and very long. Has years of life left in it. Just ahead of L. Barton my WOTN, the group's number 2. 94-96
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Courtesy of Parcival. Deep garnet/crimson core with slight bricking. Opens with a terrific Bordeaux funk, followed by what I refer to as roasted red bell pepper- something I often find in St. Julien and a quality that I absolutely love and by no way use it to mean under-ripe Cabernet. Aromas of lavender, red currants and rose petals, followed by green tobacco and spice box. Very well-integrated at this stage, this is simply elegant and exceptionally balanced. Flavors of red currants, roasted plum, saddle leather, dried herbs and ripe red berry fruit. The finish lasts over a minute, which is the point I stopped looking at my watch. This particular bottle was caught at its absolute peak. Many thanks to Parcival for sharing this beauty.
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Bordeaux in Bern (Bern, Switzerland): Very mineral and iron on first impression. With some swirling you get the textbook lead pencil aromas, tobacco, mineral, graphite. This is pretty much on point. Perhaps it is not the best 1985 LLC that I have enjoyed, but it was awfully powerful and pleasurable in that brawny and brooding style of Las Cases.
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Tasted blind. Ample black raspberry and ripe red plum have this come off as younger than it is. Notes of dry earth, tobacco, bell pepper and pencil shavings. Surprisingly, slightly underperformed versus the 85 Barton on this occasion.
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Ex chateau 2015. Good fill & cork. With Simon & Di on the eve of their trip to the Far East. Decanted 3 hours. Sublime limpid deep colour. Tears. Delicious nose and mature palate, some sweetness but the fruit now relegated to a subordinate role. A most pleasing wine; some very fine, smooth tannins appear after an hour or so, and then meld in. None of the LLC hardness, just a delight.
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30 years of 1985 Bordeaux at The Papies (The Papies, Elizabeth St, London): Double decanted and left in bottle for a good 2 hours till we came round to serving it. This was definitely not a characteristic 1985 LLC. We have been lucky to try this wine on a few occasions over the last 4 years and true bottles of this are stand outs 97s and 98s. Not this one though. felt like a 90-91 wine but we will not rate today as we feel its not a Par bottle. Gladly we have 3 more that are ex-chateau so hopefully those will sing.
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Slightly musky out of the bottle. Lovely cedar and earthy aromas wafts from the glass. On the palate, the wine showed sous bois, graphite and leather along with plum and some cassis. The wine still had some grippy tannins and can certainly keep for longer but is very delicious at this point. 92 - 93 pts
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Wine Group New Year's Eve Dinner hosted by Aniko. 5 wines from 1985, thirty years ago. Nose of graphite, plum, and earth, more of the same on the palate, seemed closed down, opened very slowly but did not improve the score, big body, long finish. My score-tied for third.
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Cedar, red cherry and cranberry, then cassis and blackberry aromas, before a full-bodied mouthful of the same, with a refreshing lift mid-palate before a long, rich finish. LLC doesn't get much better than this.
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This was perfect tonight. After several bottles over several years, this has never been better. No decant was required. Medium intensity garnet color. Deep intensity on the nose; black current, tobacco, other black fruits, forest floor, Bordeaux barnyard aroma. Palate matches the aroma. Low acid; well-integrated, virtually nonexistent tannins. Exceptional length; 60-90 seconds. Tonight, this may have been the best wine I've ever had.
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From Magnum. Absolutely superb nose of dark fruit, earth, tobacco and graphite. Fully open and mature. Just textbook left bank Bordeaux. Sweet, fresh and vivacious on the palate. Great balance and perfect grip on the long finish. Delicious.
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4 Days 4 Great Events and lots of Parker Points; 11/14/2014-11/18/2014 (Paris & London): Double decanted for about 2 hours and observed over a good hour. Needs decanting. Side by side with Cos 90( Papies 96) and mouton 1986 (Papies 95). Our favourite of the 85s did not fail us albeit not the best performance we have had from it. Still healthy and marching on albeit the age does lend itself to bottle variation. Open on the nose, well developed but still healthy with a good core of fruit. Herbal side to it, leather and as time went by developed a smoky/ roast meat side that added a new dimension. As always an excellent wine. Good life ahead of it too but better drink some sooner than later.95
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Similar to prior bottles, mature LLC, still youthful and balanced with a more pronounced richness than prior bottles. Still no sign of the green pepper and herbal elements common with the 1985 vintage.
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Bouteille et bouchon en parfaite condition. Into neck. Non carafé mais ouvert 3 heures avant dégustation. Couleur grenat foncé, quasiment sans traces d'évolution. Nez d'abord retenu puis s'ouvrant sur les fruits rouges puis le cassis. En bouche, le vin est à la fois velouté et rectiligne, avec une bonne trame acide, mais avec une très légère verdeur aussi. La finale est moyennement longue. Sur la base de cette bouteille, le 85 est clairement au-dessous de 90 qui possède une finesse et une distinction sans pareil, plus proche de 78 mais avec davantage de réserve de marche.
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From 750: At my wine group's blind vertical tasting of LLC. My WOTN among such legends as the '82, '86, '90, and '00. May not have a real long life ahead, but this baby is the most ready to drink of all. The nose in gorgeous complex and forthcoming. Fills the room with a glorious bouquet upon opening. Palate is fruity and well balanced. Easy wine to like and understand. Nice acidity. Long finish. Drink now, but will hold.
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From 750: Another beauty from the under appreciated 1985 vintage. Fragrant Cab nose of black fruits springs from the bottle upon opening, marred only by a slight vegetal component. Palate mirrors the nose. Fill at bottom neck. Wonderful balance, and endless finish. I believe this wine, where well stored is just entering an extended plane of maturity. No hurry to drink up, but if you have a few, pop one now! A candidate, along with Margaux and perhaps Latour for wine of the vintage.
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Tried a 30min double-decant and cool down instead of 2-3hr decant... OMG it was wonderful. Initially light it gained weight with air. Glorious cedar and cigar tobacco nose. But the mouthfeel was off the charts; an almost oily (more than creamy) character and pure velvet on the tongue. Impeccable balance and lingering (albeit not particularly intense) charcoal and sweet black cherry finish. Drank the whole bottle myself over 3hrs. I debated whether this was 96 (probably) or 97pts, but gave it the extra point because of the sheer balance and class.
Edit: after drinking this for 2.5hrs (small pours from the bottle, on my own) there is a sudden surge of intensity - massively broad in the mouth and a huge finish. Wowzer. Definitely deserves the 97pts. Glad I've got 2 more cases left.... This will drink for ages!
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2nd bottled opened this evening after the 1st one corked - always a nervous moment , hoping the 2nd is not in a similar state . Anyway no fear - just beautiful and drinking very well .
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Opened, decanted for like 2+ hours. Red fruit nose, clean youthful on the Jose. Feels a bit soft but there is tanin in the back bone. Well balanced, easy to drink but still developing. Nice bottle
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Bordeaux 1985 as main theme (@ Bottles; Sas van Gent, Netherlands): A lot of cassis and other dark and red forest fruits, lead pencil and smoke in the still youthful bouquet. Everything comes back on the palate plus beautiful acidity and mature but still powerful tannin. This bottle is so much better than the one I tasted in 2012. A bottle in this condition can probably last into the 2020’s. 96 for tonight.
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Nice deep color, youthful, with tinges of cinnamon at the rim. Shy nose, notes of leather, damp earth and dark fruit. On the palate, tremendous vinosity and structure, yet elegant, silky, perfectly balanced, with very pleasant dark fruit. Shortish. This bottle had a nice fill but saturated cork and signs of old dried seepage under the capsule, and it took 10 hours of slow oxidation to blow off faint sulfur and moldy notes. Superb wine.
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Initially slow-o'd for 3hrs, which wasn't enough, then decanted about 2hrs and drunk throughout evening. 2hrs is my standard decant for an 85 St Julien - although they are soft, they still have plenty of tannin (hence why they are lasting so well). Perfect fill and cork, bottle from my cellar. Not quite as aromatic as some 85 LLCs I've had, but this IS an 85 St Julien so obviously has a great nose - here a bit more mushroom and earth than just the usual almost over-powering cedar. Benefited later in the evening from a cool-down (a trick to thicken the wine and re-release the aroma as it warms in the glass). Still shows as a particularly feminine vintage of LLC, but my favourite stage was at the 2hr mark when the mouthfeel was especially good (almost like the 85 Cheval - that lovely and sensual velvety texture and truffle that perfectly counters the tannins) after which it started to show far more lead than typical 85 St Julien cedar. This bottle was more of a St Julien / Paulliac mix than previous bottles. It was also much 'fresher' both in terms of evolution and a detectable acidity lending it balance. Other recent bottles (ex-chateau) have been much more plush. As usual, the wine never faded in the glass all evening - I'm still drinking the last few glasses now (9hrs after the bottle was opened). This will easily cellar for another 15yrs and I believe it will improve further since there is definitely enough density and acidity. Impressive, but this bottle didn't grab me as others have. Frankly I think it was just too fresh. I've been scoring this wine in the 95-97 range; if this is the least enjoyable I've had in a while, then it isn't bad going... still a GREAT WINE, and perhaps my 3rd favourite on average from all my 85s - after Haut Brion and Cheval Blanc (neck-and-neck with Conseillante and just ahead of Magdelaine and Lynch).
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Lunch at the brilliant Overture restaurant in the Cape winelands. Decanted just before serving
Colour deep, clear crimson/garnet with slight browning at the edges. Wonderful nose of cinnamon, , plums and blackberries. Palate to match: lush and inviting - beautiful black fruit, raisins with a touch of earthiness. Fine tannic structure,silky smooth and good length. Not as good as the Cheval Blanc in this vintage but not too far behind. Excellent/outstanding
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Leoville Las Cases that is still young at close to 30 years of age is not all that surprising. But this is from an early drinking vintage! With an hour of air, the wine started singing its song of tobacco, cigar box, cassis and truffle. Concentrated, fresh and long, this traditional wine has another two decades of life, or more. This is the longest lived wine of the vintage.
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Colore scuro e giovanissimo. Naso molto elegante, con frutto concentrato, graffite, tabacco biondo. Note vegetali praticamente assenti. Anche in bocca è giovanissimo, vellutato, buona densità, con finale succoso e minerale.
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VEO tasting - Mature Claret (Restaurant Bordewijk, Amsterdam, NL): Attractive, fully mature, lively, clean, well-structured, very feminine style for a modern LLC, classic Pauillac (sic!) profile, pure and precise, richer style than the 1970, wonderful complexity, lovage, floral, ripe fruit.
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Amazing nose, super complex: Spices, mushrooms, great red fruit, ripe - chocolate, wood, pretty moorish. Quite amazing on the palate, sour cherries, red berries, great acidity, no tannins, really very long, exceptional balance and structure, amazing, drink now-2017.
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My wine of the night; also allowed to breathe for about an hour prior to serving; the nose, very elegant, fragrant, and intense aromas of wild berries, dark cherries, fresh mints, lillies, roses, and violets; the palate, complex, creamy, fruity, full-bodied, juicy, mellow, and velvety yet still a bit tannic; the finish, very juicy and long, plus some unresolved tannins; very delightful to drink this one at the end of tonight's tasting event; 94-95 points at this stage; probably still a few years away from its peak but very drinkable and enjoyable already.
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opened after we'd had the wonderful '78 Figeac and this seemed restrained after that wine . Dark red and still appeared and tasted like a much younger wine with a long way to go . Next bottle we'll decant well in advance and see how it develops over time .
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drank with an 85 gruaud and both bottles were outstanding. preferred the gruaud early in the evening but the las cases was the winner after the 3 hour mark. this bottle was better than the last one.
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Wow...what a treat, opened by Greg as we gathered for Easter at our next-door houses in Thailand. No detailed notes but this was exquisite...... drinking absolutely at its zenith now and an absolute delight. To my mind, this is a feminine year for Las Cases and it exhibits a gorgeous velvety sultriness balanced by the more typical pencil lead and graphite-precise upright Prussian Hussar character that is always present in this wine. Beautiful...... I couldn't argue if others felt this deserves a higher score. If you buy your wine to drink it, anyone buying 2010 or 2009 (or even 1996) instead of this.... is nuts.
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From 375. Mature disc. Svelte, sophisticated, perfumed nose. Obvious class. Currants, oak, Indian spices; elegant but still with lots of punch. Stylistically, this really fits the mold of the '95 which is surprising given the differences in the character of the vintage. The nose isn't really jumping out of the glass here; is it ready?
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20 Vintages of Château Léoville Las Cases: A bit shut down, metal and fruit, but blossoms in the glass, black currants and minerals in the mouth as well. After about 1 hour this was an open and wonderful claret.
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Léoville Las Cases Grand Tasting (At Kim Aa's place, Ulvøya, Norway): Dark ruby, light brick red rim. Blackcurrants and blackberries on the nose, leather, cigar box. Wonderful structure, really complex. Not as tight as the '82 and '86, but smooth and velvety, drinking great now
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Monthly Tasting Group HWS #074; Bordeaux: St. Julien (By BS): Dark garnet red. A beautiful and luxurious, mature bouquet with sweet spices and a touch of barnyard. On the palate luxurious as well, some chocolate and silky soft tannin. Beautifully mature and completely ready now. This bottle was close to the end of its maturity stage. 91
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Beyond a Birthday dinner! (The Papies, Elizabeth St, London): Another masterful performance by this amazing wine. And for lovers of well aged classic bordeaux like us this is probably as good as it gets. Decanted for 2 hours and definitely helped develop the wine. The colour shows its age but u forget that the minute you smell it. The nose is as classic as it gets, herby, leather, earthy/mushroom notes and cigar box. On the palate it is well aged with good balance of fruit and secondary notes. Full of life and with silky tannin. We could go on for a long time here. Simply wonderful. 96-98
I have always liked this wine and popped the cork on what appears to be the last of nearly 2 cases that I've had. This was OK, but I've had stunning bottles of this wine. This bottle had a complex nose. Excellent mouthfeel and flavors. Smooth, well integrated and a long delicious finish. Tasted alongside an 86 Ducru that it blew away. This is holding its own. I purchased all of my bottles within a few years of release, but from a variety of sources and I don't recall if the better bottles were sourced from the same place.
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Due to some talk about this wine on another thread, I just had to pop one of these. Perhaps the longest living wine of this venerable vintage, this is still packed and stacked. Though I may still prefer the mystical flavor profile of 85 Lynch, this 85 LLC speaks of place. Wafting aromas of saddle leather, moist tobacco, damp earth, plum, cassis, graphite, and pencil - this immediately is identified as left bank Bordeaux. My fading olfactory capability prevents me from nailing it as St Julien, but younger tasters should be able to tag it. Palate is very rich and similar in taste to the nose, but I would add notes of sour cherry and a hint of tar. Completely resolved with a beautiful mouthfeel that peels away in layers, this wine exemplifies why we are all so particular to ageing and storage. Complete winner! 95+ Pts
Tobacco, thin but rich and elegant. Feminine, much longer finish than LLC 1990. Very 1985 and very St Julien (Pierre Graffeuille of LLC seconded this). Held up in glass better than 1990 LLC. This wine is NOT about to fall away. Great aromatics and new saddle leather. For me, the best LLC to drink now and over next 5yrs. Get more...
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Stunning, eye opening wine. Light in body when first opened and showing very mineral at first, pencil lead, fresh wood, earthy smells. fleshes out and blossoms beautifully. There is richness of dark dry cassis fruit, and it is viscerally pleasing and lovely. The minerals remain prominent too, and the wine articulates itself so clearly, is is so stunningly balanced, there is so much finesse. A very fine wine, inspiring.
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Drank over three hours. Did not decant. Another good bottle. Very pungent and funky old Bordeaux nose but with plenty of sweet fruit. More red and black fruit on the palate. This bottle was slightly rougher on the finish than prior examples.
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Leoville Las Cases 2004 > 1982, with Michael Schuster (Bordeaux Index, London): Once again this wine mesmerised us and was easily the WOTN among the vertical of LLC. The nose on this wine! Open and pours out of the glass, an elegant mixture of floral, herbacious ( the cabernet franc!) , cedar and earth. Well round, very much alive and vibrant with good silky tannin. Long finish with lots of fruit. A great LLC full of elegance and balance and probably at its best at the moment. We can go on and on here but to put it simply a solid 98!
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Deep dark ruby. Sweet cassis and charred cedar with a hint of black currant leaf. Rich, ripe juicy fruit is highlighted by refreshing acid. Abundant, very fine-grained tannins. Long, elegant and classy with blackberry and spice on the long finish.
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This was a star tonight; best bottle we've had yet. Did not require a decant. Medium-plus intensity garnet color. Beautiful intense aroma of leather, black currant, nutmeg, and the signature Bordeaux barnyard. Perfect on the palate. Flavor characteristics match the nose perfectly. Medium intensity on the palate; extremely soft tannins; low acid. The bottle age and the muted tannins allow fascinating secondary and tertiary characteristics to shine through. Medium length. This was just beautiful. Probably has a few years left, but it won't get any better. Drink up.
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Fully mature at 27 years old, cedar and gravel, quintessential Saint-Julien, 1985 charm married to typical LLC backbone, lovely meaty flavours, very good length. A classic. Now - 2020.
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Bordeaux WIMPS (The Ledbury, London): Popped and poured as a backup for a flawed wine. Ripe, rich blackcurrant, complemented by a modest cedar note. Right at the start of its drinking window--primary, with a bit of tannin still interfering. Others at the table gleefully pronounced this first-growth quality. Maybe, but I'd need to see it with at least two hours of air if not another 5-10 years in the bottle.
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Leoville Las Cases - Vertical Tasting (Le Sommelier, Copenhagen): Black currant (shrub) and sewer nose with a quite intense cabbage note but not in a bad way. Also a little soy note. Juicy black currant fruit with solid acidity and the texture is almost creamy. Precise and sharp wine. A really nice and mature wine. 91-93p
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As they said about the late great Italian tenor, Giuseppe Di Stefano, "Ultimi dei grande" - last of the great ones! Is this the last of the great 1985 Bordeaux? Perhaps, but what a curtain call! What a wonderful vintage and what a wonderful Las Cases. The aromatics filled the room upon cork extraction and never relinquished. I have always adored the perfume of 1985, and along with Lynch Bages, this Las Cases is right at the top. Wafting aromas of tobacco, wet soil, cassis, iodine, and very delineated pencil fill the nose. The palate really boasts rich fruit with cherry and cassis, followed by gun steel, flint, tobacco, earth, slate, and intense pencil. Velvet in the mouth with layers that peel away while unraveling the great complexity of this Las Cases. At peak for some time now, this wine posseses the fruit, tannin, and acidity to give pleasure for quite a few more years. Bravo! 95 + Pts
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This is the best example of this famed chateau for current drinking. Filled with ripe cassis,tobacco, earth and spicy aromatics, coupled with concentration of fruit and elegant tannins, this shows great today. With ample tannin and structure to age, this will only get better. The long, powerful, cassis filled finish lasts close to 40 seconds.
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Corked. (82,85& 89 SbS) 85 corked, 82 was soft and velvety and I loved the texture so it was my favorite but the 89 seemed like a fresher bottle with nice dark notes that promised more good days ahead. A bit of the 89 left in bottle overnight (no gas) was even better the next day.
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From a really big bottle... this was a very plausible wine, showing classic Bordeaux flavors and what not... most everyone (when not fighting over FB) enjoyed it.
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NB- This wine was drunk on a very special night, so perhaps I'm giving it slightly more than it deserves...
Right out of the bottle, the wine was going 100MPH. Notes of sweet cinnamon, fleshy fruit, pitted and mashed plums and juice, herbs, anise and baked berries on the nose, while the palate is plush and still ripe, showing lots of that black fruit note, pie filling, sweet berries and spice. Stunning. Tannins are still there but sleek and polished, they act as a guide and sherpa instead of a boxers punch (which, some of these '85s can still have). After two hours in the decanter, the wine really blossomed with a cocoa note coming through and the minerals beginning to mesh. Acid is still sharp and the wine is fantastically perfumed. I want to simply sit here and smell it, but with each taste it seems to get better and better. If you find these available for even a pseudo-reasonable price, I'd jump.
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Zachys Wine Dinner. Not decanted. Deep ruby. Very herbal nose, strong alcoholic wave at first. Then slight caramel. Faint cassis. Quite slim and watery, hints of bacon on palate. Residual tannins that edged out after 30 mins.
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Rupert's 1985 'Super Seconds' (The Medlar, London): Deep, densely fruited. Quite dark. Rich but nicely mineral with a lovely structure. Very impressive indeed. Opens up and oozes class though only near the start of it's window. The class act of the night. Guessed LLC. *****
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Four days later and all from memory. This is a wine I won't forget even if I have no where near a real-time note for a variety of reasons. Sourced from a hotel cellar I had a chance to buy at their acquisition cost. Mostly first and second growths stretching from '82 to '00. About 10 cases. I of course went to inspect and not being born yesterday carried a small thermometer with me. Walking into the cellar was like stepping into a blast furnace. Thermometer read 79 F. I almost cried. No one could say how long it had been that way, because they hadn't sold a bottle of this fenced-off high end stuff in a few years. I walked, but they gave me a bottle of this to try anyway. Color was excellent, no sign of browning or bricking. Wonderfully elegant nose like a left bank jewel box. Everything in perfect proportion, nothing baked or stewed. Really classy and delicious. Easily WOTY so far. No additional notes due to elapsed time.
I made another inquiry and they had sold the whole consignment to a local restaurant for half their acquisition cost. Now I did cry, but I'll never know if my bottle was some genetically endowed super temperature-resistant mutant or if maybe the temperature wasn't always as bad as the day of my visit. Odds are the restaurant will never disclose the conditions of sale to its patrons and mark-to-market. Or try to dump the whole lot into an over-heated Hong Kong auction where at least it will be better than if it were counterfeit. Or maybe not. Sigh.
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Excellent, just ripe and ready. Great red color, still quite intense and concentrated, barely any orange on the rim. Fantastic nose of red fruit, tobacco and cedar. In the mouth, feels so balanced, fruity and concentrated. Tannins still there but round and soft. No grassyness - which is key for me. Just the right amount of acidity to my liking. Great wine and fantastic value for money.
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Remarkable nose with lots of dark fruit. Surprisingly young body with some tannins left. Soft, almost silky palate but not very complex though. Long finish.
