Léoville Las Cases 2015

The 2015 Léoville-Las Cases has an almost clinical, brilliantly defined bouquet of mineral-rich black fruit, cedar and veins of fresh mint. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannin, beautifully judged acidity, exquisite balance and tangible energy toward the finish of graphite-infused blackberry and a hint of clove. This is one of the appellation’s most sophisticated offerings in 2015. Chapeau, Jean-Hubert Delon. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting.

Richer and more demonstrative than the 2016, the 2015 Léoville Las Cases dodders up generous aromas of sweet berries, pencil shavings and loamy soil, framed by a deft application of creamy new oak. Medium to full-bodied, broad and expansive, with a fleshy core of fruit, succulent acids and a giving, gourmand profile, like many 2015s from the Northern Médoc, it's already quite structurally open today, and it will likely attain its peak before both the 2014 and 2016 vintages that bookend it. For many consumers, that may be an advantage. 2025 - 2055

Blackcurrant, blueberry and currant aromas with hints of black licorice and hot stones. Full-bodied with dense and integrated tannins and a long, long finish. It is all there and all about proportional harmony. Excellent focus and beauty. Drink in 2022.

The 2015 Leoville Las Cases is a blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, and 6% Merlot and is deep garnet in color. It prances out with showy scents of raspberry preserves, warm cassis, and chocolate-covered cherries, plus hints of tar, tapenade, crushed rocks, and unsmoked cigars. Medium-bodied, the palate is so velvety and refreshing, delivering delicately played black fruits with loads of earthy accents and compelling restraint on the finish.

Tasted blind. Dark crimson. Bonfire char on the top. Then very smooth, sweet and beguiling. Easy to appreciate. No heat. Early developer, though there is no shortage of tannin here!
Drink 2023-2042

In the last 25 years this has been the top-performing non-1st Growth in the Médoc. The vines are situated alongside those of Chateau Latour and the rigorous pursuit of quality is demonstrated by the demotion of much of the production into Clos du Marquis. Nowadays the young vines are not even used for Clos du Marquis with the creation of the "Petit Lion" label. The most Pauillac-like of all the Saint Juliens. The vast majority of the Merlot has gone into Petit Lion in 2015 (which is a 60% Merlot wine) so that Lascases is 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Cabernet Franc. The yield was 39 hl/ha and it is being aged in 85% new oak. It is the most Cabernet-based Lascases ever. Deep purple colour. Black coffee, pure cocoa and deep blackcurrant aromas with a hint of all spice. The palate is big and powerful with intense, dense black fruit tempered by palate coating, ripe, rich tannins. This is a blockbuster Las Cases with superb intensity and structure that will warrant time in bottle before opening. The finish is long, spicy, and intense.

A legendary wine in the making from the Delon Family is the 2015 Leoville Las Cases and there are very few wines more impressive in the vintage. A blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, and the balance Merlot, this full-bodied, tight, super-concentrated, focused 2015 boasts an awesome bouquet of crème de cassis, graphite, charcoal, lead pencil, and minerality. Deep, layered, with perfect ripeness and building tannin, hide bottle for 6-7 years and enjoy this prodigious effort over the following 3-4 decades. 2024 - 2064

Brooding depth the nose is sweet the start of the palate has the richness of ripe fruit. Chocolate and liquorice in the middle add to the richness but there is underlying bilberry freshness layers of flavour lots of complexity. The finish is long bright and elegant.

Two records set here: the highest ever percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon and the highest alcohol level at 13.8! This is a ripe style, but has the classic Las-Cases backbone, with cassis and fruitcake notes, fine tannins and excellent oak integration. Drink: 2023-32

This is the highest ever alcohol levels at Las Cases (mainly because Cabernet was harvested at 13.5%) and also the highest combined Cabernet percentage ever of 94%. Pierre Graffeuille, commercial director, explained that less and less Merlot will be used here in the future because of global warming. I had to take a deep breath several times while tasting this wine because it not only possesses extraordinary intensity balanced with extraordinary weightlessness but the sheer style and panache here is shocking. Utterly sublime in every way this is a tour de force for Las Cases. The tannins are immense but also fit and lithe and there is, once again, the dramatic spiciness from the July heat spike which seems to joust with the ultra-fine tannins coming from the stunningly ripe skins. The aroma alone is worth the entry fee. This
is a truly great wine.