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20 Vintages of Château Léoville Las Cases
Tasted January 11, 2013 by LWI with 1,169 views
Flight 1 (4 notes)
Red
1945 Château Léoville Las Cases
97 points
Although mid-shoulder fill this one had surprisingly much red, fine long brim, meat juice and forest floor on the nose, and – surprisingly – some mint as well, complex; very clear fruit, tannins still lively. Long, complex, and intense wine.
Red
1959 Château Léoville Las Cases
95 points
Powerful and warm smell, almost exotic, some plums; warm in the mouth as well, and plums/dried fruit, tannins still there, good complexity. Perhaps a tad unfocussed, compared to the 45 and 61.
Red
1961 Château Léoville Las Cases
96 points
Fine long brim; A little spicy, an initial hint of bullion blew off; red berry fruit, complex, slim and long – intense and complex in the mouth. Clear fruit.
Flight 2 (4 notes)
Red
1966 Château Léoville Las Cases
94 points
Impressive and complex nose, some earth; earthy in the mouth as well, some complexity. A very fine bottle.
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Red
1971 Château Léoville Las Cases
91 points
This also had some bullion when opened, but good fruit emerged after a while. Tannins present, fresh, noticeable acidity.
Red
1976 Château Léoville Las Cases
88 points
Flowers, mint, a lot of tannins, slim and a bit short, some fruit residue.
Flight 3 (4 notes)
Red
1976 Château La Lagune
88 points
Fairly short, a bit rustic albeit some complexity, a hint of sweetness in the finish. Good with the lamb.
Red
1976 Château Latour Grand Vin
96 points
Very dark for its age; meat juice and tobacco on the nose, convincing complexity, a lot of tannin, almost some primary fruit, minerals, lovely balance, complex and very long, powerful. A hint of fruit sweetness in the finish. The best 1976 I have ever had.
Red
2002 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Clos de la Roche
92 points
Blind. Clear albeit a little thin fruit, fine acidity, an uncomplicated and a bit raw wine. Seems closed.
Red
2002 Dominique Laurent Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Chaignots
87 points
Blind. Oak present, animalistic, a bit thin fruit, good entry but the finish collapses.
Flight 4 (4 notes)
Red
1978 Château Léoville Las Cases
90 points
Some cellar smell blew off, earthy, primary-ish fruit, a kind wine with some complexity and very fine length.
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Red
1979 Château Léoville Las Cases
87 points
Varm fruit, a bit short, sweet and sour. Made me think of Nebbiolo.
Red
1981 Château Léoville Las Cases
88 points
Old cellar smell that eventually blew off, but it took a while. Not the best of balance, decent length.
Red
1983 Château Léoville Las Cases
flawed
Some bullion on the nose mixed with some fruit, unclean in the mouth but became a bit fresher after a while, peculiar. An off bottle.
Flight 5 (4 notes)
Red
1982 Château Léoville Las Cases
96 points
Deep fruit, minerals/crushed stones and tobacco on the nose; warm and long in the mouth, fine tannic finish. Good fruit, wonderful combination of tobacco and black fruit balanced with fine acidity.
Red
1985 Château Léoville Las Cases
93 points
Very good balance and fruit, complex, almost peacock tail finish, structured, some sweetness, a tad short?
Red
1986 Château Léoville Las Cases
95 points
Meaty, more developed than another recent bottle. Complex, tobacco, intense and long . Promising, rating for now.
Red
1989 Château Léoville Las Cases
94 points
Mineral-driven with a fine fruit core, some complexity, a bit closed?
Flight 6 (3 notes)
Red
1989 Château Cos d'Estournel
91 points
Blind. Warm, sweet entrance, fresh fruit, but drying wooden tannins in the finish. Seems a bit overdone. Some brett?
Red
1993 Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Pignan Reserve
89 points
Blind. Tobacco and earth, lots of tannin in the finish, even oaky/oaked, but red clear fruit.
White
2009 Coche-Dury Bourgogne Blanc
87 points
Citrusy, clean and focused, albeit a bit short and simple. Easy going.
Flight 7 (4 notes)
Red
1990 Château Léoville Las Cases
94 points
Most balanced, complex and rich, very fine fruit core, promising indeed.
Red
1994 Château Léoville Las Cases
91 points
A big surprise, concentrated and mineral driven, some green though, a hint of mint, black currants.
Red
1985 Château Léoville Las Cases
93 points
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.
Red
1998 Château Léoville Las Cases
92 points
Appeared somewhat closed, but wonderful black fruit and bonfire smoke on the nose; the mouth does not deliver completely what the nose promised, albeit a fine finish.
Flight 8 (3 notes)
White - Sweet/Dessert
2003 Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey
92 points
For a 03 this had decent acidity, some botrytis, and even complexity. Young, of course.
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White - Sweet/Dessert
1990 Château Rieussec
93 points
Heavy and rich, caramel, some freshness though, some complexity. A monumental wine, but not cloying.
White - Sweet/Dessert
1990 Château de Fargues
95 points
Caramel, something burned, rich, but still elegance in there. A bit less complex and playful compared to its heralded sister.
Closing
We got lucky (mostly) with the older bottles, once again. Summary across vintages: Las Cases is a surprisingly powerful and tannic wine which rightfully deserves its second growth status (surprise!), but not quite up there with the first growths. The 1982 was less warm than other 1982s. After decanting the 1982 is drinking well, but from 1986 (which holds great promise, no lack of fruit there) onwards, more cellaring is needed, at least according to my taste.