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Enjoyed on 10+ occassions. What a treat to drink right now. Perfectly mature, silky, perfectly balanced. Well developed nose of earth and dark fruit. Medium depth and finish. This is in a great spot and will not improve but is sure to hold for several years.
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Another Dinner with Greg & Sayo (Their House, Hong Kong): Color is deeply opaque black/red opening to faintly translucent at the rim. Nose is restrained and cool but with bracken trodden underfoot, pencil lead and graphite, definitely has a First -Growth finesse and hauteur to it. Palate is OMG classic mature Bordeaux...lean, very blackberry-driven, lean but not dilute, angular and precise. This has a gorgeous leanness to it...totally opposite from the velvety lushness of the Ch Palmer 1983 we drank before it...but just as good. A wonderful understated long resonance and some reverbatation inside the head. This is like walking down an English country lane in early autumn after a fresh rain shower. This is why St. Julien has such a special place in my heart, especially the 1985 vintage.
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Apparently not from a perfectly pristine bottle, but still a very good showing. Fresh red and dark fruits, savoury earthy and cedary notes with high toned floral/herbal accents on a finessed, medium weight frame. There's bright acidity underneath, tannins mostly resolved but the finish seems a little clipped.
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Earth, truffle, spice, stone, cassis, black cherry, tobacco, mineral, smoke and blackberry scents pop the moment the wine hits your glass. Full bodied and concentrated, the wine combines power with elegance, which is a difficult combination to find. The wine finishes with a long, cassis, spice, smoke and dark cherry sensation. This is probably at, or close to full maturity. There is no reason to hold this Bordeaux wine any longer.
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Lovely wine. Had this many times and coming to the end of my case. Opened and decanted. Started drinking after 30min. Very nice color, amazingly fruity nose, full of earthy notes, lead, tobacco. Great balance and so smooth. Lasted easily the 2h of the dinner so probably can pace myself for the rest of the bottles. Great to drink now and perhaps 2-3 years
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Very good bottle. Deep dark color, almost purple. Nose is a mix of cedar, earth, red fruits. Medium long length, wine was very well balanced. It is still getting better
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From 750, this still at age 26, tastes young to me. Fill well into neck. I have had bottles of this wine more evolved than this. Nice nose, great on the palate, and enough acidity to provide a nice finish. If this bottle is typical, the tannins suggest a long life ahead. The '78 remains my favorite Leoville Las Cases for current drinking.
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We love 85 st juliens. They are among the nicest bdx for the price from any vintage. And this las cases did not fail us. Needs a bit of decanting to open but then it has a lovely herbaceous nose with nice fruit notes. Smooth but alive and long on the palate and although not the powerhouse the 86 is this is a lovely wine. 95+. drinks very well at the moment
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Dinner at Greg & Sayo's (Hong Kong): Near-transparent deep crimson-purple colour just lightening to transparency at the meniscus. Nose is an immediate waft of damp loamy earth, heady cedar resin, deep rich spices, old packing boxes and lots of persistent red berries fruit. Palate is very heady and immediately resonant in the head from the first touch on the tongue.....soft, resolved tannins and still very racy vibrant acidity...very velvety tannins and hints of Ying Yeung (Chinese half tea/half coffee) with Carnation condensed milk. Lovely sweetness of fruit on the back end....still fresh red and black fruits. Gets sweeter and more fruity with extended time in the glass and with incense emerging. Medium length and resonance on the finish but enhanced by beguiling smoky incense. I would drink this up whilst it's still at its height....absolutely gorgeous.
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dark color in the glass, looked younger than the 90 gruaud larose next to it. full in the mouth, still showing some nice dark fruits and a lovely combo of coffee and lead. nice long finish , well balanced, like this wine/vintage
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Château Léoville Las Cases Back Vintage Dinner (Chambar Restaurant, Vancouver, BC): Youthful nose showing lots of leather, dark plum, black cherry, lead pencil, and prune. A touch sweet on the palate, with notes of cherry, black plum, coffee, and tons of spice. Tannins are resolved, with low acidity. Medium finish with notes of espresso and spice on the end. This is drinking well, but I would consider it towards the end of it's drinking window, and beginning it's slow decline.
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big dark almost still purple color. nose of dark fruits some earth and a bit of green pepper. this wine was very youthful and just got bigger and bigger in the glass. very good drink with a long life ahead of it
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Dinner at The Square. Deep garnet color deep dark earth fruit nose with a touch of pepper. Big and full in the mouth. Still quite young and lush. Bottles were in good condition. This wine as very appealing and still has much life to it. Table quaffed it!!!!
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Browning at the rim; dark garnet color; cork was soaked to the brim, but very little ullage. Well integrated oak, blackberry, blackcurrants, cedar, tobacco, earthiness, leather. Balanced and elegant wine. Very nice smooth finish. This wine has been drinkable since I first tasted it in 1991. It's at its apogee now and probably has a few years left. I've tasted this wine several times: throughout the nineties I scored it between 92-93; in the 2000s it seems to have transformed into a more elegant and refined wine and has scored higher. I think it's the last bottle - I mean in my cellar! Paired well with roasted tri-tip.
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Farewell Chertsey (Home): Really quite dense graphite and blackcurrant nose. Very left bank and suggestive of Pauillac. A nice mix of sweet fruit and classical restraint. Dense and quite deep. Opened up through the evening with the sweet-fruited aspect coming to the fore with a nice mix of spices. Vevy long and very lovely. *****
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Youthful colour. Full on, beautiful nose of farmyard, cassis, something earthy. Very intense on the palate but not blowsy, still gobs of fruit but fanning out on the very long finish into something savoury and full of promise. This will be delicious for another 10+ years, easily, and I would drink Mouton and Lynch-Bages from this vintage before this wine, which has greater intensity.
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Shama's LLC Offline (The Square, London): Lovely nose initially, classic, tobacco but more austere than my previous experience of this.Ah, fairly dry and woody, stripped palate with a good dash of cork on the finish. Shame.
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Balanced full throttle bordeaux - continued to change in glass. May get better still. 30min decant started to show. Great fruit and a pure expression of LLC.
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Finally decided to drink this one to ring in the new year, a gift from a friend for my 40th a few years ago. Color is very youthful deep dark ruby, with no bricking at the edges - very impressive given this is 25 years old.
Nose was terrific, rich, layered. Cassis, earthiness on the nose, and a touch of leather. Beautiful.
Flavors and texture matched the nose. Classic bordeaux complexity. Cassis most prominent, touch of cranberry, nice cedar, minerality and some tannins for structure. Nice balance of acidity too. Longish finish.
Delicious. Not sure it gets better from here, so no need to wait in my opinion. Would love to get more of this
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I was initially worried about the top shoulder fill and slightly messy cork on this magnum bottle, but fortunately this wine did not disappoint. Decanted 1 hour before dinner, this wine had a bright ruby colour and the most amazing floral perfume bouquet. On the palate, it was medium bodied with beautiful balance and vibrancy delivered in a thoroughly classic, no-nonsense St Julien style. There was a slight mineral bitterness in the finish, but this detracted little from the overall enjoyment factor.
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Simply wonderful. Perhaps it was luck or spending time shopping reliable sources but this bottle showed very little age. Color was fresh and vibrant with very little significant sign of bricking right through to the edge. I popped and poured after reading various notes on this wine but regret not giving it a few hours to breathe. This isn't a "fruit bomb" with a "60 second finish". This is a very slender and sexy St Julien that has plenty of backbone to keep it sideways for years to come. If you have bottles, open them for a while and let them breathe. If you have enough, keep a few for another 10 or 15. This will continue to drink nicely and likely only better than it does today as the firm tannins continue to melt and give way to the very delicate and delightful tangy fruit that lies underneath.
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Superb nose! Very complex with mature fruit and some smoke. Huge mature taste as well. Sweet minerals. Really very good! Nice acidity that, however, started disappearing after an hour in the glass.
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Complex nose with pencil shavings, red berries etc. Maybe a bit muted at beginning but after while improved. Good structure with long after taste. Good balance.
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Light-medium garnet, fades from orange to transparent towards the rim, glossy, low viscosity. Unassuming on the nose at first but opens up to a complex bouquet of subdued cassis, cedar, charred oak, earth, tobacco, meat and floral notes. Medium-bodied and warm on the palate with lively, almost sharp, acidity and intense fruit. The aftertaste is long and pure but not as exciting as the wine was as a whole. Not declining yet but I find Léoville Las Cases more suitable to drink with less age on it. Drink over the next few years. 93+/-
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Currants, cherry and raspberry fruit on the nose complemented by notes of liquorice, leather, florals, cigar, meat, bell pepper, cab-vegetals and oak toast. Vibrant fruit palate with medium weight and supple feel. Perfumy and meaty whole with liquorice, herbs and smoke towards the decent length finish. Didn't really hold up in glass over time. Very good but according to this bottle I wouldn't keep these much longer.
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I've had this bottle in my cellar for about 15 years, so the 25th anniversary of its vintage seemed to be a good time to drink it. Sadly, I feel that I'd left it too long. Clearly from a good pedigree, the nose had good fruit and earthiness, with treacle and toffee. The taste was less exciting, but quite palatable. Very interesting to taste. However, if you have any, then drink up.
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Dark maroon color with slight bricking. Aromatically complex, yet brooding and austere on the palate. Expressive lead pencil, cedar, and soil-inflected dark fruit. Beautiful nose. The palate shows deep, plummy fruit and plenty of soil and leathery flavors. Medium body with a long finish that is marred by a touch of citric sourness at the very end. This wine has begun to integrate what must have been a dense thicket of tannin during its first 25 years of life, and could probably still benefit from some more bottle age.
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Marine Room Leoville Las Cases Vertical Dinner (Marine Room Restaurant, La Jolla, CA): Decanted and consumed 1-2 hours later. Deep-to-opaque red/garnet robe with garnet rim. Quite intense and complex bouquet of saddle leather, blackberries, mushrooms and minerals. Medium-to-full-bodied on the palate, with medium acidity, light residual tannins and a supple mouth feel. Like the nose, the flavor profile is complex. The middle palate is full and the medium-length finish is smooth. This is another seductive '85 that is showing well. Drink now-12/15.
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Brought to dinner at Element in Princeton - The nose on this was like my last bottle with lots of cedar and flowers, really nice. The palate had lots of cherry fruits when opened, but it faded pretty quickly turning more towards tea and leather flavors. This bottle did not have as much weight as my previous bottle. Drank slightly past prime, but good mix with fowl.
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A good wine, very good balance and nice nose. Decante 1-1/2 ready to drink. Can hold up to 4 hours, the taste still keeps good. Fine and elegant. colour 5/5, clarity 5/5, aroma intensity 9/10, nose 12/15, nose complexity 13/15, smoothly 5/5, taste balance 15/15, taste complexity 19/20, finish 10/10 = 93 blackberry, blackcurrant, some floral smell, after decanting three hours some almond and hazulnut taste.
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Dark garnet color in the glass, clear hue throughout. Nose of herbs du Provence, black cherries, ash an a dash of smoke. Good, solid flavors of black berries and black cherries. Medium acidity, tannins and body. Drink or hold. The nose was just about through the roof. Seductive.
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This bottle was part of a stash that was frozen on the way to Australia a couple of decades ago, it certainly didn’t affect this bottle adversely as it was outstanding. Beautiful plum and berry fruits intermingling with lead pencil and cedar. It is plump and round in the mouth with good volume and lovely balance.
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I was initially concerned about this due to a well-saturated cork; afraid there may have been heat damage at some point. However, the wine was just lovely. It was perfectly balanced. Great Bordeaux nose, with some floral characteristics. Tannins have softened perfectly. Round and delicate on the palate. Still plenty of fruit. This wine is well into its drinkability window but still has many years left.
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This is usually a mindblowing bottle of Las Cases, but particular bottle was more a slow-burn. Reticent aromatics move to a smouldering palate of mineral and red cherry. More tannic and firm than I am used to. After an hour the nose did start to get more expressive, so the pop and pour at a restaurant was clearly a disservice to this wine.
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Allowed to air in bottle for 1 hour. Very slight bricking to the edge of glass. Luscious, embracing, aromas of dark fruit, cedar, spice with a graphite and pencil shaving secondary. With time in glass, a lovely, very floral, character began to take precedense. Lush mouth feel with the dark fruit and tobacco coming through. Well integrated tannins with a still very fresh acidity level, suggesting this wine is not ready to begin declining. A very delicate, enjoyable finish. Ready to drink. A very classy wine indeed. Loved it.
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The waiter opened the wine for me two hours before I reached the restaurant, so I did not know how it smell when it was just opened. When I arrived, the nose was not so noticeable but is nice. Smooth and long last finishing. Balance is excellant. A good one but I believe it may over the peak. I drunk it for another two hours, seem became going down.
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Tasted after a 1993 Lafite Rothschild, and it just blew it away: could asily have been a 1st Growth. It was fresh, full of rich black fruits, and as mouth filling as a wine can be. Deepest dark red; long, long finish and close to perfection, except it will clearly get better! It seemed a youngster in spite of the label age; I would have sworn it was ten years younger. It had been shaken around on SE Trains, just prior to being poured straight from the bottle, but somehow we escaped the considerable sediment which kindly adhered to the bottle. Maybe the key was storage; has resided in my cool Transtherm Catel for many, many years (can't remember when I aquired it) and this had clearly deayed the aging process, luckily not to much harm. The bad news - it was a singleton :( One of the few I own. Wonder if I can find some more?
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The second time Loek Habbema let us enjoy this wine. This time decanted (just before dinner). After 1,5 hour in the decanter the wine was far better than the first bottle without decanting. A deep ripe colour and a sleek style in the way some very good '88s have. Very well builded and very balanced, but no charmer. The wine is very stylish and was realy lovely with Texel lamb. Next time (?) I hope the wine will be given several hours of aeration to enable the wine to grow and to blossom further. Drink this wine the next 5 years.
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My Birthday Dinner (Crown Wine Cellars, Hong Kong): Deep purply transparent colour with no bricking. Superb open and multi-layered nose of gravel, minerals, cedar, cigar box and distinct graphite which was quite pronounced for a St. Julien, with blackcurrants coming through at the end of the nose. The palate was similar with distinct graphite, pronounced but poised acidity, deep rich blackcurrant fruit, wet granite, very minerally, elegant....with grippy dry tannins on the back end. Good length. This drank beautifully and, whilst now probably fully mature, it has many years ahead of it.
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BYO Dinner at A Voce - Wow, this bottle was absolutely singing. I had this wine a few months ago, but this bottle blew that one away. Lots of cedar, flowers and graphite on the nose, which was almost hypnotic. On the palate, plum, sour cherry and a little smoke and charcoal on the finish. Very well balanced, nothing out of place. Better than the last couple of bottles of '82 Las Cases that I had.
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Sampled at Les Millésimes du siecle, Le Grand Tasting, Paris. Young! Deep blue, very slight edge color change. Classic depth of aromatics, in equal measure of cedar, tobacco, floral fragrances, and dark fruit. Full bodied and mouth-filling. Integrated. Elegant. Precise. Delicious. Great length. Tannins fully resolved and everything in balance. While it does not quite reach the standard of perfection set by its younger brother from 2000, it is a pleasure to drink this mature St. Julien now and for the next 10 years. A wine that reinforces the pedigree of this chateau, and helps one to be patient with younger vintages which, while compelling now, will also become even more precious when they are as integrated as this 23 year old Second Growth Bordeaux. Wine presented by Yorick d'Alton of Famille Delon, long time ambassador for the chateau.
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Tasted this in London recently. Was not decanted but left open in the bottle for about an hour. This wine is a powerhouse and seems to have a lot of time left in it. Did not take detailed notes.
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Dark and brooding to start, tight on the nose with cedar and tobacco mixed with a red fruit core. Materially softened and opened with 30 minutes in the glass. None of the green that is evident in some 85s, but a touch of alcohol heat on the nose. Full bodied, with a lively finish. A engaging wine entering maturity.
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Just can’t say enough about how well this wine drinks now, a real overperformer. Every time someone opens a bottle, I think I should have bought more last year, when the wine could be had for a song (in current Bordeaux terms, at least).
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Dinner @ C&J's / Dad.: Drinking really well at the moment. Nice garnet color, hardly any bricking. Tannins fully resolved, ceder and tobacco on the nose, still some red fruits on the palate. Not a massive wine but very elegant.
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Fuller than the 1985 Mouton right beside it. Actually younger and more vibrant. No lightning at the edges. Mouthfeel is ripe, less cassis than Mouton, but with more red fruit like currant. There is a lovely sweet paprika and warm spice box note. My scribbled notes finish: 1. Time reveals sugary sweetness on the mid tongue. 2. Sublimed into a sweet fruit bomb. 3. This gets younger by the minute; any slight initial green fennel is replaced by sweet spices. Finish lengthens and really turns this into a superb wine.
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Bordeaux on the Hudson Part Deux (Peter Pratt's): This is a wine they probably don't make any more. It had a quietness to it that I don't usually associate with LLC reflecting the finesse-driven 1985 vintage. The nose seduces rather than wows with concentrated cassis, anise and graphite. Silky in the mouth, I loved the striking acidity which carried the remarkably fresh and vivid fruit along through the finish. A classic.
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Bacchus blindtasting (Lasses appartment): Dark red center and a slightly brown hue. Aromas of tobaco, prunes, licorise, earth fruit and moldy basement. On the palate it is fruity at first in particular showing some black currant. More tertiary notes on the midpalate and a good long taste. The tannins have softened up in this one, and it is probably ready for business. Really pretty good.
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This wine was drunk from magnums, it is ready to drink now as opposed to the other wine we had the same night: Lafite 83 in magnums. If there is a demonstration that you can find good to perfect wines in a less then ideal vintage, Las Cases 85 is a perfect example. I am sure the magnum bottle contributes to the extra points the wine gained on the night. I am convinced that good mature wine is better in magnums. This wine has none of the lighness I associate in my mind with the vintage. The wine is remarkably concentrated and sweet. It has lovely balance and power. Compared to the best Las Cases, it does not have the agility and elegance of the best examples of this wine, but it makes up for it with power, concentration, fruit and sweetness. If you like mature claret at a decent price, this has got to be a must.
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Deep in color, looked like a 5 year old Bordeaux. Nose full of high toned cedar, cigar, cassis. Relatively full bodied with resolving tannins but very fresh acidity giving a youthful, vigorous feel. Great balance avoiding any sense of heaviness, should have unusual longevity for a wine from this vintage. Excellent and probably will improve for another 10 years.
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Classic Léoville Las Cases - straightforward Cabernet Sauvignon deep purple color, good to excellent concentration, nicely ripe fruit and strong finish. What it doesn't have is much complexity, either aromatially or on the palate. Still, very satisfying with the excellent bison combo at Marks Las Olas.
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Dinner at Wilfred's (New York City): Ahhh, probably the wine of the night for a lot of folks. This remains the only LLC I have ever tasted that seems "ready". Still showing plenty of fruit but with an awesome stew of barnyard and mineral flavors. It has all of the best elements of a good LLC with the graphite and that 'black fruit' character (not actually like blackberries but rather that deep, dark, smoldering Cabernet thing), cassis, gorgeous structure and yet a easy, open supple element that is rare for LLC, tinged with some brett, very expressive, good funk, just a delicious wine!
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Kitchen Tasting Group Does Beaver Creek – Day One: A really brilliant showing for this wine. Has a big nose featuring dark fruit, lead pencil,and tobacco. Intense and great. The taste was equally great dominated by dark fruit. Very well balanced. Still somewhat tannic. The finish was extremely long and extremely good. An excellent wine and my WOTF.
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When in Romanée... (Eleven Madison Park): Another LLC that failed to win me over to the cult of everyone on the planet except me who thinks LLC is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Black fruit and gummy in texture, this seemed more like 1996 than 1985 in personality, but it didn’t have much personality to go around.
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Rolha completamente encharcada. Decantado por 3 horas. Inacreditável! A começar pela cor, com pouquissímos sinais de evolução e pelo mínimo halo aquoso que tambem não indicava o vinho ter 22 anos. Aromas que foram se abrindo, inicialmente apresentando pimentão, especiarias, mentol e passando para tabaco, couro e alcaçuz. Na boca incrívelmente vivo, concentrado e sedoso. Ótima acidez, taninos bem macios e numerosos, muito equilibrio e elegância. Final persistente. Acompanhou perfeitamente um maravilhoso ossobuco de cordeiro.Ainda com bastante potencial, deve alguentar uns bons anos na garrafa e ainda evoluir . Dificil mesmo acreditar que um vinho dessa idade possa estar tão vivo. Excepcional!
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A very soft and ripe, yet a beautiful, vigorous wine. Silky and velvety in texture. The wine displays beautiful fruit in addition to notes of fresh black peppercorns and the aroma of a freshly snapped green bean. Ready to drink.
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Drunk with Joe Lo over a very lazy lunch of pigeon and steamed crab at the Han Lok Yuen restaurant on Lamma Island, Hong Kong (incidentally, one of the best undiscovered restaurants in the world). It could not have been consumed in less reverential circumstances: shaken up by a 60 minute ferry ride and hike, undecanted, a little above optimal temperature and served in sherry-sized wine glasses. Oh, and the cork broke and part was left floating in the bottle. But one sniff of the nose takes you to somewhere sublime and absolutely defines the epitome of Bordeaux at its best. Still broodingly deep red in colour. A wonderful nose . Superbly poised in the mouth: fruit, tannins and acid all in harmony and great concentration. Tar, dark berries, cassis, fruit stones. Dense but welcoming. Impressive length with a definite "inside your head" quality. Just lacks silence-creating power (maybe because of how we drank it) but this will live in my memory longer than many silence-creating wines because of the overall circumstance. This is why I love wine. Drunk alongside a pre-decanted Ch. Musar 1994, which I am a huge fan of, but the Las Cases knocked it into a tipped hat.
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Tasted quickly at dinner at my house since I was doing the cooking. But the obvious class and quality of Léoville Las Cases cannot be denied. Waves of blackcurrent framed by oak. Seems still young, and may develop additional complexity with yet more time.
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A decadent evening (Sydney, Australia): Graphite and cedar lead the nose but some rather green capsicum and stalky characters are hard to get past. The palate is soft and simple, lacking depth and interest. Prominent acid on the back palate leaves the finish short and ultimately unsatisfying. Much better bottles have been had by others attending the dinner in the past.
