2022 Leoville Las Cases
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Tasting notes
The 2022 Léoville Las Cases is unlike any other in recent times – indeed, the hot and dry summer at the property prompted the team to liken it to 1870. Exceptionally fragrant, aromas of cassis and violet stand out on the nose. There’s a weightless quality to the wine as it glides across the palate. Medium-to full-bodied, the concentration of fruit coupled with such balanced acidity is quite unusual at this youthful stage of life – and for such a warm year. This Las Cases is a sleeping beauty that will require time in bottle to reveal its full potential.
Critic scores
Average Score
William Kelley, Wine Advocate
James Suckling
More reviews and scores
The 2022 Léoville Las Cases has a very commendable bouquet, wonderful delineation, the oak seamlessly integrated, quite poised and less heady than its peers. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins. Quite bold and assertive, perhaps missing the precision promised by the aromatics. This is one of half-a-dozen Saint-Julien wines that did not correspond to what I have tasted before, so I shall not score this. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting in London.
The 2022 Léoville Las Cases is just as remarkable in bottle as it was from barrel. Wafting from the glass with aromas of beautifully pure cassis fruit mingled with notions of violets, burning embers and subtle cigar box, it has already almost entirely integrated its new oak. Full-bodied, dense and layered, it's deep and resonant, with striking concentration, precision and harmony, concluding with a long, palate-staining finish. This striking Saint-Julien really is one of the wines of the vintage, and the best young Léoville Las Cases I've ever tasted.
A monumental wine, the 2022 Château Léoville Las Cases is seriously dense and powerful, with a locked and loaded nose of cassis, crushed stone, graphite, and remarkable mineral intensity. Focused and structured on the palate as well as full-bodied, it has fine tannins and sensational purity. The 2022 is based on 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc and 6% Merlot, brought up in a mix of new and used oak. Hide bottles for 10-15 years and it should drink beautifully over the following 40-50 years.
About the producer
One of the leading estates in Bordeaux, Ch. Léoville Las Cases is one of the largest and oldest Classed Growths in the Médoc. Along with Ch. Ducru-Beaucaillou, it is widely considered one of the best estates in Saint-Julien.