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Color: Dark to brick Aroma: Cork'd! green notes, Kirsch, Celery, masked notes of blackberry and currant. Taste: full fruity with a smooth finish, but you can't get past the corked nose. What a disappointment for Thanksgiving! At least I had a d'Yquem to console me.
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This Léoville Las Cases is definitely one of the top wines of the vintage. All it's missing is more complexity and layering to merit an even higher score. Dark color; looks 10 years old. Nicely pefumed with the scent of pure cabernet - blackcurrent, blackberry, cedar. Very full on the palate and the tannins are fine and integrated with the same fruits as the nose suggests. It's on the early side of maturity and should hold very well. The 4 hour decant seems about right. Remarkable depth of fruit, fine stucture and balance. If you don't like this, you don't like Bordeaux.
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Dark ruby with, surprisingly for us, no bricking at the rim. Very intense nose of cabernet aromas of blackcurrant and graphite. After a while it started showing a nice mint note on the nose too. Elegant and velvety on the palate with a clear acidity that seems to guarantee further life. Ripe fruit and rounded tannins are revealing it's mature phase. Perfect for drinking now and surely ok for more years ahead.
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Andy's bottle. Deep, deep ruby and a depth and concentration of potent cabernet that makes this seem like a much younger wine. Still primary on nose and palate. Lots of blackcurrent and cedar. Classic Bordeaux that will surely develop for many years. My score is probably conservative.
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Seattle Tasting Group does Bordeaux 1990 and older (Issaquah, WA): Black fruit, graphite and dust. Wow, this is a terrific Las Cases, crazily tasty in fact, explosive, a great example of mature Las Cases. This is a bit linear relative to a great vintage, but wow is this satisfying!
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Tried again. Remained heavy barnyard with less supple overtones than before. Another soaked cork, however, undoubtedly suggests signs of leakage. Drank solid with ox.
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With Jamie Kutch at Pomme......Dark core that appeared younger than its age. sweet saddle leather with some cedar and spice on the nose. the palate agreed with spice and cherry followed by some tobacco and cocoa flavors. this had a wonderful balance of fruit, earth and wood. wine of the night for the majority of the table. These are Jeff Alkins notes from a post on EBob...I am lazy
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Good deep mid brick colour. Ripe sexy nose when opened. Lush. Double decanted. When uncorked and drunk approx 5 hours later it had lost some of its obvious sexiness. Lovely cedary nose. Classic dry claret. Moderate length. Nice, but lost the obvious fruit from when decanted. Plenty of complexity and length. Undersated but really very lovely.
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Dinner at Cascadia (Seattle, WA): When this was first opened I was worried, as the cork was wet just shy of the top, and I smelled a faint hint of orange peel on the first pour, maybe madeirization? However, the moment I took a sip my fears were allayed, as this was firm and clearly sound. The sommelier gave me a full pour, and this was ready to rock, loaded with graphite and hints of cedar, absolutely perfect cigar box, yum!!! The palate had loads of life to it, grippy and still tannic on the backend, very deep color, wonderful black fruit and mineral, never heavy, such a wonderful and loving example of Las Cases and a bargain at ~$100 in the marketplace. This reminded me why I am cellaring so much Las Cases!
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Another resounding success for Léoville Las Cases and surely one of the best 5 wines of the vintage. Dark, dark ruby with no bricking yet at the rim. After a few hours in the decanter, it only takes a quick sniff to realize this is something special. Big blast of cabernet aromas of blackberry, blackcurrant and vanillin oak. It's in its early mature phase. Big and creamy on the palate with length to burn. Packed with ripe fruit and rounded off with supple tannins. Terrific for drinking now and over the next 10 years at least. The class of this Bordeaux made the '84 Ridge Monte Bello seem crude and coarse in comparison.
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This was difficult to taste coming after three Pomerols. Decanted for 4 hours, it was displaying its flag, but seemed stern after the onslaught of merlot. Very dark color to the rim, still youthful, intense and powerful in a very cabernet blackcurrent way. The structure shows and perhaps a in a few more years this will show even better. Clearly classy and fine.
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Wine with friends (Seattle, WA, USA): Oh wow, this was perhaps my wine of the night. The nose shows massive notes of lead pencil and graphite, gaining aromatic complexity with time. Mmmm, the palate is muscular with sweet, black fruit and loads of minerality, so balanced and pure. This finishes out with string notes of graphite and mineral. Throughout this wine exudes the essence of old-world Cabernet and is everything I would want in a classic Claret, gorgeous!
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We opened this for Steve's birthday dinner at Nell's. Great fill but not a great cork, wet to the top. (This was a recent acquisition from K&L.)
On initial pour this had an explosive nose, bursting with cassis, cedar and lead pencil. Gorgeous, ripe Cabernet! With time more mineral and charcoal notes start to emerge. As lovely as this was on a fresh pour, it did fade fairly quickly in the glass. On the palate this started out with a hint of astringency, but with an hour of air this integrated well, showing a soft, well-resolved texture. This lacks a bit of depth and structure, and some of that can be a bottle issue. Still, this was a lovely wine to sip throughout the evening and was Steve's introduction to Bordeaux. He seemed to enjoy it.
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At Winos tonight - to begin, a little tart and acidic. With time, developed most encouragingly, smooth and well-rounded, beautiful fruit with very well-integrated oak. A pleasure to drink, but only after an hour or so's exposure to air. Consensus joint second, with '90 Cos, just pipped by '90 Pichon Baron. In fact, those 3 were for all practical purposes rated equal.
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Tasted at Handford's, in same flight with 1985 Palmer and 1985 Lynch Bages. Quite a sweet nose of dark berries and coffee. Palate is less upfront than the other two wines. Notes of mint on the palate, but great balance with plenty of underlying fruit. Needs 5 more years of cellaring to reach peak.
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Tapped this perennial favorite from the cellar, signature and birthyear wine for son celebrating his last night at home before heading off to U. Dark colour, intense aroma, full flavor of plum, cherry, tar, cassis, and anise with a long finish.
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Finally approaching maturity. As usual, dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon. Medium weight. Good thrust, good finish. A wine of muscle, not complexity. Excellent with venison.
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1st place out of 6, lovely, rich tobacco, cedar, cassis, and dark fruit on the nose, more of the same on the palate, the richest fruit of the night on my palate, a real step up, medium body, and medium/long finish.
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Just about mature finally. One of the biggest wines of the vintage. Dark and masculine. Intense black fruits. Powerful and long. Not much complexity but the balance is impeccable. Surely one of the best 3 or 4 wines of the vintage. Defeated ‘85 Cos d’Estournel, Ducru and Haut-Brion on this night at Mark’s Las Olas.
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Andy’s bottle. Inky dark and massive. A behemoth. One of the few ‘85 Bordeaux which needs more time. Syrup of Cabernet Sauvignon. Some excess acidity in the finish detracts though.
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Andy’s bottle. Wonderful. Especially full for the gentle 1985 vintage. Intense, concentrated and persistent. Shouts Cabernet Sauvignon. Civilized and pure. Just about ready now and will go on for many years.
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Then it was tine Quail stuffed with Macadamias over braised red cabbage (it is still winter down here). With this we had two clarets - Palmer 85 and Ducru 85 - our host thought the Ducru was crap (I did not agree, though I will get to his reason) and opened the Leoville Las Cases 85 to redeem himself! The Palmer was just delightfull - mature Claret at the wines peak - compelling aromas and a ripe (but not 82 ripe) mouth feel. Long and lead pencilly - Good Stuff - 91pnts The Ducru was less concentrated though equally mature. The problem was the wine displayed the same barrel faults that have plagued the chateau for a while (though I understand they have rectified the problem). Simply put, the wine smells just a little mouldy - not unlike corkyness. Not nearly as bad as the 1994 Ducru, but it was still present. For me it was not a problem, but if one is allergic to this quality even in very small quantities, the wine will dissapoint. For me, 87 points as a wine - very good The LLC was clearly the most concentrated wine, though it is not yet ready or open. The nose is closed and will clearly need some time in the cellar. I had the wine 5 years ago and it was much more open and displayed alot of toasty oak. This bottle showed the oak was much more intergrated. In the mouth the wine is quite structured and seems to promise great things with time. The 1982 tasted last month was far more open (and also displayed more of the years weight and ripeness). I'd try one in three years and imagine it woule be worth around 93 points.
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1985 Cabernet Sauvignon vs 1985 Bordeaux (Lafayette, Ca.): Lovely mint, cedar, vanilla nose, green nose, stunning nose, very rich, supple, feminine taste tonight, nice finish of stems and harsh tannins showing, at peak. My #5 of 7, Group #2 tied of 7.
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5/9/2024 - Grenik wrote: 92 Points
An excellent wine at the end of its life just trying to hold on by its fingertips. There is still some dark red and black fruit. There is a little acidity left. The tertiary notes are wonderful and it is a joy to drink. It is exciting to drink history, but it is declining every day.
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2/14/2024 - Tao wrote: 94 Points
A sort of blackish, translucent dark colour! Approaching the age of forty, it is surprisingly young, full of vibrant fruits, and full of energy. There are tons of powdery sediments, and they definitely need a brief decanting or should I say pour the wine in your glass very carefully! Complex nose of mild caramel fruits, a hint of sweetness and a hint of oriental spiciness, and of course, the benchmark seasoned cedar wood cigar leaves, gorgeous aroma. The palate is in my view, rich and dense, but not tight, very spicy, and slightly dry with a long finish! Drinking window? It is entirely up to you, now or within the next two decades, it really depends on how one stores it!
I opened it for the occasion of St Valentine ♥ day, the wine is on the masculine side, so my mission failed, not for the romantic atmosphere shall we say...
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2/11/2024 - LWI wrote: 90 Points
Middag og noen Bordeaux 80-tall: Blind. Aske, noe brett, gammelt trevirke; middels munn, svinnende frukt som har veket og gitt plass til noe tørket, jern. Til tross at dette var en late release fra slottet - ikke en optimal flaske.
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1/28/2024 - overkloud Likes this wine: 95 Points
[recorked by the winery and late release in 2015]
Very much into the tertiary notes, layered with mushroom, leather and black tea, and mint. long finish.
The fruit is not as fresh as the last bottle from almost 5 yrs ago. Still love it.
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11/10/2023 - kr522 wrote: 94 Points
this bottle more tertiary than previous experiences. Lots of gravel, cigar and drying fruits, to the point I would have guessed Graves if I were blinded. The fruit is still sporting good balance but the finish is a bit clipped. Still quite enjoyable though you should be consuming these
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11/7/2023 - steinersing wrote: 94 Points
Another great Bottle, now pretty mature with the fruit a little more in the background. Possibly time to drink them up over the next years.
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10/30/2023 - paul195 wrote: 92 Points
5 of 6 Decanted for sediment @ 4:00 served @ 7:30. Dark ruby color with lightening rim. Nose tight but clean. This needed an hour or so of air before it opened up. Medium weight, well balanced, fine tannins. The fruit and elegance here is a little lacking compared with the 82, 86 and 90 LLC
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9/30/2023 - JulianSkeels wrote: 96 Points
I’ve always loved this wine but now bottle variation is an issue. This was the best bottle in a decade - perfect. Initial cedar and tobacco. Very smooth and rich mouthfeel with charcoal and black cherry finish. Fresh and moorish. When on-form, 85 is one of my favourite LLC vintages (with 61, 66 and 82). The 96 may get there one day… 96pts and at peak, drink to 2030
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9/27/2023 - Isaac L Likes this wine: 94 Points
Bordeaux 1985 Grand Tour; 5/5/2017-10/20/2023: Celebrating the incorporation of KW LLC. Dark magenta with an opaque core and some bricking at the rim. The nose showed aged leather, sweet plum, blackberries, and mint. On the palate sour cherry initially followed by black fruits, cedar, tobacco, and soy. Fully integrated, well-balanced and elegantly concentrated. This bottle needed a 2-hour decant to reveal itself.
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9/24/2023 - djhammond Likes this wine: 95 Points
I having been drinking this annually for the last decade. I do find that the 1985 vintage was probably the most forward year of the decade, and the left bank wines were very approachable at an earlier age, and the Las Cases was no exception. This is fully mature, but the question is how long can it stay here. It still benefits from an hour or two in the decanter to blow off some of the rougher edges, but once it settles everything is integrated. Dark fruit, tobacco, graphite and cedar dominate. My only issue is with the finish which is becoming more exposed as the fuit has faded, and has become fractured. Addressing the earlier point with regards to longevity, I would be more inclined to be drinking it in the shorter term.
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8/10/2023 - Handy1 wrote: 93 Points
From half bottle cork falling apart but wine still good. On nose mustiness, wood, dirt tobacco and leather. Well balanced still some fruit left
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7/6/2023 - Philip67 Likes this wine: 97 Points
Wow! Amazing. Cedar, tobacco, blackberry, cassis, saddle leather. Full bodied, amazingly generous and rich for the age. Delicious. Long and complex. Drinking beautifully but will age gracefully for years.
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6/13/2023 - rgawlowski Likes this wine: 94 Points
Still great, but it ain’t going to lat much longer (granted, the cork was barely holding on); excellent balance, fruit very good after some decant, but the nose fading away; still fantastic.
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6/1/2023 - ayalao3 wrote: 93 Points
Not as excited as other notes. It is a good wine but after 2-3 hrs VA starts to creep in. This was a high shoulder fill. Cork intact.
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5/14/2023 - BradE wrote:
In a word, YES. From 375ml.
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4/22/2023 - rocknroller wrote: 96 Points
Pearl Dinner by Don Saunders (Doc's Hall, St. Louis Park, MN): Very dark red color. Double decanted for 20 minutes and flitered. Drank a glass plus over an hour plus. This was everything I'd hoped for. Showing a wonderfully again, perfumed with a pristine vein of cassis on the nose with a red raspberry underpin, filled with leath and pencil, damp forest notes, crushed violets, and dried cigar and wood spices. The palate is everything the nose promises, soft and caressing, medium full bodied, with a classic elegance and suave style that gives this that featherweight impression, plush cassis and red berries, the earth leather and pencil melding perfectly together with minerals and spice. Very long and blissful. No rush, these will reward you. 96+pts. .
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4/14/2023 - kr522 wrote: 95 Points
If you like wine, how can you not like this? It’s not a powerhouse, but because of the style of LLC it’s built to last. You get mature dark berries, excellent acidity, and heaps of cigar and leather. Find a well stored bottle and buy it
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4/8/2023 - olaf.foertsch@gmx.de wrote: 95 Points
Great
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3/30/2023 - Mascarello59 Likes this wine: 96 Points
Vital cracking nose of sweet genrous fruit, tobacco, smoke, leather and cedar. Darker fruit and more "a point" than earlier vintages. Super elegant and near perfect finish. Very harmouius and balanced and a bit richer than most of the other 70-80's vintages.
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2/2/2023 - NickA Likes this wine: 95 Points
1985 Bordeaux-o-rama (Noize): Oh boy. Very youthful, and with really intense brambly fruit that had an almost liquorish quality. Super clean, and perfectly formed, all its elements turned up to 11 but seamlessly integrated. Somehow still felt fresh despite everything (including a gravy note on the finish). A real treat - my WOTN and joint group #1.
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2/2/2023 - SimonG wrote: 95 Points
Jason’s 85 Claret @ Noizé, table 2 (Noizé, London): Slightly cloudy, full garnet. Stands out from the crowd on the nose, a bit spicier, a whiff of smoke, more energy and brighter dark red fruit. Vibrant, fat and leggy in the glass. Density but energy and line. Glorious. A freshness too. This remains a consistent class act. *****
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12/15/2022 - Jd6725 Likes this wine: 95 Points
I'd been seeking this wine out for a while and it certainly did not disappoint. On pop n pour, this why showed that it subtly needed some air through it's understated structure and slight tartness. But immediately brimming with complexity. Absolutely lovely and classic Bordeaux. Pencil shavings, bit of cigar box. Just intoxicating nose. Try as I might though, I couldn't quite coax much of an extra gear out of this. It felt like it was sitting on the precipice of exploding out of the glass but never quite did. It stayed a touch reserved. Although I had a few tastes with food later in the evening that did take a step up. I am starting to believe that Las Cases is one of the few aged Bordeaux that I believe truly benefits from a decant and I will do that on my next bottle.
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12/13/2022 - BradE wrote:
I've said this before, but old half bottles of Bordeaux are one of life's pleasures.
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10/8/2022 - ThijsV wrote: flawed
WSET reunion tasting group+ (Home, Utrecht): This bottle was so far over the hill that I consider it flawed. Only tertairy notes; walnuts, coffee, meat, leather, dried vigs, maggi, potpourri
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9/4/2022 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
The last bottle of the night and not entirely sure we needed it, but it was also drinking very well. Part of a 1985 horizontal of Bordeaux and across the board everything was really lovely. This is more power and structure and yet on this day I found that really appealing (sometimes this wine producer doesn't gel with me as much because of the bigger, more masculine style).
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5/25/2022 - BradE wrote:
Many of these have been great. This was good. Always a pleasure.
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5/13/2022 - SimonG wrote: 94 Points
Rich and mellow nose. A meatier, slightly fleshier rendition of 85 LLC. More evolved but also fleshier with some meat and a right bank element. A little more evolved than previous bottles but only slightly the worse for that. ****1/2
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4/24/2022 - StefanAkiko Likes this wine: 94 Points
This is a very good wine, but far away from any kind of PQR with a reality check mechanism.
If you drink it now, make sure you give it a few hours of decanting as it starts out angular and with a heavy focus on the CF content.
This is not my preferred style of LLC as it's rather elegant and acid-driven.
Still, a great wine, but not one I'm interested in opening up my wallet for again.
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4/14/2022 - melvinyeowq wrote: 94 Points
1985 Las Cases vs Clos du Marquis: A Las Cases that is good to go. A little green and tight at first but the nose and palate opened up to become a seductive and sensual wine. Less brooding than the 82 or 90, more similar stylistically to 86 in terms of its hedonistic pure fruit and balance, but less complete in terms of depth. Not sure how often the descriptor gorgeous is applied to Las Cases but it would be quite apt here.
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4/14/2022 - Dibbs Likes this wine: 95 Points
A more sexy, elegant version of Las Cases without an over bearing structure. It needed a lot of air still to open up. I thought it was a Margaux(not Chateau) from 1989 vintage initially. But once in the decanter, it’s nose really had the tell tale Las Cases signature. This will still do well for atleast next five years. Great wine!
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4/1/2022 - steinersing wrote: 96 Points
Excellent wine with an inviting and fresh nose. Red and black berries. Precise and without plummy opulence- - also no cigar box. Reminds me of the better 1982 a few years ago. No hurry to drink.
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3/12/2022 - Rani Likes this wine: 96 Points
Opened 8 hours before drinking and left standing. Amazing concentration, sous bois and cigar box notes. Blackcurrants and ink, dense but approachable (well, with the aeration it got), full bodied and with fine tannins. One of the best Las Cases I can recall.
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1/30/2022 - djhammond Likes this wine: 94 Points
It is easy to overlook this wine sandwiched as it is between two perfect vintages from 1982 and 1986, but it is a first class mature Bordeaux if not in the same league. Fully mature but still needing a few hours in the decanter to be enjoyed, it still has plenty of life ahead with well stored bottles. (Last time of tasting two years ago I had reservations but I think it was a dodgy bottle,). The nose is aromatic with blackcurrant and tobacco with a palate packed with graphite and dark fruits. It has excellent balance and depth with a lengthy finish, but I personally find the tannin a little challenging end palate before settling in perfect harmony.
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12/16/2021 - I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine Likes this wine: 95 Points
Guys Night Out - Holiday Edition!: First wine in a great lineup! What an awesome start! Lovely nose full of earth, pencil shavings, some cedar, some purple flowers and some dark fruit. Palate was more tertiary, with rich earthy notes, graphite, tobacco and tar, with some dark fruit and blue fruit and hints of spice and sweet oak. Palate was smooth, with tannins well rounded and well integrated. A great older Bordeaux! I admit, I was quite impressed that 1985 wines would hold up this well and this long! I remember first tasting them and thinking they will be short-term wines....glad my first impression was wrong! A solid 95 tonight....group's #2, my #3 (by a smidge).
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12/16/2021 - galewskj wrote: 96 Points
A Guys Night to Remember (Jason's house): Cherry, violets, clean funk. Wonderfully floral, nice acidity that I can even smell, graphite and pencil lead. This has the qualities of a well-aged bordeaux and is also quite lively.
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12/16/2021 - rocknroller wrote: 97 Points
Guys Night Out: One to Remember - Heavy Hitters (Jason P's, St. Paul, MN): Very dark red color with a 5mm transition. Splash double decanted; drank a glass plus over 3 hours. Geez this was showing great. Gorgeous purple and blue fruits of cassis and boysenberry, wow; deep violet notes, ultra floral with a lifted perfume that adds leather, pencil, cigar wrapper and incense. The palate shows outstanding depth and harmony; damp earth, funk, leather, cassis, this is pencil city, coarse tobacco, and a lot of leather with impressive length and on some well rounded and polished tannins that can go for some time. This has it all, very complex and showing all the secondary and tertiary character you could ask for yet still having that exuberance that says, wait, just wait, I've got more to show you. 96+ to 97pts.
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12/4/2021 - jardinkp wrote: 94 Points
Reached its peak at 2~4 hours in decanter after opening.
Graphite dominant on the nose.
Mainly cassis and some smoke from tobacco forming the backbone, minerality and spices, mainly oriental, showes this bottle was very well made. Silky on the palate as milk mixed with a hint of cream. Elegance and balance between the characters are, in my opinion, what makes Bordeaux such a great region.
The wine is straightforward yet complex, for it is produced by one of the greatest chateaux of Bordeaux.
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11/20/2021 - Euoinos wrote: 96 Points
Great nose of cassis, graphite and tobacco. Generous dark fruit and silky texture with well balanced tannins. Still very vigorous and drinking very well at the moment.
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10/10/2021 - liber Likes this wine: 97 Points
21st of 24, opened 2 hours, perfect level, cork 3 quarter stained, reasonably consistent notes since 1996 very fine to very fine plus with my last bottle in 2012 a more muted outlier at merely fine - rich dark slightly transparent ruby, leggy with little rim development; cassis lead, some bramble, graphite, cedar, classy, classic and layered; fullish, long, persistent, silky and complex, quite concentrated but not overly so, very fine balance so typical of 85, tannins nicely integrated (they were never obtrusive in this vintage), energy for further development and good for 20 years plus on this showing. VF+ (19)...........always a top 85, a vintage to my mind underappreciated, along with Lafite and Palmer.
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9/29/2021 - Alex G. Likes this wine:
From magnum, this wine was pristine. It showed great precision and delineation, such purity of fruit. The wine isn't overly tannic, but it's less evolved than one might expect at this age. One of the better Bordeaux wines I have had in recent years, and well stored bottles should continue to evolve gracefully for decades.
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9/26/2021 - beatles wrote: 94 Points
Mature, nor hard edges here, a complete wine, chalky with dark berries, tobacco, some chocolate. Dry, very elegant
#Peytz#Jean-Luc Pepin
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8/25/2021 - ljl wrote: 95 Points
Decanted for an hour before drinking. A wonderful wine. Dark. No hint of age. Soft tannins.
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8/13/2021 - Meg A wrote:
1985年ビンテージ。$240。深く黒みがかったルビー色。アロマはベリー、キノコ、チーズ、タバコ。とても好みのかおり。酸味は軽やかで若い果物のようなフルーティさ。タンニンしっかりしているけれど主張しすぎない。
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6/28/2021 - glou.sf Likes this wine: 93 Points
Tasted blind. The nose was a bit rustic with tobacco, sweet fruit, some cassis, and a bit of green flavors. Significantly improved with air in the glass, though. The palate felt a bit more tired with red fruit, underwood, currants, and good balance overall. Good finish. This felt very mature and frankly a bit older than it is. It was very enjoyable nonetheless.
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4/23/2021 - walkerjfw wrote: 96 Points
Paolo visits Princeton... (Cellars at Chez Walker): A good excuse to check in on this bottle. Purchased at auction, in my cellar from 2012. Decanted and strained, drank over 2 hours alongside a 94 Vega Sicilia...
Medium ruby/garnet, some browning at the edge. Beautifully expressive nose showing red fruits, mineral/stone, graphite and rose petal. Silky smooth palate of red berry, plum, crushed stone, earth notes. Elegant and nicely persistent through the mid palate. Medium body and finish.
This is aged Bdx at its best, a beautiful wine on this evening. Nose is noteable, could have sat and smelled this for hours....:) Well stored bottles should go for a while...but why wait. Worth drinking now. I would go so far as to say this is a benchmark example of the best of the vintage....
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3/27/2021 - NewFrenchClaret Likes this wine: 95 Points
Utterly sublime. No detailed note, but this was magnificent in every way.
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3/18/2021 - BradE wrote:
Beautiful, lovely, brilliant...pick an adjective, they all apply to this "in the perfect zone" vintage.
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2/25/2021 - TayoW Likes this wine: 95 Points
Woah, 35 years and sitting in a wonderful place.
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1/28/2021 - pkouchu wrote: 95 Points
tobacco, red cherries, licorice, cassis, red currant, leather, damp earth, truffle, dried herbs and smoke
great fruit, nice oak integration, balanced, tannins are present but give it some structure. great spot
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1/12/2021 - bopal Likes this wine:
Youthful, dark red appearance. Has some green/leafy character, and tart/lean red fruit. Tannins still quite prominent. Fills out, becomes rounder, denser, more balanced on day two. Excellent, but perhaps needs more time.
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12/27/2020 - SimonG wrote: 95 Points
Gorgeous deep ruby. Blackcurrant leaf, cedar, tobacco and graphite on the nose. Densely silky palate, some mid palate padding and density. Long and fine finish. Nothing flashy, just latent power and elegance. Superb *****
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12/26/2020 - Pouilly71 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Bouchon plus qu'imbibé, et même fuyard. Après 1h30 de carafe, c'est un très beau Bordeaux, plus typé Pauillac que St Julien, terrien, complexe, long, avec un superbe grain de tanins, une texture soyeuse typique du Château. Compte tenu du bouchon, je suis impatient d'ouvrir une autre bouteille car quelque chose me dit qu'il peut être plus grand encore.
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12/15/2020 - BradE wrote:
This vintage of Las Cases is always so delightful. Really in a perfect spot.
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10/28/2020 - steinersing wrote: 96 Points
excellent bottle again, from a different source. reminding me of good 1982s - engaging aromas and nose, very good fruit, long and consistent. Impressive. quite a bit ahead of 1989.
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10/27/2020 - Collector1855 wrote: 97 Points
During a Commanderie LLC dinner with ex-Chateau bottles. A lot of accolades went to this wine. A terrific showing. Complex and expansive nose of tertiary aromas around forest floor with dark fruit and a touch of barnyard. The palate is very precise here, not as sunny as the 89/90 but it makes up for it via its precision. Very long finish. A grand LLC showing. For those who have this in their cellar, worth the wait.
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10/8/2020 - grapenomad wrote: 95 Points
Wow, who knew I'd be swept off my feet by a Bordeaux after so many years. But when it comes to Chateau Leoville, it's hard to think otherwise. This is at such a good stage right now. Developing, but not yet fully there. Open at just the right level where the tannins are still quite grippy and the acidity is bright, but the fruit is still going strong, not giving all the spotlight to the tertiary notes. Finish is long and dense, lifting this wine up to another level. Great bottle with 5-6 years more in it.
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9/7/2020 - garymouton wrote: 97 Points
Best bottle of the case that I have had to date. About the only difference is that I opened it without decanting, left it for 30 minutes, then poured. Had it with a disappointing dry aged steak, and the wine was the surprise of the night. No amber edge, just ample fruit despite the age and tobacco and leathery notes. Won't get better, but based on my tasing of 7 bottles so far, isn't fading away anytime soon either. I am comfortable drinking my last 5 bottles over the next five years.
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9/2/2020 - LWI wrote: 94 Points
Ex Chateau in 2013. Black currants, ash, graphite, primary, fine complexity.
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8/1/2020 - eagreni wrote: 96 Points
This bottle has been cellared at Las Cases until 2016, and it was recorked before shipping. Perfect fill and dark brick red color. The scent is classic west side Bordeaux, almost all anticipated markers checked in. Blackcurrant, blueberry, cedar, tobacco, pencil lead, leather, coffee, toast, forest floor. Fruit on the cool side of the spectrum, high concentration, integrated tannins, extremely long. Greatly balanced wine. This drinks magically now, but no hurry to run down in the basement to pop your bottles. These will last a long long time. Las Cases confirmes one more time that it's wines are made to last for generations.
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6/29/2020 - LWI wrote: 96 Points
Insanely high fill. Classic nose, graphite, black currants; Compact and meaty wine, big bodied with warm fruit, balanced and complex.
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6/13/2020 - johnh1001 wrote: 96 Points
This is just so good right now. Sweet dark fruit, earth, asphalt and touch of mint. Great balance and length. Wonderful.
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6/5/2020 - KoalaHK wrote:
Drunk at Crown Super Deluxe in Hong Kong - The striking feature of this wine is that it lacks the often austere, rigid tannins that are typical of Las Cases. We decanted it and whilst you possibly don't need to, it did stimulate the lovely old school claret perfume. This is a very attractive wine in an extremely good place right now. I also think the plateau of maturity will last for some time.
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4/18/2020 - steinersing wrote: 95 Points
In line with prior notes - would drink over next few years - in a good place now with wonderful secondary aromas and not sure I will enjoy this as much with more age
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4/15/2020 - bordeauxmartini wrote: 94 Points
Still strutting it’s stuff. No lack of fruit, classic blackberry, graphite, tobacco. Surprised to the upside given its age. Drink over next 5 years.
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4/14/2020 - Marc C Likes this wine: 92 Points
Nez évolué démarrant sur la cassis et la feuille de cassis puis évoluant vers le mélange de fruits rouges, la pivoine et la violette, le tabac blond, la fumée. Très joli même s'il m'a laissé l'impression d'une précision et d'une complexité en deçà de celles croisées sur les LLC 89 & 97 bus récemment.
La matière est plutôt de demi-corps avec des tannins complètements fondus sur un rendu parfaitement soyeux. J'avoue avoir été déstabilisé au début, je m'attendais à plus de matière et de tannins, toujours un biais quand on sait ce qu'on boit ! En effaçant cet a priori, il apparaît clairement que la qualité se situe dans un tout autre registre, celui de l'élégance et de l'harmonie. L'équilibre proposé est absolument remarquable, on se délecte de cette présence sereine. Avec un peu plus de matière, ce vin était grand, à n'en pas douter !
Finale d'une très bonne persistance même si à nouveau un peu plus d'intensité ne lui aurait pas fait de mal...
Au final un très joli vin avec quelques petits bémols sur une bouteille plutôt sur la pente descendente
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3/1/2020 - djhammond Likes this wine: 95 Points
The vintage as a whole seems to be starting to show its age, and very much like 1982 is starting to become a bit of a lottery. Unfortunately, in spite of excellent provenance and storage, this was not quite up there with previous bottles. That said, it was a glorious experience with the wine displaying a classic mature left bank profile. The fruit is crisp and combines with cedar for a deep fruity nose. It has a typical tannic backbone consistent with the estate and the vintage. The palate is deep and well balanced, and the finish is 30+ seconds. I do find that this does need a couple of hours in the decanter and ideally 30 minutes in the glass to shrug off some of the barnyard. I think I will look to consume my remaining bottles over the next couple of years, rather than risk the variance extremes of the present 1982 wines.
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2/2/2020 - Jeff Leve wrote: 95 Points
One of the stars of the vintage, this is drinking perfectly today. Delivering its wealth of ripe, juicy, crisp, fresh red fruits in its stern, regal, refined, full-bodied character, 30 minutes in the decanter is all this beauty needs to start singing.
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1/3/2020 - Paul D wrote: 90 Points
With Andrew and Fletcher at Gezellig. Medium/deep garnet, pale garnet rim. Nose is quite developed, with dusty red fruit, mineral, spice. Medium bodied on the palate, red fruited, soil, quite lean, with fresh acidity and firm tannins kicking in on the good length, dusty earth finish.
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12/26/2019 - PASEO604 wrote:
The wine looks garnet colored. The legs are medium. There is light sediment in the bottle. It smells like lead pencil, black pepper and forest floor. It tastes like forest floor, black pepper and toast. The body is medium. The wine has round texture. The wine finishes medium. The wine has medium acidity.
Surprisingly "young" or "younger" drinking. Fantastic deep color - would guess much younger from garnet color alone. tannin structure still intact. great roundness of body. fruit depleting - though, 85s from left bank were always a bit less ripe and lighter on fruity/ more perfumed. great classic bordeaux balance with soft, round body. subtle oak and pepper and lead pencil shaving notes. shorter to medium finish - not unlike most 85s i have tasted even 20 years ago. but maybe a bit of the perfume has diminished. provably will drink well for another 5 years
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12/25/2019 - Chimer Likes this wine: 95 Points
Amazing vibrant fruit, colour still youthful, almost sweet it is so ripe. Palate also sweet, ripe and vivid, tannins absorbed, this feels like a perfect moment to enjoy this - super bottle.
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12/17/2019 - Turnmeroyalblue wrote: 92 Points
Peppery, powerful big wine. But paired well with my meal (veal sweetbread). Proud out the fruits and sweetness of the wine. Looking for more complexity though.
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11/27/2019 - melzar wrote: 91 Points
Fragrant nose typical of the vintage. Palate reveals totally resolved tannins but fading fruit. Somewhat short finish. My 2nd of three ex-chateau bottles purchased 4 years ago. If this bottle is typical, my favorite Bordeaux vintage may be nearing the end of it's drinking window. '85 Latour had last summer seemed to have the legs to go on a few more years, but if you have any '85 Bordeaux in your cellar, I recommend drinking up!
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11/13/2019 - Lype Likes this wine:
Powerful, peppery and aromatic nose, the palate follows the nose with its rich and intense presentation, a lot of youthful and fresh fruit, fleshy umami, new world style fruit driven powerhouse of a wine, not exactly classical bdx style, when consumed in a vertical along with -82, -83, -85, -89, -90, -95 and -96 it is evident that albeit a good vintage not as profound as the top vintages. In any case very good and drinking well now but will last.
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10/11/2019 - rashecellar Likes this wine: 94 Points
Still singing. Lively red fruit, with a morphing resinous note - menthol, eucalyptus, pine - no signs of decline.
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10/1/2019 - Mansavage wrote:
this was a magnum with a good fill. The wine was beautiful, beguiling even. Saint Julien bouquet with more than a hint of Pauillac. Tannins are totally resolved as one would expect.
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9/13/2019 - petitblanc wrote: flawed
Corked.
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8/24/2019 - short and confused wrote: 96 Points
I don't drink lots of Bordeaux but this was one of my favorites thus far. Rich red berry fruit, tobacco and cedar. Opened beautifully over the course of 3 hours ands completely captivating when I was draining the last drops from my glass. Very classy stuff.
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7/8/2019 - rmcnees Likes this wine: 93 Points
Deep garnet colored with a slight hint of orange bricking, medium-full bodied, elegant, complex but nicely integrated dark berry and black cherry fruits with notes of floral violets, tobacco, oak and hints of graphite, cigar box and leather on a tangy black cherry lingering finish of supple smooth, polished tannins. Over the course of the evening, it opened more to reveal layers of floral and fruits and accents.
https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2019/07/chateau-leoville-las-cases-1985.html
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5/23/2019 - jhngo Likes this wine: 92 Points
Very young and primary. No signs of age. Tons of cab Franc flora notes quite over powering. Well balanced structure with just enough fruit and tannins. Finishes long fruity and clean. Tone down the cab franc and we got a winner.
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3/24/2019 - cortoncharlie wrote:
It ain't 82 Mouton but just a rock-solid claret, still performing strong with such admirable consistency.
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3/23/2019 - Goldstone wrote: flawed
Dinner at Home (Our House, Hong Kong): Brought by our guests. My 8th time with this wine over 12 years and my first disappointment.... a storage problem I think because the cork looked fine but pushed into the bottle on first contact...probably dried out. Very dark, opaque purple-red colour. Lovely nose - pencil lead, high-toned graphite and cassis, linear but lacking its normal level of acidic balance and freshness. Palate was higher acidity but to the point of harshness....and then just very flat and charmless. I had a super bottle 15 months ago and will keep that tasting note as my pole star.
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3/3/2019 - Erik12000 Likes this wine:
Very good mature Bordeaux. Dark fruit, leather, tobacco and cedar. Soft tannins. Long finish. I will enjoy my remaining bottles over the next year or two.
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3/2/2019 - La Cave d'Argent Likes this wine: 96 Points
Bardot Brasserie Léoville Las Cases Vertical Dinner (Las Vegas, NV): This deep garnet wine (a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot) defines seduction. Flaunting a gorgeous core of red fruit, it adds notes of cocoa, allspice, orange zest, tobacco and violets on both the nose and palate. Medium-bodied, freshly acidic, seamlessly alcoholic and with soft residual tannins, it retains good density throughout the middle while at the same time retaining its soft textures. The silky smooth finish lingers on and on. While likely on plateau, there is plenty of fruit here to last for many more years. I previously underestimated the longevity of this wine. Well-cellared bottles should easily make it through the next decade. Drink now-2030.
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1/17/2019 - Nanda wrote: 95 Points
A gorgeous, perfectly mature LB Bordeaux. Concentrated with mature, complex fruit and loaded with secondary and tertiary notes of aged cedar, dried tobacco leafs and bell pepper. Elegant with a leanness that doesn't compromise forward, fleshy fruit. Can hold but really no reason to hold -- drink now and enjoy a great, mature Bordeaux.
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1/17/2019 - Burgundy Al wrote: 91 Points
Post Tasting Wine Dinner (Brasserie Margeaux - Chicago IL): Lots of bold black fruit with powerful tannins that are softening gracefully. Still not perfectly harmonious to me. Some others liked this more than I did tonight, considering it their WOTN.
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11/16/2018 - CarpeDiem! Likes this wine: 95 Points
A Bordeaux symphony. Delicate nose, with abundant sweetness, cedar, dry fruit, nuts and fine leather aromas. Dense palate, with generous fruit, caramel, chocolate and leather, perfectly balanced with menthol, licorice and subtle vegetal aromas. Long, silky finish. Wow.
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10/14/2018 - steinersing wrote: 95 Points
Impressive bottle - silky and smooth, subtle hints of tobacco but great underlying fruit - some pencil shavings.
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10/9/2018 - dream Likes this wine: 94 Points
Perfect bottle and best after about an hour decant. Quite full for an '85 at this stage with incredible flavors of dark earth, tobacco, cedar and graphite minerals. Very silky and fine and layered throughout. Finishes long with good intensity and perfect aged Bdx nuttiness. Fully mature but will still go on for a decade or more.
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8/20/2018 - coteamor wrote: 96 Points
Thrillingly good. Wonderful balance, the warmth/richness of St Julien tempered by the correctness of the left bank and the structure of a brilliant wine. Will go on for decades to come.
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8/19/2018 - tinybubbles wrote: 90 Points
Less fresh than other bottles. Muddled dark fruit, although still distinct tar and soil notes. 90-
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6/29/2018 - SimonG wrote: 95 Points
Bordeaux 10th Anniversary WIMPS (La Trompette, London): Lovely dense nose, more Pauillac than St J. Ripe, dense, lovely. Proper. Virile too. Oodles of energy. Must be one of the best 85s. As it warms and develops it becomes more St J on the nose, and the restrained richness of the vintage softens the masculine line. Just gorgeous. *****
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6/20/2018 - Eric Guido Likes this wine:
Joanne Bordeaux Trip 2018 (Bordeaux): (Limited Notes and no official scores, as this was blind tasting with Jean Hubert Delon.) As for the '85, it was simply amazing; a wine that is still maturing and in excellent form; dark, earthy, floral, and herbaceous in all the best ways with vibrant fruit and enveloping textures--amazing. I hope to be able to taste this again one day, because I believe there is still more to come on the path of its maturity.
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6/2/2018 - jpwines Likes this wine: 97 Points
Classic old bordeaux. Terrific barnyard nose, long finish, smooth delivery. I love Las Cases. This wine is good for at least another 5 years.
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5/28/2018 - Ericsson Likes this wine: 93 Points
Ma dernière et meilleure bouteille avec le moins bon niveau (base neck)... Ouvert 15 minutes et bu dans la foulée.
Très joli grenat foncé, brillant. Au nez, les arômes de cassis se mêlaient à ceux des violettes, du tabac.
En bouche, une fine trame acide était présente dès la prise et sous tendait le vin pendant toute la durée, amenant de la fraîcheur.
Un vin aristocratique, noble avec une belle longueur.
93-94
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3/25/2018 - ShadowIII Likes this wine: 94 Points
tasted from magnum, fresh, youthful, nose of blueberries, blackcurrants, nice mouth feel, soft tannins, long finish
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3/11/2018 - europat55 wrote: 94 Points
Nose: A-/A Palate: A-
My #5, Group's #6 (57 pts) in a Bordeaux '82/85/89/90 line-up. Tasted blind.
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3/11/2018 - djhammond Likes this wine: 96 Points
This is the best bottle I've had of this, and I think it has finally reached its peak. Blackcurrent, plum and cedar dominate with a deep aromatic nose. On the palate the wine is fully mature with musty old leather underpinning the fruit, but still with a satisfying tannic bite to remind you what you are drinking. There is great depth and a lengthy finish. It benefits from time in the decanter, and should stay at this level for the next 2 to 3 years.
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2/24/2018 - Aravind Asok wrote:
Betty's BDay (Intercontinental DTLA): Paired perfectly with our 42 day dry-aged steak. Reminded me a bit of the 85 Brane Cantenac I had a while ago: loads of vegetal cab franc notes followed by charcoal and a hint of black fruit. Excellent acidity on the palate and still showing a serious tannic streak on the finish. A tad wild for my tastes, but very nice.
Also, I'm not sure how seriously to take the vintage: this bottle had been recorked at the chateau at some point, so who knows what it had been topped up with.
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2/19/2018 - Burgnick Likes this wine: 93 Points
This is the best bottle of my case of 85 LLC. Like the 82 vintage, 85 has lots of bottle variation. The classic claret nose jumps out of the gate from the decanter with smoke, tobacco, olives, tea, ash, earth, dark fruit and cedarwood. Palate has endless power with the smootheness of the 85 vintage. The fruit is sweet and precise with a long finish. This is drinking beautifully. 93-94
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1/25/2018 - englishman's claret wrote: 97 Points
I've had several very good but not great bottles of this and for some reason felt strangely compelled to keep on trying. And tonight's bottle vindicated all of that; it's absolutely superb! Just ravishing; a head-turning and supremely classical nose of currant, cedar, pencil, funk, sous-bois, leather with lavender potpourri accents. Such a richly fruited nose, really. So slightly volatile which makes it a bit wild, but in a fun way. Very rich and long in the mouth. Compelling. Leoville las Cases takes forever to come round and this one has; as a result, this and the 90 are the ones to drink at the moment rather than the buttoned-up 82 and 86s. 96-7.
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1/23/2018 - ricknat1 wrote:
This was a vertical tasting over dinner. I love Las Cases and fell its a tremendous value that in the best years approaches Grand Crus but is generally excellent and enjoyable. all of these wines fit the bill from the the sublime 82 and 90 downward. My ranking was as follows
82
90
86
89
83
96
85
95
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1/10/2018 - hargy Likes this wine: 91 Points
still a strong ruby with hardly any ageing - the bouquet is rich, the wine is mature and full of leafy character
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1/4/2018 - Valbonne Likes this wine: 95 Points
Delicious - balanced. Drinking well. Sandalwood but not overpowering.
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12/30/2017 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 92 Points
Notes of graphite, tar and damp soil. Well defined by soft acids across midpalate. Better after 45 minutes of air time than upon opening.
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12/16/2017 - Goldstone Likes this wine: 94 Points
Two bottles decanted for 2 hours before serving vs. a similarly decanted 1985 Ducru Beaucaillou. A darker and more opaque deep ruby colour than the Ducru ‘85. Nose is deep, quite closed, intense pencil lead, opens up with time in the glass but still young and quite closed. Palate is absolutely drop dead gorgeous... dense, black fruits, extremely resonant inside the head even before you swallow. Dense and still half-inky but with nicely mellowed tannins. Extremely heady and deep... very long and reverberant. Young compared to the Ducru ‘85 which was a pristine ex-chateau bottle. 94 for now but better in 10 years’ time. This has greatness ahead of it....but not yet.
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10/31/2017 - englishman's claret wrote: 93 Points
The last bottle was more youthful, more reticent, yet more complex. This bottle holds nothing back - its nose leaps from the glass. Very prototypically Left Bank; pencil lead, cedar, raspberry, red currant, smoke. Beautiful poise, but one can't help but wonder if it's drying out a bit. The fruit density here isn't what it was, putting it in such very stark contrast with the still-reserved 1982 and 1986. Of course, this may have not been representative. Are other bottles more lively?. Regardless, so very St Julien. Not as spicy/floral as I recall from the last time around. If most bottles are like this, drink them now.
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10/29/2017 - md20 Likes this wine: 96 Points
Ausdrucksstarke Nase. Mittelstarker Körper. Sehr harmonisch gereifter Cabernet mit langem Abgang. Der Wein ist zugänglich, weich und wird von einer schönen Säure getragen. Zeigt seine Herkunft St.Julien auf eindrückliche Weise. Es ist keine Eile geboten. 96/100
Expressive nose. Medium body. Very harmoniously matured Cabernet with a long finish. The wine is accessible, soft and is carried by a nice acid. Shows its origins St.Julien in an impressive way. There is no hurry. 96/100
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10/26/2017 - MichielH Likes this wine: 93 Points
Such a chance to taste a beautiful 32 year old Las Cases. By the way, the label did not carry an indication of alcolhol %
Nice ruby bright transparent. No sign of age at all, despite disintegrating cork!!
Non overly pronounced bouquet bit forrest not explicit.
Beautiful taste and continuing to fill. Loooong and fresh. Round. Full of fruit. No signs of age. Sweet of fruit very strong but nicely adopted. Surprisingly dominant cherry with light touch of background pepper. Possibly lacking a bit of tension, but incredibly pleasant.
Fantastic experience.
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9/29/2017 - vinhslee wrote: 92 Points
Medium ruby on appearance, pretty healthy for a 32-year-old bordeaux.
When it is out of bottle, the nose is dominated by barnyard funk, blackcurrant and prune notes.
In the 1st hour of decanting, plumy and prune notes are rather overwhelming.
In the 2nd - 3rd hour of decanting, blackcurrant, cedar and earthy notes start to develop and prune notes start to recede.
In the 4th hour of decanting, the wine starts to achieve a balance of primary and tertiary flavours. The nose is highly attractive and graceful. The acidity remains refreshingly high, tannins are ripe yet high. The flavours start to become more subtle and more well integrated.
It's quite a nice wine now, but I think it has potential of reaching its peak in 5-10 years.
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9/7/2017 - beatles wrote: 91 Points
Vey much alive, and very much the style of the vintage. Leafy, almost, a bit cab franc like, dusty, very dry and elegant. Ready. #Format#Brandis
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8/27/2017 - Thejaaysog Likes this wine: 97 Points
Wow. So bright and alive, a perfect blend of mature cassis, cedar and red berries with the vigour of youth.
Quite a fantastic experience, a heavily saturated cork, heavy with the wine its absorbed over the last 32 years. A colour that does not give much away, dark and serious. The nose was quite spectacular, leather, wood and liquorice. The pallete as stated, red berries, cassis, cedar, smoke and perfect sweetness and drive, balanced and to be honest, cracking aged claret. Bravo.
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8/19/2017 - Sonoffalstaff wrote: 94 Points
Last bottle of a half case. Lovely complexity and balance throughout. The hint of green I had noted previously had finished. Is it past its peak. I doubt it but would doubt it will improve from here.
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7/23/2017 - rocknroller wrote: 96 Points
So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodnight: A Night to Remember (Capitalle Grille, Mpls, MN): Very dark red/purple color. Slow ox for 2 hours, drank 1 glass over 2 hours. On a night where the shining stars were the wines from the 50's and 60's, this was nearly as magical, and on any other night might have been WOTN. A beautiful wine that is maybe, just maybe ready to go. Lovely dried herbs and spice on the nose, tobacco leaf, lively, cherry and cassis, mint, an elixir of silken texture that is actually almost delicate in its elegance. The is one of the best LLC's I've had. 95+ to 96pts.
Addendum: First of all, I need to get Chablis28 to stop copying my paper, cheater...J. It is amusing, because I didn't read his note til after I wrote mine, only to find our impressions so similar. Funny.
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7/23/2017 - chablis28 wrote: 95 Points
On any other night this is a WOTN but how could it ever compete with a '55 Haut Brion, '59 Latour, '61 Montrose and a 61 GPL??? And still this wine, while seemingly youthful at only age 32 :), rose to the occasion and held its own in such rarified company. Elegant, balanced, caressing; dark cherry, mineral, cedar and tobacco leaf. Terrific cigar box, earthy dark fruit on the nose. This was a great btl of wine! Paired wonderfully with great steaks at Capital Grill.
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5/8/2017 - mimik Likes this wine: 94 Points
At peak. Nice secondary and tertiary aromas on oak and tobacco framed with cherry fruit. Medium short finish. Will last but not improving. Drink up.
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5/7/2017 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 92 Points
Required a one hour decant, drinking quite well. Consistent with prior bottles.
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4/5/2017 - hajoha wrote: 93 Points
Bordeaux 1985 horisontal (Oslo): Ren, elegant og tiltalende på duft
Deilig stram frukt - mange fine år igjen her.
Helt nydelig presis vin.
Fin kurve og sitter meget lenge med suberbe faste tanniner. 93-94p
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3/17/2017 - Jeff Leve wrote: 95 Points
This has really come around and is showing all its fabulous charm. Concentrated, deep, fresh and juicy, with freshness, crisp, red fruits, tobacco, cedar and tobacco leaf, the fruit in the finish shows a freshness and purity that makes you want to keep drinking it. It took a while to come around but it was worth the wait. This could be the best LLC for current drinking today.
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3/16/2017 - GuWin wrote: 94 Points
Supersmooth og lekker med typiske toner av solbær, lær, sigarkasse, og cedertre. Flott frukt, en solid munnfull av modne mørke bær, smak følger duften med søtlige solbærtoner og duse vaniljetoner. Meget pent utviklet. I blant glemmer man hvor godt bordeaux kan være, dette er suverent.
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3/5/2017 - djhammond Likes this wine: 95 Points
A classic nose of blackberry and cedar and cigar box, the wine really develops in the glass eventually giving a deep concentration of fruit and sweet tannin on the palate before completing with a good long finish. Drinking at its peak there is no reason not to consume this now.
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2/28/2017 - Nanda wrote: 92 Points
50th Birthday Winefoolishness (Chicago, IL): An elegant Bordeaux. Full nose has mature cherry fruit layered with green pepper, tobacco leaf and herbs. Palate is light-to-medium bodied with good mature fruit. Nice complex array of flavors. Elegant style and well proportioned. Drinking in harmony and offering a lot of pleasure.
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2/28/2017 - Burgundy Al wrote: 92 Points
50th Birthday Celebration Dinner with Wine (Hughes House - Chicago IL): Black currant and cherry with faint green bell pepper hints that added some intrigue. Very good balance with elegant tannins. Good concentration. Drinking beautifully. Probably no upside from here, but lots of life remaining.
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2/25/2017 - lovewine123 wrote: 95 Points
Ex-Chateau perfect bottle. A transparent and charming wine at its peak. The nose and palate show the complexity from left bank. I wish I have 2 cases so I can drink every quarter for 6 years. I love 85 left bank!!!
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2/19/2017 - jdesimone4 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Opened for 30-60 minutes before drinking. Got better with time but lacked any punch or complexity. Very drinkable and a little more came out over the evening but would definitely drink this now
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2/10/2017 - BradE wrote:
This has always been one of my favorite Las Cases. Delicious.
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2/1/2017 - Billigan Likes this wine: 93 Points
Really tremendous nose, with a big cedary blast and loads of herbs and tobacco. Good balance, resolved tannins (surprisingly so, given we're talking a LLC that's "only" 30 years old), and a middleweight palate with sweet, old fruit. Despite the only light grip, this has plenty of spine to go longer, but I don't see much upside here, so recommend drinking this very fine, if not head-spinning, Bordeaux.
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1/20/2017 - J o e wrote: 96 Points
Right off the bat, there is an aromatic explosion that nearly overwhelms the senses: leather, dark cherries, cedar, violets and green tobacco all compete for attention. Medium-bodied, with a solid core of mostly dark fruit, minerals and hints of earth and mint. A long, complex finish is capped off with good acidity and gentle tannin. This is the best 1985 Las Cases that I have drunk -- of course, this is my last bottle! Fully mature, but will last for another 10+ years without a problem. Perhaps lacking the density of the 1986, but better balanced and more enjoyable to drink...at least to me. Great stuff! 96.
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1/1/2017 - Poisey Likes this wine: 95 Points
Long and balanced. Complex and constantly changing in decanter and glass over two hours. Lead, mint, flowers, earth and red berries. Peppery finish with a hint of spice and cedar. Just a hint of tannin left in this. Silky smooth and so elegant. Perfect balance. Still going strong. Drink 2016-2024.
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12/25/2016 - thefatheroftheyear Likes this wine: 95 Points
Decanted for 3 hours. Delicious Nose, smooth finish. Great Ex-Chateau from 1985
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12/22/2016 - fcxj wrote: 88 Points
Enjoyable.
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12/18/2016 - William Kelley Likes this wine: 95 Points
From recent ex-Château release, the 1985 Léoville-Las Cases might be my favorite vintage for this estate. A beautifully pure and extrovert bouquet of creamy cassis, blackberry, pencil shavings and a classy framing of new oak. On the palate the wine is youthful, vibrant and supple, with great depth, concentration and length, and still underpinned by a chassis of fine, detailed tannins.
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12/2/2016 - wineguy75 wrote: 94 Points
2hr decant. Smoky w/ hint of tobacco.
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11/10/2016 - Donjcorleone Likes this wine: 96 Points
The '85 Leoville Las Cases shows a beautifully elegant nose of blackberry currant, cedar, tobacco and green pepper that lead way to a smoky, black cherry driven flavor profile that is fully resolved and carries good acidity as it lingers on the finish.
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11/9/2016 - heegaard Likes this wine: 95 Points
Fantastic wine still at it's best. Most tasters expected the vintage to be around end nineties.
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9/15/2016 - jeff nowak Likes this wine: 97 Points
Stood up for weeks, and decanted for sediment. Clean cork. Consumed over two hours. A favorite house and anniversary year. A virtually perfect bottle. I squawk about holding wine too long, but here is an example that defines the other side of the coin. Still showing lush fruit as tannins are mostly integrated. Wonderful composure and acid, which I too often ignore with Bordeaux. Fun and fabulous! Drink (!) or hold 5 more years.
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9/8/2016 - Burgnick Likes this wine: 92 Points
85 Leoville Las Cases- decanted for two hours, nose had dark fruit, ash, green pepper and ink. Palate has a bold structure with deep black fruit. It lacks the smoothness of many 85 bordeaux that I enjoy. Very high acidity. This is still too young with 15 more years in its drinking window.
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8/8/2016 - melzar wrote: 94 Points
Bought ex chateau this past spring. Not as evolved (or as good) as my bottles cellared since release. Fill high neck and cork pristine with only slight red staining at the wine end. Very little sediment. Could this wine have been reconditioned at the chateau, or even late bottled? Wines this old don't have a cork that looks like this. That being said, beautiful fragrant nose typical of the great wines of the '85 vintage. Vibrant fruit and acidity on the palate and a lingering finish. Well balanced and tasting young.
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7/10/2016 - Sonoffalstaff wrote: 93 Points
This shows why great Bodeaux is a v different exoerience. Light, savoury with a hint of green on the nose. Wonderful complex and as listed below unbelievable length. Tied against Margaux 94 and this is better if you are going to auction!
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6/6/2016 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 93 Points
Mature black plum. Rocks and minerality. Sweet earth. Silky acids. 93+
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4/22/2016 - JulianSkeels Likes this wine: 95 Points
The usual powerful cedar and tobacco nose. With air this still develops great persistancy but seems to have less of the mouthfeel I loved in this wine 5yrs ago (see my previous CT notes). The wine was from my cellar but slightly too warm to show its merits fully. Still has by far the biggest LLC nose. The charcol and sweet black cherry finish was still there with air, but I just wonder if this is finally beginning to fade. Will need to try another bottle at home soon to be sure, but based on this I think best to drink now to 2025 with 2hr double decant...
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4/11/2016 - Ericsson wrote: 90 Points
Belle bouteille, niveau mid neck. Bouchon très imbibé mais sorti d'une seule pièce.
Couleur grenat avec reflets orangés.
Non carafé mais ouvert 90 minutes avant dégustation.
1er nez très varié, vanille, cèdre, cassis, tabac, puis écurie et finalement sang, fer.
En bouche, belle attaque vive, bonne acidité, mais manquait de fraîcheur globalement, tanins légèrement amers, assez bonne longueur.
Cette bouteille était moins bien, sur le déclin.
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4/5/2016 - FransS wrote: 90 Points
Of course not bad at all, but no wow, because the peppers were too obvious in the bouquet. I also found the wine too hefty and edgy, with very firm tannins. Is it unripeness, is it a bad period in its evolution, or simply a bottle out of balance?
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3/18/2016 - Burgnick Likes this wine: 91 Points
Opened two bottle. One of them was corked. It took 2 hours in the decanter to open up the wine. It was younger than the 85 lynch bage. The nose was a bit restrained initially. It then opened up with tar, sous bois, green peppers, leather and soil. Palate had leather and good amount of fruit. But the nose and palate did not really fully express itself. Need to revisit it. Could be an imperfect bottle.
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3/17/2016 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Tampa Spring Break (the abridged version); 3/17/2016-3/18/2016 (Various Tampa locations (Mise en Place, Ocean Prime, etc.)): My other contender for WOTN this wine was just in that perfect moment. It had been opened and decanted for a few hours and seemed to be at peak drinking level when we tried it (maybe even better than when we had it a few weeks ago). Still very fresh. Great nose, leaves and brambles and leather and floral. All very smooth and well integrated.
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2/22/2016 - djhammond Likes this wine: 94 Points
Has developed a rather austere note over the last few years but still is a classic old fashioned Bordeaux with a good balance of fruit and somewhat harsh tannins. Good long finish, it needs to be consumed over the next 5 years.
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2/14/2016 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Escape from the Cold; 2/12/2016-2/15/2016 (Sunny & Warm Florida (Del Ray Beach, Jupiter)): Nice aged Bordeaux, still drinking relatively young, was surprised at how much power there was to this wine, but might have been because we were coming off an old aged Burgundy. Very earthy.
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1/2/2016 - Goldstone Likes this wine: 92 Points
Chateau-reconditioned bottle. Decanted for a couple of hours then consumed over the next two. Perfect condition and still a very robust if lightening colour. Nose is classic Las Cases cedar shingles, cigar box and graphite with some lovely blackcurrant fruit and is in full bloom (unlike the 1982). The palate follows the nose and is a delight. Reasonable resonance and reverberance on the finish. A feminine vintage of Las Cases that is currently drinking at its apogee and will do so for at least a few more years.
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12/26/2015 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 92 Points
Smoke, tar and dry tobacco led on this bottle, followed by white pepper and old leather, then ending with black raspberry. Refined but not overly robust on the palate. Decanted 45 minutes, consumed over the following two hours. Ex-chateau bottle
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12/24/2015 - rwilk_2000 wrote: 93 Points
Yummy! Very well balanced mature Bordeaux. Double decanted for about an hour and drank over next 3 hours. Showing some faint fruit early then quickly shifting to classic earthy tobacco flavor. Showing great. Good for at least another 5-10 yrs.
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11/26/2015 - In2wines wrote: 96 Points
November 2015 - Copenhagen
On a 1985 vertical of 16 wines. For me Is this amoung the top 5 Bordeaux 85 !!! Still massive, as Barton quite masculin, but even deeper dark fruit, tobaco, classy bouquet who tells you that this is great terroir, with almost no sign of age, a wine in balance, and with an aftertaste with last more than 1 min, after 30 years it still look like it is 8-10 years. In top five this year, and in the top three of Las Cases in the 80' together with 82 and 86, who is best of the 3 only time will tell .... .
Drink 2015-2030
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11/20/2015 - steinersing wrote: 95 Points
IWFS Dinner - this wine stood out for me - just perfect balance and evolution - long and elegant.
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11/11/2015 - no leashes wrote: 94 Points
Black cherry and tobacco flavors, medium to full bodied, smooth, silky and elegant. Delicious with a brief decant.
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9/4/2015 - Wine_lvr Likes this wine: 95 Points
Simply amazing....
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8/13/2015 - steinersing wrote: 95 Points
Perfect bottle from Ficofi - quite youthful with good fuit, interesting nose with some pencil shavings, great intensity and length. Long life ahead.
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8/1/2015 - Wine_lvr Likes this wine: 94 Points
°°° Bordeaux 1985 °°° (Emmen, Switzerland): Intensive quite deep red. Nose of coffee, leather and red berries. Powerful, sweet and long. Feels much younger than its vintage. Superb LLC. Drink now over the next 1-2 decades
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7/26/2015 - Remony wrote: 95 Points
Another cracking good bottle. However, some evidence of heat from internally ingrained sediment at the shoulder, although level excellent and source was "ex chateau 2015", from Farr. Cork saturated to the top, also consistent with some heat. I am beginning to doubt the worth (and the extra cost) of ex chateau stock. Fabulous deep colour, intense tertiary flavours, no sweetness, a very senior wine. But earlier bottles from this case were better, if not by much.
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7/9/2015 - SimonG wrote: 95 Points
85 Claret (La Trompette, London): Blind. Significantly darker and denser. A little more austere on the nose. Lead and blackcurrant. Still some tannin. Quite mineral with some tobacco. Very dense and brooding with an underlying richness that's still slightly suppressed by the relaxing structure. Very impressive, and this bottle needs a little longer. Long and complex. LLC? *****
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6/30/2015 - BradE wrote: flawed
Corked.
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6/11/2015 - rossi.wine wrote: 95 Points
Like the Leoville Barton quite dark in colour for the age, a bit brighter and glowing even. Great nose, elegant and understated with notes of mint, tobacco, dark fruit, spices. Slightly more depth than Leoville Barton. Same on the palate - more intensity and concentration, good texture with round tannins, good acidity, plenty of fruit. Elegant, fresh and very long. Has years of life left in it. Just ahead of L. Barton my WOTN, the group's number 2. 94-96
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6/5/2015 - AllRed wrote: 97 Points
Courtesy of Parcival. Deep garnet/crimson core with slight bricking. Opens with a terrific Bordeaux funk, followed by what I refer to as roasted red bell pepper- something I often find in St. Julien and a quality that I absolutely love and by no way use it to mean under-ripe Cabernet. Aromas of lavender, red currants and rose petals, followed by green tobacco and spice box. Very well-integrated at this stage, this is simply elegant and exceptionally balanced. Flavors of red currants, roasted plum, saddle leather, dried herbs and ripe red berry fruit. The finish lasts over a minute, which is the point I stopped looking at my watch. This particular bottle was caught at its absolute peak. Many thanks to Parcival for sharing this beauty.
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4/25/2015 - Eric wrote:
Bordeaux in Bern (Bern, Switzerland): Very mineral and iron on first impression. With some swirling you get the textbook lead pencil aromas, tobacco, mineral, graphite. This is pretty much on point. Perhaps it is not the best 1985 LLC that I have enjoyed, but it was awfully powerful and pleasurable in that brawny and brooding style of Las Cases.
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4/17/2015 - Lype Likes this wine: 93 Points
Seductive very promising nose, on the palate refined dry St Julien type of cedar flauvors, attractive woody characteristics, just as good as expected.
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4/8/2015 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 93 Points
Tasted blind. Ample black raspberry and ripe red plum have this come off as younger than it is. Notes of dry earth, tobacco, bell pepper and pencil shavings. Surprisingly, slightly underperformed versus the 85 Barton on this occasion.
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4/1/2015 - Remony wrote: 96 Points
Ex chateau 2015. Good fill & cork. With Simon & Di on the eve of their trip to the Far East. Decanted 3 hours. Sublime limpid deep colour. Tears. Delicious nose and mature palate, some sweetness but the fruit now relegated to a subordinate role. A most pleasing wine; some very fine, smooth tannins appear after an hour or so, and then meld in. None of the LLC hardness, just a delight.
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3/22/2015 - johnh1001 wrote: 94 Points
Consistent with prior bottles. This is in a wonderful place right now.
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3/21/2015 - Papies wrote:
30 years of 1985 Bordeaux at The Papies (The Papies, Elizabeth St, London): Double decanted and left in bottle for a good 2 hours till we came round to serving it.
This was definitely not a characteristic 1985 LLC. We have been lucky to try this wine on a few occasions over the last 4 years and true bottles of this are stand outs 97s and 98s. Not this one though. felt like a 90-91 wine but we will not rate today as we feel its not a Par bottle. Gladly we have 3 more that are ex-chateau so hopefully those will sing.
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2/7/2015 - Nicholas81 wrote: 92 Points
Slightly musky out of the bottle. Lovely cedar and earthy aromas wafts from the glass. On the palate, the wine showed sous bois, graphite and leather along with plum and some cassis. The wine still had some grippy tannins and can certainly keep for longer but is very delicious at this point.
92 - 93 pts
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1/18/2015 - ttriant wrote: 96 Points
great nose, graphite, leather. Long finish. Almost at its peak.
Awsome!
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12/31/2014 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 92 Points
Wine Group New Year's Eve Dinner hosted by Aniko. 5 wines from 1985, thirty years ago. Nose of graphite, plum, and earth, more of the same on the palate, seemed closed down, opened very slowly but did not improve the score, big body, long finish. My score-tied for third.
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12/26/2014 - Julian Marshall Likes this wine: 95 Points
Cedar, red cherry and cranberry, then cassis and blackberry aromas, before a full-bodied mouthful of the same, with a refreshing lift mid-palate before a long, rich finish. LLC doesn't get much better than this.
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12/24/2014 - James B Likes this wine: 99 Points
This was perfect tonight. After several bottles over several years, this has never been better. No decant was required. Medium intensity garnet color. Deep intensity on the nose; black current, tobacco, other black fruits, forest floor, Bordeaux barnyard aroma. Palate matches the aroma. Low acid; well-integrated, virtually nonexistent tannins. Exceptional length; 60-90 seconds. Tonight, this may have been the best wine I've ever had.
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12/21/2014 - ttriant Likes this wine: 95 Points
Dark red with some brown, leather/forest aromas.
Big, long, leather perncil just amazing wine at its best, we think.
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12/14/2014 - BradE wrote:
From 375ml. When the 85 Las Cases is on, it is beautiful and gorgeous. Tonight's bottle was just that. Delicious.
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11/17/2014 - johnh1001 wrote: 95 Points
From Magnum. Absolutely superb nose of dark fruit, earth, tobacco and graphite. Fully open and mature. Just textbook left bank Bordeaux. Sweet, fresh and vivacious on the palate. Great balance and perfect grip on the long finish. Delicious.
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11/14/2014 - Papies wrote: 95 Points
4 Days 4 Great Events and lots of Parker Points; 11/14/2014-11/18/2014 (Paris & London): Double decanted for about 2 hours and observed over a good hour. Needs decanting. Side by side with Cos 90( Papies 96) and mouton 1986 (Papies 95). Our favourite of the 85s did not fail us albeit not the best performance we have had from it.
Still healthy and marching on albeit the age does lend itself to bottle variation. Open on the nose, well developed but still healthy with a good core of fruit. Herbal side to it, leather and as time went by developed a smoky/ roast meat side that added a new dimension. As always an excellent wine. Good life ahead of it too but better drink some sooner than later.95
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10/25/2014 - paul195 wrote: 94 Points
Similar to prior bottles, mature LLC, still youthful and balanced with a more pronounced richness than prior bottles. Still no sign of the green pepper and herbal elements common with the 1985 vintage.
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10/10/2014 - europat55 wrote: 92 Points
Platinum Tasting - Best of the Bests (Andre and Sabine's House, Mountain View, CA): Tight Bordeaux style nose upon opening, but opened up after a while in the glass (A-). Outstanding, smooth palate (B++/A-).
My #5, Group's #6 (87 pts). Tasted blind.
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9/28/2014 - Ericsson wrote: 91 Points
Bouteille et bouchon en parfaite condition. Into neck. Non carafé mais ouvert 3 heures avant dégustation.
Couleur grenat foncé, quasiment sans traces d'évolution. Nez d'abord retenu puis s'ouvrant sur les fruits rouges puis le cassis. En bouche, le vin est à la fois velouté et rectiligne, avec une bonne trame acide, mais avec une très légère verdeur aussi. La finale est moyennement longue.
Sur la base de cette bouteille, le 85 est clairement au-dessous de 90 qui possède une finesse et une distinction sans pareil, plus proche de 78 mais avec davantage de réserve de marche.
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9/9/2014 - melzar wrote: 96 Points
From 750: At my wine group's blind vertical tasting of LLC. My WOTN among such legends as the '82, '86, '90, and '00. May not have a real long life ahead, but this baby is the most ready to drink of all. The nose in gorgeous complex and forthcoming. Fills the room with a glorious bouquet upon opening. Palate is fruity and well balanced. Easy wine to like and understand. Nice acidity. Long finish. Drink now, but will hold.
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7/29/2014 - melzar wrote: 96 Points
From 750: Another beauty from the under appreciated 1985 vintage. Fragrant Cab nose of black fruits springs from the bottle upon opening, marred only by a slight vegetal component. Palate mirrors the nose. Fill at bottom neck. Wonderful balance, and endless finish. I believe this wine, where well stored is just entering an extended plane of maturity. No hurry to drink up, but if you have a few, pop one now! A candidate, along with Margaux and perhaps Latour for wine of the vintage.
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7/9/2014 - reichken wrote: 93 Points
Hawksmoor- still dark color, well balanced between receding sweet fruit and deeper secondary flavors. Was delicious with a big meaty burger
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6/28/2014 - acyso wrote: 93 Points
HDH auction tasting at Tru; 6/27/2014-6/28/2014 (Chicago, IL): A very stemmy nose that just sings old Bordeaux. Very svelte and restrained and excellent now. Lovely.
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6/8/2014 - JulianSkeels Likes this wine: 97 Points
Tried a 30min double-decant and cool down instead of 2-3hr decant... OMG it was wonderful. Initially light it gained weight with air. Glorious cedar and cigar tobacco nose. But the mouthfeel was off the charts; an almost oily (more than creamy) character and pure velvet on the tongue. Impeccable balance and lingering (albeit not particularly intense) charcoal and sweet black cherry finish. Drank the whole bottle myself over 3hrs. I debated whether this was 96 (probably) or 97pts, but gave it the extra point because of the sheer balance and class.
Edit: after drinking this for 2.5hrs (small pours from the bottle, on my own) there is a sudden surge of intensity - massively broad in the mouth and a huge finish. Wowzer. Definitely deserves the 97pts. Glad I've got 2 more cases left.... This will drink for ages!
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6/8/2014 - Philippe_C wrote: 97 Points
Nez de mine de crayon, black fruit, graphite, characoal... very primary red sweet fruit, sappy acidity, very long aftertaste of 45 seconds! (97+/100)
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6/7/2014 - sphBacchus Likes this wine: 93 Points
2nd bottled opened this evening after the 1st one corked - always a nervous moment , hoping the 2nd is not in a similar state . Anyway no fear - just beautiful and drinking very well .
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6/5/2014 - reichken wrote: 93 Points
Opened, decanted for like 2+ hours. Red fruit nose, clean youthful on the Jose. Feels a bit soft but there is tanin in the back bone. Well balanced, easy to drink but still developing. Nice bottle
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5/30/2014 - Zweder wrote: 96 Points
Bordeaux 1985 as main theme (@ Bottles; Sas van Gent, Netherlands): A lot of cassis and other dark and red forest fruits, lead pencil and smoke in the still youthful bouquet. Everything comes back on the palate plus beautiful acidity and mature but still powerful tannin. This bottle is so much better than the one I tasted in 2012. A bottle in this condition can probably last into the 2020’s. 96 for tonight.
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4/24/2014 - ecpratt Likes this wine:
Sadly I forgot to write the notes down, but the wine was decanted for 2+ hours and was just a beauty. Wish I had more...
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3/31/2014 - GrandeSerataFuori wrote: 89 Points
From memory - Unremarkable. Not worth the investment. Drank with MMW+Cline in Caen.
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3/23/2014 - petitblanc wrote: 93 Points
Nice deep color, youthful, with tinges of cinnamon at the rim. Shy nose, notes of leather, damp earth and dark fruit. On the palate, tremendous vinosity and structure, yet elegant, silky, perfectly balanced, with very pleasant dark fruit. Shortish. This bottle had a nice fill but saturated cork and signs of old dried seepage under the capsule, and it took 10 hours of slow oxidation to blow off faint sulfur and moldy notes. Superb wine.
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3/2/2014 - tommydiesel wrote: 95 Points
Slow to open, decanted for two hours. Alive and well at 29 years young. Aromatic and lively fruit. 10 plus years left!
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2/15/2014 - JulianSkeels Likes this wine: 95 Points
Initially slow-o'd for 3hrs, which wasn't enough, then decanted about 2hrs and drunk throughout evening. 2hrs is my standard decant for an 85 St Julien - although they are soft, they still have plenty of tannin (hence why they are lasting so well). Perfect fill and cork, bottle from my cellar. Not quite as aromatic as some 85 LLCs I've had, but this IS an 85 St Julien so obviously has a great nose - here a bit more mushroom and earth than just the usual almost over-powering cedar. Benefited later in the evening from a cool-down (a trick to thicken the wine and re-release the aroma as it warms in the glass). Still shows as a particularly feminine vintage of LLC, but my favourite stage was at the 2hr mark when the mouthfeel was especially good (almost like the 85 Cheval - that lovely and sensual velvety texture and truffle that perfectly counters the tannins) after which it started to show far more lead than typical 85 St Julien cedar. This bottle was more of a St Julien / Paulliac mix than previous bottles. It was also much 'fresher' both in terms of evolution and a detectable acidity lending it balance. Other recent bottles (ex-chateau) have been much more plush. As usual, the wine never faded in the glass all evening - I'm still drinking the last few glasses now (9hrs after the bottle was opened). This will easily cellar for another 15yrs and I believe it will improve further since there is definitely enough density and acidity. Impressive, but this bottle didn't grab me as others have. Frankly I think it was just too fresh. I've been scoring this wine in the 95-97 range; if this is the least enjoyable I've had in a while, then it isn't bad going... still a GREAT WINE, and perhaps my 3rd favourite on average from all my 85s - after Haut Brion and Cheval Blanc (neck-and-neck with Conseillante and just ahead of Magdelaine and Lynch).
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2/10/2014 - keith prothero wrote: 94 Points
Lunch at the brilliant Overture restaurant in the Cape winelands. Decanted just before serving
Colour deep, clear crimson/garnet with slight browning at the edges. Wonderful nose of cinnamon, , plums and blackberries. Palate to match: lush and inviting - beautiful black fruit, raisins with a touch of earthiness. Fine tannic structure,silky smooth and good length. Not as good as the Cheval Blanc in this vintage but not too far behind. Excellent/outstanding
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1/23/2014 - Jeff Leve wrote: 95 Points
Leoville Las Cases that is still young at close to 30 years of age is not all that surprising. But this is from an early drinking vintage! With an hour of air, the wine started singing its song of tobacco, cigar box, cassis and truffle. Concentrated, fresh and long, this traditional wine has another two decades of life, or more. This is the longest lived wine of the vintage.
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1/10/2014 - europat55 wrote: 94 Points
Platinum Tasting - Wines that go well with steak (Andre and Sabine's House, Mountain View, CA): Fabulous nose (A). Gorgeous palate (A-).
My #1, Group's #1 (22 pts). Tasted blind.
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12/14/2013 - ricknat1 wrote: 95 Points
Elegant, perfectly balanced and altogether beautiful
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12/1/2013 - Venexian wrote: 92 Points
Colore scuro e giovanissimo. Naso molto elegante, con frutto concentrato, graffite, tabacco biondo. Note vegetali praticamente assenti. Anche in bocca è giovanissimo, vellutato, buona densità, con finale succoso e minerale.
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11/8/2013 - Xavier Auerbach wrote: 93 Points
VEO tasting - Mature Claret (Restaurant Bordewijk, Amsterdam, NL): Attractive, fully mature, lively, clean, well-structured, very feminine style for a modern LLC, classic Pauillac (sic!) profile, pure and precise, richer style than the 1970, wonderful complexity, lovage, floral, ripe fruit.
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10/25/2013 - rossi.wine wrote: 96 Points
Amazing nose, super complex: Spices, mushrooms, great red fruit, ripe - chocolate, wood, pretty moorish. Quite amazing on the palate, sour cherries, red berries, great acidity, no tannins, really very long, exceptional balance and structure, amazing, drink now-2017.
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9/12/2013 - CWang wrote: 94 Points
My wine of the night; also allowed to breathe for about an hour prior to serving; the nose, very elegant, fragrant, and intense aromas of wild berries, dark cherries, fresh mints, lillies, roses, and violets; the palate, complex, creamy, fruity, full-bodied, juicy, mellow, and velvety yet still a bit tannic; the finish, very juicy and long, plus some unresolved tannins; very delightful to drink this one at the end of tonight's tasting event; 94-95 points at this stage; probably still a few years away from its peak but very drinkable and enjoyable already.
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8/26/2013 - sphBacchus Likes this wine: 90 Points
opened after we'd had the wonderful '78 Figeac and this seemed restrained after that wine . Dark red and still appeared and tasted like a much younger wine with a long way to go . Next bottle we'll decant well in advance and see how it develops over time .
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8/2/2013 - boxedwine wrote: 95 Points
drank with an 85 gruaud and both bottles were outstanding. preferred the gruaud early in the evening but the las cases was the winner after the 3 hour mark. this bottle was better than the last one.
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3/29/2013 - Goldstone Likes this wine: 94 Points
Wow...what a treat, opened by Greg as we gathered for Easter at our next-door houses in Thailand. No detailed notes but this was exquisite...... drinking absolutely at its zenith now and an absolute delight. To my mind, this is a feminine year for Las Cases and it exhibits a gorgeous velvety sultriness balanced by the more typical pencil lead and graphite-precise upright Prussian Hussar character that is always present in this wine. Beautiful...... I couldn't argue if others felt this deserves a higher score. If you buy your wine to drink it, anyone buying 2010 or 2009 (or even 1996) instead of this.... is nuts.
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2/17/2013 - englishman's claret wrote: 93 Points
From 375. Mature disc. Svelte, sophisticated, perfumed nose. Obvious class. Currants, oak, Indian spices; elegant but still with lots of punch. Stylistically, this really fits the mold of the '95 which is surprising given the differences in the character of the vintage. The nose isn't really jumping out of the glass here; is it ready?
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2/14/2013 - mwanasheria wrote: 95 Points
A very nice Léoville Las Cases. Attractive sweetness, some tar, coffee, leather, cedar. Great.
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1/11/2013 - LWI wrote: 93 Points
20 Vintages of Château Léoville Las Cases: A bit shut down, metal and fruit, but blossoms in the glass, black currants and minerals in the mouth as well. After about 1 hour this was an open and wonderful claret.
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1/11/2013 - LWI wrote: 93 Points
20 Vintages of Château Léoville Las Cases: Very good balance and fruit, complex, almost peacock tail finish, structured, some sweetness, a tad short?
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1/11/2013 - GuWin wrote: 93 Points
Léoville Las Cases Grand Tasting (At Kim Aa's place, Ulvøya, Norway): Dark ruby, light brick red rim. Blackcurrants and blackberries on the nose, leather, cigar box. Wonderful structure, really complex. Not as tight as the '82 and '86, but smooth and velvety, drinking great now
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12/12/2012 - Zweder wrote: 91 Points
Monthly Tasting Group HWS #074; Bordeaux: St. Julien (By BS): Dark garnet red. A beautiful and luxurious, mature bouquet with sweet spices and a touch of barnyard. On the palate luxurious as well, some chocolate and silky soft tannin. Beautifully mature and completely ready now. This bottle was close to the end of its maturity stage. 91
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12/8/2012 - Papies wrote: 97 Points
Beyond a Birthday dinner! (The Papies, Elizabeth St, London): Another masterful performance by this amazing wine. And for lovers of well aged classic bordeaux like us this is probably as good as it gets.
Decanted for 2 hours and definitely helped develop the wine. The colour shows its age but u forget that the minute you smell it. The nose is as classic as it gets, herby, leather, earthy/mushroom notes and cigar box. On the palate it is well aged with good balance of fruit and secondary notes. Full of life and with silky tannin. We could go on for a long time here. Simply wonderful. 96-98
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12/2/2012 - drdecanto Likes this wine: 93 Points
I have always liked this wine and popped the cork on what appears to be the last of nearly 2 cases that I've had. This was OK, but I've had stunning bottles of this wine. This bottle had a complex nose. Excellent mouthfeel and flavors. Smooth, well integrated and a long delicious finish. Tasted alongside an 86 Ducru that it blew away. This is holding its own. I purchased all of my bottles within a few years of release, but from a variety of sources and I don't recall if the better bottles were sourced from the same place.
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11/21/2012 - Jamie Manley wrote: 95 Points
Due to some talk about this wine on another thread, I just had to pop one of these. Perhaps the longest living wine of this venerable vintage, this is still packed and stacked. Though I may still prefer the mystical flavor profile of 85 Lynch, this 85 LLC speaks of place. Wafting aromas of saddle leather, moist tobacco, damp earth, plum, cassis, graphite, and pencil - this immediately is identified as left bank Bordeaux. My fading olfactory capability prevents me from nailing it as St Julien, but younger tasters should be able to tag it. Palate is very rich and similar in taste to the nose, but I would add notes of sour cherry and a hint of tar. Completely resolved with a beautiful mouthfeel that peels away in layers, this wine exemplifies why we are all so particular to ageing and storage.
Complete winner! 95+ Pts
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11/15/2012 - JulianSkeels Likes this wine: 96 Points
Tobacco, thin but rich and elegant. Feminine, much longer finish than LLC 1990. Very 1985 and very St Julien (Pierre Graffeuille of LLC seconded this). Held up in glass better than 1990 LLC. This wine is NOT about to fall away. Great aromatics and new saddle leather. For me, the best LLC to drink now and over next 5yrs. Get more...
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11/10/2012 - brooklynguy wrote:
Stunning, eye opening wine. Light in body when first opened and showing very mineral at first, pencil lead, fresh wood, earthy smells. fleshes out and blossoms beautifully. There is richness of dark dry cassis fruit, and it is viscerally pleasing and lovely. The minerals remain prominent too, and the wine articulates itself so clearly, is is so stunningly balanced, there is so much finesse. A very fine wine, inspiring.
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11/10/2012 - johnh1001 wrote: 93 Points
Drank over three hours. Did not decant. Another good bottle. Very pungent and funky old Bordeaux nose but with plenty of sweet fruit. More red and black fruit on the palate. This bottle was slightly rougher on the finish than prior examples.
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11/3/2012 - Thracian Alvarinho wrote: 96 Points
This is a great LLC. Superb palate. Cassis and dark cherries. Very long finish.
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10/25/2012 - Papies wrote: 98 Points
Leoville Las Cases 2004 > 1982, with Michael Schuster (Bordeaux Index, London): Once again this wine mesmerised us and was easily the WOTN among the vertical of LLC. The nose on this wine! Open and pours out of the glass, an elegant mixture of floral, herbacious ( the cabernet franc!) , cedar and earth. Well round, very much alive and vibrant with good silky tannin. Long finish with lots of fruit. A great LLC full of elegance and balance and probably at its best at the moment. We can go on and on here but to put it simply a solid 98!
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9/29/2012 - Julia7ich wrote: 96 Points
Deep dark ruby. Sweet cassis and charred cedar with a hint of black currant leaf. Rich, ripe juicy fruit is highlighted by refreshing acid. Abundant, very fine-grained tannins. Long, elegant and classy with blackberry and spice on the long finish.
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9/28/2012 - James B wrote: 96 Points
This was a star tonight; best bottle we've had yet. Did not require a decant. Medium-plus intensity garnet color. Beautiful intense aroma of leather, black currant, nutmeg, and the signature Bordeaux barnyard. Perfect on the palate. Flavor characteristics match the nose perfectly. Medium intensity on the palate; extremely soft tannins; low acid. The bottle age and the muted tannins allow fascinating secondary and tertiary characteristics to shine through. Medium length. This was just beautiful. Probably has a few years left, but it won't get any better. Drink up.
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8/20/2012 - JBVino wrote:
Stupendous. Mature bottle w classic leather, cedar and graphite flavors... Classic Bordeaux at its best.
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8/2/2012 - Xavier Auerbach wrote: 93 Points
Fully mature at 27 years old, cedar and gravel, quintessential Saint-Julien, 1985 charm married to typical LLC backbone, lovely meaty flavours, very good length. A classic. Now - 2020.
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7/24/2012 - cooberp wrote:
Bordeaux WIMPS (The Ledbury, London): Popped and poured as a backup for a flawed wine. Ripe, rich blackcurrant, complemented by a modest cedar note. Right at the start of its drinking window--primary, with a bit of tannin still interfering. Others at the table gleefully pronounced this first-growth quality. Maybe, but I'd need to see it with at least two hours of air if not another 5-10 years in the bottle.
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6/23/2012 - canan wrote: 93 Points
Leoville Las Cases - Vertical Tasting (Le Sommelier, Copenhagen): Black currant (shrub) and sewer nose with a quite intense cabbage note but not in a bad way. Also a little soy note.
Juicy black currant fruit with solid acidity and the texture is almost creamy. Precise and sharp wine.
A really nice and mature wine. 91-93p
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6/23/2012 - Jamie Manley wrote: 95 Points
As they said about the late great Italian tenor, Giuseppe Di Stefano, "Ultimi dei grande" - last of the great ones! Is this the last of the great 1985 Bordeaux? Perhaps, but what a curtain call! What a wonderful vintage and what a wonderful Las Cases. The aromatics filled the room upon cork extraction and never relinquished. I have always adored the perfume of 1985, and along with Lynch Bages, this Las Cases is right at the top. Wafting aromas of tobacco, wet soil, cassis, iodine, and very delineated pencil fill the nose. The palate really boasts rich fruit with cherry and cassis, followed by gun steel, flint, tobacco, earth, slate, and intense pencil. Velvet in the mouth with layers that peel away while unraveling the great complexity of this Las Cases. At peak for some time now, this wine posseses the fruit, tannin, and acidity to give pleasure for quite a few more years. Bravo! 95 + Pts
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6/9/2012 - Jeff Leve wrote: 95 Points
This is the best example of this famed chateau for current drinking. Filled with ripe cassis,tobacco, earth and spicy aromatics, coupled with concentration of fruit and elegant tannins, this shows great today. With ample tannin and structure to age, this will only get better. The long, powerful, cassis filled finish lasts close to 40 seconds.
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6/3/2012 - bon vivant wrote: flawed
Corked. (82,85& 89 SbS) 85 corked, 82 was soft and velvety and I loved the texture so it was my favorite but the 89 seemed like a fresher bottle with nice dark notes that promised more good days ahead. A bit of the 89 left in bottle overnight (no gas) was even better the next day.
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6/1/2012 - lepetitchateau wrote: 92 Points
From a really big bottle... this was a very plausible wine, showing classic Bordeaux flavors and what not... most everyone (when not fighting over FB) enjoyed it.
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5/27/2012 - Reptibark wrote: 94 Points
NB- This wine was drunk on a very special night, so perhaps I'm giving it slightly more than it deserves...
Right out of the bottle, the wine was going 100MPH. Notes of sweet cinnamon, fleshy fruit, pitted and mashed plums and juice, herbs, anise and baked berries on the nose, while the palate is plush and still ripe, showing lots of that black fruit note, pie filling, sweet berries and spice. Stunning. Tannins are still there but sleek and polished, they act as a guide and sherpa instead of a boxers punch (which, some of these '85s can still have). After two hours in the decanter, the wine really blossomed with a cocoa note coming through and the minerals beginning to mesh. Acid is still sharp and the wine is fantastically perfumed. I want to simply sit here and smell it, but with each taste it seems to get better and better. If you find these available for even a pseudo-reasonable price, I'd jump.
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5/14/2012 - Revenga wrote: 88 Points
Zachys Wine Dinner. Not decanted. Deep ruby. Very herbal nose, strong alcoholic wave at first. Then slight caramel. Faint cassis. Quite slim and watery, hints of bacon on palate. Residual tannins that edged out after 30 mins.
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4/18/2012 - Rupert wrote: 93 Points
1985 super seconds tasted blind (Medlar, Chelsea, London): Tight, creamy, very fine, but this one suggests it has more to give so presumably LLC
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4/17/2012 - SimonG wrote: 95 Points
Rupert's 1985 'Super Seconds' (The Medlar, London): Deep, densely fruited. Quite dark. Rich but nicely mineral with a lovely structure. Very impressive indeed. Opens up and oozes class though only near the start of it's window. The class act of the night. Guessed LLC. *****
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4/17/2012 - DavidF90210 wrote: 95 Points
Classic LLC
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3/17/2012 - bevetroppo wrote: 95 Points
Four days later and all from memory. This is a wine I won't forget even if I have no where near a real-time note for a variety of reasons. Sourced from a hotel cellar I had a chance to buy at their acquisition cost. Mostly first and second growths stretching from '82 to '00. About 10 cases. I of course went to inspect and not being born yesterday carried a small thermometer with me. Walking into the cellar was like stepping into a blast furnace. Thermometer read 79 F. I almost cried. No one could say how long it had been that way, because they hadn't sold a bottle of this fenced-off high end stuff in a few years. I walked, but they gave me a bottle of this to try anyway. Color was excellent, no sign of browning or bricking. Wonderfully elegant nose like a left bank jewel box. Everything in perfect proportion, nothing baked or stewed. Really classy and delicious. Easily WOTY so far. No additional notes due to elapsed time.
I made another inquiry and they had sold the whole consignment to a local restaurant for half their acquisition cost. Now I did cry, but I'll never know if my bottle was some genetically endowed super temperature-resistant mutant or if maybe the temperature wasn't always as bad as the day of my visit. Odds are the restaurant will never disclose the conditions of sale to its patrons and mark-to-market. Or try to dump the whole lot into an over-heated Hong Kong auction where at least it will be better than if it were counterfeit. Or maybe not. Sigh.
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2/14/2012 - paul195 wrote: 93 Points
Similar to the bottle we had last fall.
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1/27/2012 - Alexis A wrote: 93 Points
Excellent, just ripe and ready. Great red color, still quite intense and concentrated, barely any orange on the rim. Fantastic nose of red fruit, tobacco and cedar. In the mouth, feels so balanced, fruity and concentrated. Tannins still there but round and soft. No grassyness - which is key for me. Just the right amount of acidity to my liking. Great wine and fantastic value for money.
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1/14/2012 - chrisdawhiz wrote: 94 Points
Remarkable nose with lots of dark fruit. Surprisingly young body with some tannins left. Soft, almost silky palate but not very complex though. Long finish.
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1/8/2012 - johnh1001 wrote: 94 Points
Enjoyed on 10+ occassions. What a treat to drink right now. Perfectly mature, silky, perfectly balanced. Well developed nose of earth and dark fruit. Medium depth and finish. This is in a great spot and will not improve but is sure to hold for several years.
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12/17/2011 - Goldstone wrote: 95 Points
Another Dinner with Greg & Sayo (Their House, Hong Kong): Color is deeply opaque black/red opening to faintly translucent at the rim. Nose is restrained and cool but with bracken trodden underfoot, pencil lead and graphite, definitely has a First -Growth finesse and hauteur to it. Palate is OMG classic mature Bordeaux...lean, very blackberry-driven, lean but not dilute, angular and precise. This has a gorgeous leanness to it...totally opposite from the velvety lushness of the Ch Palmer 1983 we drank before it...but just as good. A wonderful understated long resonance and some reverbatation inside the head. This is like walking down an English country lane in early autumn after a fresh rain shower. This is why St. Julien has such a special place in my heart, especially the 1985 vintage.
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12/8/2011 - salil wrote: 89 Points
Apparently not from a perfectly pristine bottle, but still a very good showing. Fresh red and dark fruits, savoury earthy and cedary notes with high toned floral/herbal accents on a finessed, medium weight frame. There's bright acidity underneath, tannins mostly resolved but the finish seems a little clipped.
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11/23/2011 - paul195 wrote: 93 Points
Classic nose of black currants, leather and cedar. Medium bodied with what are softening tannins. Long finish, good grip, classic Bordeaux.
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11/11/2011 - no leashes wrote: 91 Points
Delicious, mature bordeaux. Mineral, earth, tobacco, cherry flavors, nice finish, well balanced.
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9/10/2011 - Jeff Leve wrote: 95 Points
Earth, truffle, spice, stone, cassis, black cherry, tobacco, mineral, smoke and blackberry scents pop the moment the wine hits your glass. Full bodied and concentrated, the wine combines power with elegance, which is a difficult combination to find. The wine finishes with a long, cassis, spice, smoke and dark cherry sensation. This is probably at, or close to full maturity. There is no reason to hold this Bordeaux wine any longer.
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8/13/2011 - Alexis A wrote: 94 Points
Lovely wine. Had this many times and coming to the end of my case. Opened and decanted. Started drinking after 30min. Very nice color, amazingly fruity nose, full of earthy notes, lead, tobacco. Great balance and so smooth. Lasted easily the 2h of the dinner so probably can pace myself for the rest of the bottles. Great to drink now and perhaps 2-3 years
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8/7/2011 - reichken wrote: 95 Points
Very good bottle. Deep dark color, almost purple. Nose is a mix of cedar, earth, red fruits. Medium long length, wine was very well balanced. It is still getting better
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6/29/2011 - diengo wrote: 94 Points
Great complex wine and still with lots of aging potential.
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6/10/2011 - dimadavtian wrote: 90 Points
Great fruit notes, decanted for short period.
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5/28/2011 - melzar wrote: 92 Points
From 750, this still at age 26, tastes young to me. Fill well into neck. I have had bottles of this wine more evolved than this. Nice nose, great on the palate, and enough acidity to provide a nice finish. If this bottle is typical, the tannins suggest a long life ahead. The '78 remains my favorite Leoville Las Cases for current drinking.
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5/25/2011 - Papies wrote: 95 Points
We love 85 st juliens. They are among the nicest bdx for the price from any vintage. And this las cases did not fail us. Needs a bit of decanting to open but then it has a lovely herbaceous nose with nice fruit notes. Smooth but alive and long on the palate and although not the powerhouse the 86 is this is a lovely wine. 95+. drinks very well at the moment
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5/20/2011 - Goldstone wrote: 93 Points
Dinner at Greg & Sayo's (Hong Kong): Near-transparent deep crimson-purple colour just lightening to transparency at the meniscus. Nose is an immediate waft of damp loamy earth, heady cedar resin, deep rich spices, old packing boxes and lots of persistent red berries fruit. Palate is very heady and immediately resonant in the head from the first touch on the tongue.....soft, resolved tannins and still very racy vibrant acidity...very velvety tannins and hints of Ying Yeung (Chinese half tea/half coffee) with Carnation condensed milk. Lovely sweetness of fruit on the back end....still fresh red and black fruits. Gets sweeter and more fruity with extended time in the glass and with incense emerging. Medium length and resonance on the finish but enhanced by beguiling smoky incense. I would drink this up whilst it's still at its height....absolutely gorgeous.
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5/16/2011 - reichken wrote: 93 Points
dark color in the glass, looked younger than the 90 gruaud larose next to it. full in the mouth, still showing some nice dark fruits and a lovely combo of coffee and lead. nice long finish , well balanced, like this wine/vintage
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5/15/2011 - Bob in NC wrote: 95 Points
Deliciously smooth and balanced.
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5/10/2011 - Reiver wrote: 95 Points
Classic and wonderful Las Cases
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5/4/2011 - MattTM wrote:
Château Léoville Las Cases Back Vintage Dinner (Chambar Restaurant, Vancouver, BC): Youthful nose showing lots of leather, dark plum, black cherry, lead pencil, and prune. A touch sweet on the palate, with notes of cherry, black plum, coffee, and tons of spice. Tannins are resolved, with low acidity. Medium finish with notes of espresso and spice on the end. This is drinking well, but I would consider it towards the end of it's drinking window, and beginning it's slow decline.
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4/29/2011 - Grenik wrote: 94 Points
Martin Weiner's Magnificent Ch. Latours (1934-2002) Plus the Best of ths Grand Cru Neighbors (Martin Weiner): Burgundy core with a moderate rim. Intense nose that is smoky, graphite, tobacco, mineral. The palate just pops. It is bright, with gunmetal, high tannins and acidity. Needs some balance. It has plenty of structure to continue aging in the bottle.
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4/23/2011 - reichken wrote: 94 Points
big dark almost still purple color. nose of dark fruits some earth and a bit of green pepper. this wine was very youthful and just got bigger and bigger in the glass. very good drink with a long life ahead of it
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4/19/2011 - reichken wrote: 94 Points
Dinner at The Square. Deep garnet color deep dark earth fruit nose with a touch of pepper. Big and full in the mouth. Still quite young and lush. Bottles were in good condition. This wine as very appealing and still has much life to it. Table quaffed it!!!!
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3/23/2011 - Chainthroer wrote: 95 Points
Browning at the rim; dark garnet color; cork was soaked to the brim, but very little ullage. Well integrated oak, blackberry, blackcurrants, cedar, tobacco, earthiness, leather. Balanced and elegant wine. Very nice smooth finish. This wine has been drinkable since I first tasted it in 1991. It's at its apogee now and probably has a few years left. I've tasted this wine several times: throughout the nineties I scored it between 92-93; in the 2000s it seems to have transformed into a more elegant and refined wine and has scored higher. I think it's the last bottle - I mean in my cellar! Paired well with roasted tri-tip.
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3/11/2011 - SimonG wrote:
Farewell Chertsey (Home): Really quite dense graphite and blackcurrant nose. Very left bank and suggestive of Pauillac. A nice mix of sweet fruit and classical restraint. Dense and quite deep. Opened up through the evening with the sweet-fruited aspect coming to the fore with a nice mix of spices. Vevy long and very lovely. *****
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3/10/2011 - Captain Haddock Likes this wine: 96 Points
Youthful colour. Full on, beautiful nose of farmyard, cassis, something earthy. Very intense on the palate but not blowsy, still gobs of fruit but fanning out on the very long finish into something savoury and full of promise. This will be delicious for another 10+ years, easily, and I would drink Mouton and Lynch-Bages from this vintage before this wine, which has greater intensity.
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2/25/2011 - SimonG wrote: flawed
Shama's LLC Offline (The Square, London): Lovely nose initially, classic, tobacco but more austere than my previous experience of this.Ah, fairly dry and woody, stripped palate with a good dash of cork on the finish. Shame.
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2/21/2011 - DavidF90210 wrote: 96 Points
Balanced full throttle bordeaux - continued to change in glass. May get better still. 30min decant started to show. Great fruit and a pure expression of LLC.
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2/16/2011 - reichken wrote: 91 Points
home-ruby color, medium deep. nose is cedar and cigars
medium weight, medium length, well balanced
nice drink
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2/1/2011 - Deadheadno1 wrote: 80 Points
Had totally lost all fruit and I have 4 more so I just hope it was a bad bottle...
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12/31/2010 - agbailey Likes this wine: 94 Points
Finally decided to drink this one to ring in the new year, a gift from a friend for my 40th a few years ago. Color is very youthful deep dark ruby, with no bricking at the edges - very impressive given this is 25 years old.
Nose was terrific, rich, layered. Cassis, earthiness on the nose, and a touch of leather. Beautiful.
Flavors and texture matched the nose. Classic bordeaux complexity. Cassis most prominent, touch of cranberry, nice cedar, minerality and some tannins for structure. Nice balance of acidity too. Longish finish.
Delicious. Not sure it gets better from here, so no need to wait in my opinion. Would love to get more of this
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12/30/2010 - ilee wrote: 94 Points
I was initially worried about the top shoulder fill and slightly messy cork on this magnum bottle, but fortunately this wine did not disappoint. Decanted 1 hour before dinner, this wine had a bright ruby colour and the most amazing floral perfume bouquet. On the palate, it was medium bodied with beautiful balance and vibrancy delivered in a thoroughly classic, no-nonsense St Julien style. There was a slight mineral bitterness in the finish, but this detracted little from the overall enjoyment factor.
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12/24/2010 - cortoncharlie wrote: 94 Points
Wonderful bottle drinking at peak. Magnum ex-chat stock. Everyone preferred it to the 89 Mouton which was also from magnum
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11/28/2010 - pc.jams wrote:
Simply wonderful. Perhaps it was luck or spending time shopping reliable sources but this bottle showed very little age. Color was fresh and vibrant with very little significant sign of bricking right through to the edge. I popped and poured after reading various notes on this wine but regret not giving it a few hours to breathe. This isn't a "fruit bomb" with a "60 second finish". This is a very slender and sexy St Julien that has plenty of backbone to keep it sideways for years to come. If you have bottles, open them for a while and let them breathe. If you have enough, keep a few for another 10 or 15. This will continue to drink nicely and likely only better than it does today as the firm tannins continue to melt and give way to the very delicate and delightful tangy fruit that lies underneath.
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11/12/2010 - mmh wrote: 93 Points
Superb nose! Very complex with mature fruit and some smoke. Huge mature taste as well. Sweet minerals. Really very good! Nice acidity that, however, started disappearing after an hour in the glass.
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11/7/2010 - JN wrote: 90 Points
Drink up. Smells like apple pie and cheese, but taste is rusty and old.
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11/5/2010 - Solde wrote: 92 Points
Complex nose with pencil shavings, red berries etc. Maybe a bit muted at beginning but after while improved. Good structure with long after taste. Good balance.
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11/5/2010 - Rubicante wrote: 93 Points
Light-medium garnet, fades from orange to transparent towards the rim, glossy, low viscosity. Unassuming on the nose at first but opens up to a complex bouquet of subdued cassis, cedar, charred oak, earth, tobacco, meat and floral notes. Medium-bodied and warm on the palate with lively, almost sharp, acidity and intense fruit. The aftertaste is long and pure but not as exciting as the wine was as a whole. Not declining yet but I find Léoville Las Cases more suitable to drink with less age on it. Drink over the next few years. 93+/-
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11/5/2010 - avp wrote:
Currants, cherry and raspberry fruit on the nose complemented by notes of liquorice, leather, florals, cigar, meat, bell pepper, cab-vegetals and oak toast.
Vibrant fruit palate with medium weight and supple feel. Perfumy and meaty whole with liquorice, herbs and smoke towards the decent length finish.
Didn't really hold up in glass over time. Very good but according to this bottle I wouldn't keep these much longer.
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10/18/2010 - curtr wrote: 92 Points
These bottles were wonderful. Time to drink up as bottle variation is appearing.
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9/6/2010 - Keith Cooper wrote: 85 Points
I've had this bottle in my cellar for about 15 years, so the 25th anniversary of its vintage seemed to be a good time to drink it. Sadly, I feel that I'd left it too long. Clearly from a good pedigree, the nose had good fruit and earthiness, with treacle and toffee. The taste was less exciting, but quite palatable. Very interesting to taste. However, if you have any, then drink up.
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8/11/2010 - curtr wrote: 91 Points
Not a stellar bottle tonight.
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7/25/2010 - curtr wrote: 92 Points
Lead pencil, medium to full body. A treat now.
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7/8/2010 - jdlee1232 wrote: 94 Points
This is a superbly well balanced wine, and still in its prime. A great nose, long finish, subtle and elegant.
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3/8/2010 - Siggy wrote: 91 Points
Dark maroon color with slight bricking. Aromatically complex, yet brooding and austere on the palate. Expressive lead pencil, cedar, and soil-inflected dark fruit. Beautiful nose. The palate shows deep, plummy fruit and plenty of soil and leathery flavors. Medium body with a long finish that is marred by a touch of citric sourness at the very end. This wine has begun to integrate what must have been a dense thicket of tannin during its first 25 years of life, and could probably still benefit from some more bottle age.
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3/5/2010 - Pearls_b4Swine wrote: 90 Points
Pretty nice wine, though not as complex in taste and aroma as I had hoped. Going out with a whimper?
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2/22/2010 - curtr wrote: 92 Points
A nice bottle. Time to drink the rest.
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2/2/2010 - Siggy wrote: flawed
Tasting Group Dinner - It Was A Great Run (Heidi's, Minneapolis): Corked.
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2/2/2010 - Dave Dalluge wrote: flawed
Groundhog Day!: Badly corked. Too bad.
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12/10/2009 - JJL wrote: 90 Points
Another good bottle, but clearly past prime. Best to drink this after a 30 minute decant. Had a much better '85 Cos next to it.
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12/6/2009 - James B wrote: 96 Points
Perfect! Not enough time for a more detailed note, but this was just ideal.
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11/7/2009 - La Cave d'Argent wrote: 92 Points
Marine Room Leoville Las Cases Vertical Dinner (Marine Room Restaurant, La Jolla, CA): Decanted and consumed 1-2 hours later. Deep-to-opaque red/garnet robe with garnet rim. Quite intense and complex bouquet of saddle leather, blackberries, mushrooms and minerals. Medium-to-full-bodied on the palate, with medium acidity, light residual tannins and a supple mouth feel. Like the nose, the flavor profile is complex. The middle palate is full and the medium-length finish is smooth. This is another seductive '85 that is showing well. Drink now-12/15.
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10/24/2009 - JJL wrote: 91 Points
Brought to dinner at Element in Princeton - The nose on this was like my last bottle with lots of cedar and flowers, really nice. The palate had lots of cherry fruits when opened, but it faded pretty quickly turning more towards tea and leather flavors. This bottle did not have as much weight as my previous bottle. Drank slightly past prime, but good mix with fowl.
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10/23/2009 - winenuts wrote: 93 Points
A good wine, very good balance and nice nose. Decante 1-1/2 ready to drink. Can hold up to 4 hours, the taste still keeps good.
Fine and elegant.
colour 5/5, clarity 5/5, aroma intensity 9/10, nose 12/15, nose complexity 13/15, smoothly 5/5, taste balance 15/15, taste complexity 19/20, finish 10/10 = 93
blackberry, blackcurrant, some floral smell, after decanting three hours some almond and hazulnut taste.
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10/14/2009 - wineismylife wrote: 93 Points
Dallas 2nd Wednesday Group says Goodbye to Lola's (Lola's Restaurant, Dallas, TX): WIML93
Tasted October 14, 2009 at an offline.
Dark garnet color in the glass, clear hue throughout. Nose of herbs du Provence, black cherries, ash an a dash of smoke. Good, solid flavors of black berries and black cherries. Medium acidity, tannins and body. Drink or hold. The nose was just about through the roof. Seductive.
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10/10/2009 - Jeremy Holmes wrote:
This bottle was part of a stash that was frozen on the way to Australia a couple of decades ago, it certainly didn’t affect this bottle adversely as it was outstanding. Beautiful plum and berry fruits intermingling with lead pencil and cedar. It is plump and round in the mouth with good volume and lovely balance.
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8/2/2009 - James B wrote: 95 Points
I was initially concerned about this due to a well-saturated cork; afraid there may have been heat damage at some point. However, the wine was just lovely. It was perfectly balanced. Great Bordeaux nose, with some floral characteristics. Tannins have softened perfectly. Round and delicate on the palate. Still plenty of fruit. This wine is well into its drinkability window but still has many years left.
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7/30/2009 - Eric wrote: 91 Points
This is usually a mindblowing bottle of Las Cases, but particular bottle was more a slow-burn. Reticent aromatics move to a smouldering palate of mineral and red cherry. More tannic and firm than I am used to. After an hour the nose did start to get more expressive, so the pop and pour at a restaurant was clearly a disservice to this wine.
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7/20/2009 - KSC02 wrote: 93 Points
Allowed to air in bottle for 1 hour. Very slight bricking to the edge of glass. Luscious, embracing, aromas of dark fruit, cedar, spice with a graphite and pencil shaving secondary. With time in glass, a lovely, very floral, character began to take precedense. Lush mouth feel with the dark fruit and tobacco coming through. Well integrated tannins with a still very fresh acidity level, suggesting this wine is not ready to begin declining. A very delicate, enjoyable finish. Ready to drink. A very classy wine indeed. Loved it.
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7/12/2009 - winenuts wrote: 93 Points
The waiter opened the wine for me two hours before I reached the restaurant, so I did not know how it smell when it was just opened. When I arrived, the nose was not so noticeable but is nice. Smooth and long last finishing. Balance is excellant. A good one but I believe it may over the peak. I drunk it for another two hours, seem became going down.
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6/26/2009 - Colonel Lawrence wrote: 96 Points
Tasted after a 1993 Lafite Rothschild, and it just blew it away: could asily have been a 1st Growth.
It was fresh, full of rich black fruits, and as mouth filling as a wine can be.
Deepest dark red; long, long finish and close to perfection, except it will clearly get better!
It seemed a youngster in spite of the label age; I would have sworn it was ten years younger.
It had been shaken around on SE Trains, just prior to being poured straight from the bottle, but somehow we escaped the considerable sediment which kindly adhered to the bottle.
Maybe the key was storage; has resided in my cool Transtherm Catel for many, many years (can't remember when I aquired it) and this had clearly deayed the aging process, luckily not to much harm.
The bad news - it was a singleton :(
One of the few I own.
Wonder if I can find some more?
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5/1/2009 - FransS wrote: 93 Points
The second time Loek Habbema let us enjoy this wine. This time decanted (just before dinner).
After 1,5 hour in the decanter the wine was far better than the first bottle without decanting.
A deep ripe colour and a sleek style in the way some very good '88s have.
Very well builded and very balanced, but no charmer. The wine is very stylish and was realy lovely
with Texel lamb. Next time (?) I hope the wine will be given several hours of aeration to enable
the wine to grow and to blossom further. Drink this wine the next 5 years.
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4/8/2009 - no leashes wrote: 92 Points
Delicious mineral, cherry, earth flavors, nice balance. A perfect compliment to Jeannine's lamb stew.
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3/28/2009 - Goldstone wrote: 94 Points
My Birthday Dinner (Crown Wine Cellars, Hong Kong): Deep purply transparent colour with no bricking. Superb open and multi-layered nose of gravel, minerals, cedar, cigar box and distinct graphite which was quite pronounced for a St. Julien, with blackcurrants coming through at the end of the nose. The palate was similar with distinct graphite, pronounced but poised acidity, deep rich blackcurrant fruit, wet granite, very minerally, elegant....with grippy dry tannins on the back end. Good length. This drank beautifully and, whilst now probably fully mature, it has many years ahead of it.
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2/9/2009 - JJL wrote: 96 Points
BYO Dinner at A Voce - Wow, this bottle was absolutely singing. I had this wine a few months ago, but this bottle blew that one away. Lots of cedar, flowers and graphite on the nose, which was almost hypnotic. On the palate, plum, sour cherry and a little smoke and charcoal on the finish. Very well balanced, nothing out of place. Better than the last couple of bottles of '82 Las Cases that I had.
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11/22/2008 - City Wine Journal wrote: 96 Points
Sampled at Les Millésimes du siecle, Le Grand Tasting, Paris. Young! Deep blue, very slight edge color change. Classic depth of aromatics, in equal measure of cedar, tobacco, floral fragrances, and dark fruit. Full bodied and mouth-filling. Integrated. Elegant. Precise. Delicious. Great length. Tannins fully resolved and everything in balance. While it does not quite reach the standard of perfection set by its younger brother from 2000, it is a pleasure to drink this mature St. Julien now and for the next 10 years. A wine that reinforces the pedigree of this chateau, and helps one to be patient with younger vintages which, while compelling now, will also become even more precious when they are as integrated as this 23 year old Second Growth Bordeaux. Wine presented by Yorick d'Alton of Famille Delon, long time ambassador for the chateau.
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10/21/2008 - EHF wrote: 92 Points
An outstanding bottle of wine. Wonderful nose, strong fruit. Smooth tannins, with nice oak.
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10/11/2008 - Teamcrev wrote:
Tasted this in London recently. Was not decanted but left open in the bottle for about an hour. This wine is a powerhouse and seems to have a lot of time left in it. Did not take detailed notes.
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10/3/2008 - paul195 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Dark and brooding to start, tight on the nose with cedar and tobacco mixed with a red fruit core. Materially softened and opened with 30 minutes in the glass. None of the green that is evident in some 85s, but a touch of alcohol heat on the nose. Full bodied, with a lively finish. A engaging wine entering maturity.
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9/15/2008 - cortoncharlie wrote: 91 Points
This bottle was a little "dull" compared to my previous great experience with this wine.
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6/13/2008 - Totatalitarian wrote:
Just can’t say enough about how well this wine drinks now, a real overperformer. Every time someone opens a bottle, I think I should have bought more last year, when the wine could be had for a song (in current Bordeaux terms, at least).
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6/8/2008 - 60ouvrees wrote:
Wouldn't expect an '85 bordeaux to be a heavyweight but even so I found this to be surprisingly light. Still very tasty, but not profound.
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4/29/2008 - smatteo wrote: 93 Points
Dinner @ C&J's / Dad.: Drinking really well at the moment. Nice garnet color, hardly any bricking. Tannins fully resolved, ceder and tobacco on the nose, still some red fruits on the palate. Not a massive wine but very elegant.
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4/18/2008 - Charlie Carnes wrote: 94 Points
Fuller than the 1985 Mouton right beside it. Actually younger and more vibrant. No lightning at the edges. Mouthfeel is ripe, less cassis than Mouton, but with more red fruit like currant. There is a lovely sweet paprika and warm spice box note. My scribbled notes finish: 1. Time reveals sugary sweetness on the mid tongue. 2. Sublimed into a sweet fruit bomb. 3. This gets younger by the minute; any slight initial green fennel is replaced by sweet spices. Finish lengthens and really turns this into a superb wine.
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1/27/2008 - bsherwin wrote:
Bordeaux on the Hudson Part Deux (Peter Pratt's): This is a wine they probably don't make any more. It had a quietness to it that I don't usually associate with LLC reflecting the finesse-driven 1985 vintage. The nose seduces rather than wows with concentrated cassis, anise and graphite. Silky in the mouth, I loved the striking acidity which carried the remarkably fresh and vivid fruit along through the finish. A classic.
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1/11/2008 - Terkel wrote: 93 Points
Bacchus blindtasting (Lasses appartment): Dark red center and a slightly brown hue. Aromas of tobaco, prunes, licorise, earth fruit and moldy basement. On the palate it is fruity at first in particular showing some black currant. More tertiary notes on the midpalate and a good long taste. The tannins have softened up in this one, and it is probably ready for business. Really pretty good.
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12/30/2007 - no leashes wrote: 92 Points
Dark fruit, cedar, and mineral flavors, perfectly balanced, and with plenty of time to go. At Boka for eve of New Year's Eve dinner.
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12/16/2007 - Peppe wrote: 94 Points
This wine was drunk from magnums, it is ready to drink now as opposed to the other wine we had the same night: Lafite 83 in magnums.
If there is a demonstration that you can find good to perfect wines in a less then ideal vintage, Las Cases 85 is a perfect example.
I am sure the magnum bottle contributes to the extra points the wine gained on the night. I am convinced that good mature wine is better in magnums.
This wine has none of the lighness I associate in my mind with the vintage. The wine is remarkably concentrated and sweet. It has lovely balance and power.
Compared to the best Las Cases, it does not have the agility and elegance of the best examples of this wine, but it makes up for it with power, concentration, fruit and sweetness.
If you like mature claret at a decent price, this has got to be a must.
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12/2/2007 - drwine2001 wrote:
Deep in color, looked like a 5 year old Bordeaux. Nose full of high toned cedar, cigar, cassis. Relatively full bodied with resolving tannins but very fresh acidity giving a youthful, vigorous feel. Great balance avoiding any sense of heaviness, should have unusual longevity for a wine from this vintage. Excellent and probably will improve for another 10 years.
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10/20/2007 - sdr Likes this wine: 91 Points
Classic Léoville Las Cases - straightforward Cabernet Sauvignon deep purple color, good to excellent concentration, nicely ripe fruit and strong finish. What it doesn't have is much complexity, either aromatially or on the palate. Still, very satisfying with the excellent bison combo at Marks Las Olas.
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10/9/2007 - Eric wrote:
Dinner at Wilfred's (New York City): Ahhh, probably the wine of the night for a lot of folks. This remains the only LLC I have ever tasted that seems "ready". Still showing plenty of fruit but with an awesome stew of barnyard and mineral flavors. It has all of the best elements of a good LLC with the graphite and that 'black fruit' character (not actually like blackberries but rather that deep, dark, smoldering Cabernet thing), cassis, gorgeous structure and yet a easy, open supple element that is rare for LLC, tinged with some brett, very expressive, good funk, just a delicious wine!
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9/21/2007 - Dave Dalluge wrote:
Kitchen Tasting Group Does Beaver Creek – Day One: A really brilliant showing for this wine. Has a big nose featuring dark fruit, lead pencil,and tobacco. Intense and great. The taste was equally great dominated by dark fruit. Very well balanced. Still somewhat tannic. The finish was extremely long and extremely good. An excellent wine and my WOTF.
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7/31/2007 - Keith Levenberg wrote: 82 Points
When in Romanée... (Eleven Madison Park): Another LLC that failed to win me over to the cult of everyone on the planet except me who thinks LLC is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Black fruit and gummy in texture, this seemed more like 1996 than 1985 in personality, but it didn’t have much personality to go around.
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7/19/2007 - losvinhos wrote: 93 Points
Rolha completamente encharcada. Decantado por 3 horas. Inacreditável! A começar pela cor, com pouquissímos sinais de evolução e pelo mínimo halo aquoso que tambem não indicava o vinho ter 22 anos. Aromas que foram se abrindo, inicialmente apresentando pimentão, especiarias, mentol e passando para tabaco, couro e alcaçuz. Na boca incrívelmente vivo, concentrado e sedoso. Ótima acidez, taninos bem macios e numerosos, muito equilibrio e elegância. Final persistente. Acompanhou perfeitamente um maravilhoso ossobuco de cordeiro.Ainda com bastante potencial, deve alguentar uns bons anos na garrafa e ainda evoluir . Dificil mesmo acreditar que um vinho dessa idade possa estar tão vivo. Excepcional!
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4/12/2007 - winefool wrote: 92 Points
eBob Angelus vs. Leoville Las Cases Vertical (Onesixtyblue): Bright red/pink color. Big bright zingy nose of black fruit, cedar, and spice. Good Tight red fruit with a some acidity and a light metallic finish.
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3/28/2007 - D. Fulton wrote: 94 Points
A very soft and ripe, yet a beautiful, vigorous wine. Silky and velvety in texture. The wine displays beautiful fruit in addition to notes of fresh black peppercorns and the aroma of a freshly snapped green bean. Ready to drink.
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3/10/2007 - Goldstone wrote: 92 Points
Drunk with Joe Lo over a very lazy lunch of pigeon and steamed crab at the Han Lok Yuen restaurant on Lamma Island, Hong Kong (incidentally, one of the best undiscovered restaurants in the world). It could not have been consumed in less reverential circumstances: shaken up by a 60 minute ferry ride and hike, undecanted, a little above optimal temperature and served in sherry-sized wine glasses. Oh, and the cork broke and part was left floating in the bottle. But one sniff of the nose takes you to somewhere sublime and absolutely defines the epitome of Bordeaux at its best. Still broodingly deep red in colour. A wonderful nose . Superbly poised in the mouth: fruit, tannins and acid all in harmony and great concentration. Tar, dark berries, cassis, fruit stones. Dense but welcoming. Impressive length with a definite "inside your head" quality. Just lacks silence-creating power (maybe because of how we drank it) but this will live in my memory longer than many silence-creating wines because of the overall circumstance. This is why I love wine. Drunk alongside a pre-decanted Ch. Musar 1994, which I am a huge fan of, but the Las Cases knocked it into a tipped hat.
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1/6/2007 - sdr Likes this wine: 92 Points
Tasted quickly at dinner at my house since I was doing the cooking. But the obvious class and quality of Léoville Las Cases cannot be denied. Waves of blackcurrent framed by oak. Seems still young, and may develop additional complexity with yet more time.
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12/7/2006 - CamWheeler wrote: 86 Points
A decadent evening (Sydney, Australia): Graphite and cedar lead the nose but some rather green capsicum and stalky characters are hard to get past. The palate is soft and simple, lacking depth and interest. Prominent acid on the back palate leaves the finish short and ultimately unsatisfying. Much better bottles have been had by others attending the dinner in the past.
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11/23/2006 - ashegedyn wrote: flawed
Color: Dark to brick Aroma: Cork'd! green notes, Kirsch, Celery, masked notes of blackberry and currant. Taste: full fruity with a smooth finish, but you can't get past the corked nose. What a disappointment for Thanksgiving! At least I had a d'Yquem to console me.
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11/3/2006 - sdr Likes this wine: 93 Points
This Léoville Las Cases is definitely one of the top wines of the vintage. All it's missing is more complexity and layering to merit an even higher score. Dark color; looks 10 years old. Nicely pefumed with the scent of pure cabernet - blackcurrent, blackberry, cedar. Very full on the palate and the tannins are fine and integrated with the same fruits as the nose suggests. It's on the early side of maturity and should hold very well. The 4 hour decant seems about right. Remarkable depth of fruit, fine stucture and balance. If you don't like this, you don't like Bordeaux.
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10/28/2006 - cousteau wrote: 94 Points
Dark ruby with, surprisingly for us, no bricking at the rim. Very intense nose of cabernet aromas of blackcurrant and graphite. After a while it started showing a nice mint note on the nose too. Elegant and velvety on the palate with a clear acidity that seems to guarantee further life. Ripe fruit and rounded tannins are revealing it's mature phase. Perfect for drinking now and surely ok for more years ahead.
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9/9/2006 - sdr Likes this wine: 91 Points
Andy's bottle. Deep, deep ruby and a depth and concentration of potent cabernet that makes this seem like a much younger wine. Still primary on nose and palate. Lots of blackcurrent and cedar. Classic Bordeaux that will surely develop for many years. My score is probably conservative.
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9/8/2006 - Eric wrote: 93 Points
Seattle Tasting Group does Bordeaux 1990 and older (Issaquah, WA): Black fruit, graphite and dust. Wow, this is a terrific Las Cases, crazily tasty in fact, explosive, a great example of mature Las Cases. This is a bit linear relative to a great vintage, but wow is this satisfying!
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1/14/2006 - phantphant wrote: 89 Points
Tried again. Remained heavy barnyard with less supple overtones than before. Another soaked cork, however, undoubtedly suggests signs of leakage. Drank solid with ox.
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1/1/2006 - winefool wrote: 93 Points
Lovely rich nose. Really rich and nice. 1/06
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10/27/2005 - phantphant wrote: 90 Points
Influenced by 80% soaked cork -- wine was overly barnyardy with a tad of oak peeping through. Was expecting dyanmite but got firecrackers instead.
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10/18/2005 - Alpine wrote: 96 Points
With Jamie Kutch at Pomme......Dark core that appeared younger than its age. sweet saddle leather with some cedar and spice on the nose. the palate agreed with spice and cherry followed by some tobacco and cocoa flavors. this had a wonderful balance of fruit, earth and wood. wine of the night for the majority of the table. These are Jeff Alkins notes from a post on EBob...I am lazy
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10/4/2005 - Russell Faulkner wrote: 95 Points
Excellent, classic graphite moving to cedar and cigar box.
Real depth, lovelly midpalate, missing a touch of acidity that might give it a final push.
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9/30/2005 - SimonG wrote:
Good deep mid brick colour. Ripe sexy nose when opened. Lush. Double decanted. When uncorked and drunk approx 5 hours later it had lost some of its obvious sexiness. Lovely cedary nose. Classic dry claret. Moderate length. Nice, but lost the obvious fruit from when decanted. Plenty of complexity and length. Undersated but really very lovely.
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9/12/2005 - Eric wrote: 94 Points
Dinner at Cascadia (Seattle, WA): When this was first opened I was worried, as the cork was wet just shy of the top, and I smelled a faint hint of orange peel on the first pour, maybe madeirization? However, the moment I took a sip my fears were allayed, as this was firm and clearly sound. The sommelier gave me a full pour, and this was ready to rock, loaded with graphite and hints of cedar, absolutely perfect cigar box, yum!!! The palate had loads of life to it, grippy and still tannic on the backend, very deep color, wonderful black fruit and mineral, never heavy, such a wonderful and loving example of Las Cases and a bargain at ~$100 in the marketplace. This reminded me why I am cellaring so much Las Cases!
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8/20/2005 - sdr Likes this wine: 93 Points
Another resounding success for Léoville Las Cases and surely one of the best 5 wines of the vintage. Dark, dark ruby with no bricking yet at the rim. After a few hours in the decanter, it only takes a quick sniff to realize this is something special. Big blast of cabernet aromas of blackberry, blackcurrant and vanillin oak. It's in its early mature phase. Big and creamy on the palate with length to burn. Packed with ripe fruit and rounded off with supple tannins. Terrific for drinking now and over the next 10 years at least. The class of this Bordeaux made the '84 Ridge Monte Bello seem crude and coarse in comparison.
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8/3/2005 - MRichman wrote:
Leoville Las Cases in NYC (AOC Bedford): Thick and silky with lush dark fruit, deep coffee. Some tannins, but this is ready to go.
B+
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7/23/2005 - sdr Likes this wine: 90 Points
This was difficult to taste coming after three Pomerols. Decanted for 4 hours, it was displaying its flag, but seemed stern after the onslaught of merlot. Very dark color to the rim, still youthful, intense and powerful in a very cabernet blackcurrent way. The structure shows and perhaps a in a few more years this will show even better. Clearly classy and fine.
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5/29/2005 - Rupert wrote: 91 Points
Still dark and not much on the nose; but on the palate, dense, tannic, but loads of blackcurrant and cedar. Impressive.
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5/17/2005 - MRichman wrote:
1985 Bordeaux Horizontal (Bouley, NYC): Smooth, silky, gorgeous. Some sweet herb. Sweet, beautiful fruit. Some tar, leather. Very complex.
A
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3/5/2005 - wyatt777 wrote: 95 Points
still great smell. long after taste. not alot of tannin left. great wind
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11/27/2004 - Eric wrote: 94 Points
Wine with friends (Seattle, WA, USA): Oh wow, this was perhaps my wine of the night. The nose shows massive notes of lead pencil and graphite, gaining aromatic complexity with time. Mmmm, the palate is muscular with sweet, black fruit and loads of minerality, so balanced and pure. This finishes out with string notes of graphite and mineral. Throughout this wine exudes the essence of old-world Cabernet and is everything I would want in a classic Claret, gorgeous!
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11/25/2004 - Xavier Auerbach wrote: 93 Points
Fully mature, characteristic 1985-smoothness but with a striking vitality, powerful and stylish, excellent balance and length. Now - 2015.
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10/30/2004 - Eric wrote: 91 Points
We opened this for Steve's birthday dinner at Nell's. Great fill but not a great cork, wet to the top. (This was a recent acquisition from K&L.)
On initial pour this had an explosive nose, bursting with cassis, cedar and lead pencil. Gorgeous, ripe Cabernet! With time more mineral and charcoal notes start to emerge. As lovely as this was on a fresh pour, it did fade fairly quickly in the glass. On the palate this started out with a hint of astringency, but with an hour of air this integrated well, showing a soft, well-resolved texture. This lacks a bit of depth and structure, and some of that can be a bottle issue. Still, this was a lovely wine to sip throughout the evening and was Steve's introduction to Bordeaux. He seemed to enjoy it.
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5/15/2004 - Jeff W wrote:
Lovely complex fruit and silky tannins. Long. dg
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4/13/2004 - Golfer wrote:
At Winos tonight - to begin, a little tart and acidic. With time, developed most encouragingly, smooth and well-rounded, beautiful fruit with very well-integrated oak. A pleasure to drink, but only after an hour or so's exposure to air. Consensus joint second, with '90 Cos, just pipped by '90 Pichon Baron. In fact, those 3 were for all practical purposes rated equal.
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2/5/2004 - Rani wrote: 92 Points
Tasted at Handford's, in same flight with 1985 Palmer and 1985 Lynch Bages. Quite a sweet nose of dark berries and coffee. Palate is less upfront than the other two wines. Notes of mint on the palate, but great balance with plenty of underlying fruit. Needs 5 more years of cellaring to reach peak.
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8/3/2003 - rmcnees Likes this wine: 93 Points
Tapped this perennial favorite from the cellar, signature and birthyear wine for son celebrating his last night at home before heading off to U. Dark colour, intense aroma, full flavor of plum, cherry, tar, cassis, and anise with a long finish.
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7/1/2003 - sdr Likes this wine: 88 Points
Finally approaching maturity. As usual, dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon. Medium weight. Good thrust, good finish. A wine of muscle, not complexity. Excellent with venison.
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5/21/2003 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 97 Points
1st place out of 6, lovely, rich tobacco, cedar, cassis, and dark fruit on the nose, more of the same on the palate, the richest fruit of the night on my palate, a real step up, medium body, and medium/long finish.
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7/1/2002 - sdr Likes this wine: 93 Points
Just about mature finally. One of the biggest wines of the vintage. Dark and masculine. Intense black fruits. Powerful and long. Not much complexity but the balance is impeccable. Surely one of the best 3 or 4 wines of the vintage. Defeated ‘85 Cos d’Estournel, Ducru and Haut-Brion on this night at Mark’s Las Olas.
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1/1/2001 - sdr Likes this wine: 90 Points
Very consistent. Young and still primary. Powerful. Tastes like pure Cabernet Sauvignon.
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7/1/2000 - sdr Likes this wine: 87 Points
Andy’s bottle. Inky dark and massive. A behemoth. One of the few ‘85 Bordeaux which needs more time. Syrup of Cabernet Sauvignon. Some excess acidity in the finish detracts though.
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9/1/1999 - sdr Likes this wine: 95 Points
Andy’s bottle. Wonderful. Especially full for the gentle 1985 vintage. Intense, concentrated and persistent. Shouts Cabernet Sauvignon. Civilized and pure. Just about ready now and will go on for many years.
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8/23/1999 - Marc wrote: 93 Points
Then it was tine Quail stuffed with Macadamias over braised red cabbage (it is still winter down here). With this we had two clarets - Palmer 85 and Ducru 85 - our host thought the Ducru was crap (I did not agree, though I will get to his reason) and opened the Leoville Las Cases 85 to redeem himself! The Palmer was just delightfull - mature Claret at the wines peak - compelling aromas and a ripe (but not 82 ripe) mouth feel. Long and lead pencilly - Good Stuff - 91pnts
The Ducru was less concentrated though equally mature. The problem was the wine displayed the same barrel faults that have plagued the chateau for a while (though I understand they have rectified the problem). Simply put, the wine smells just a little mouldy - not unlike corkyness. Not nearly as bad as the 1994 Ducru, but it was still present. For me it was not a problem, but if one is allergic to this quality even in very small quantities, the wine will dissapoint. For me, 87 points as a wine - very good
The LLC was clearly the most concentrated wine, though it is not yet ready or open. The nose is closed and will clearly need some time in the cellar. I had the wine 5 years ago and it was much more open and displayed alot of toasty oak. This bottle showed the oak was much more intergrated. In the mouth the wine is quite structured and seems to promise great things with time. The 1982 tasted last month was far more open (and also displayed more of the years weight and ripeness). I'd try one in three years and imagine it woule be worth around 93 points.
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11/5/1998 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 90 Points
1985 Cabernet Sauvignon vs 1985 Bordeaux (Lafayette, Ca.): Lovely mint, cedar, vanilla nose, green nose, stunning nose, very rich, supple, feminine taste tonight, nice finish of stems and harsh tannins showing, at peak. My #5 of 7, Group #2 tied of 7.
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2/9/1995 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 86 Points
1985 Bordeaux Tasting 10 Wines+ 1986 Gruaud Larose+1967 Chateau Suduiraut (Lafayette, Ca.): Nice rich cherry fruit on the nose, medium body, slightly soft on the palate, medium/long finish. My #9 and Group #1.
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