Chateau Leoville Las Cases   Leoville Las Cases

2018 Leoville Las Cases

By Chateau Leoville Las Cases

2018 Leoville Las Cases from Chateau Leoville Las Cases, St-Julien, Bordeaux, France

The resplendence of Bordeaux is captured exquisitely in the 2018 vintage of the majestic Leoville Las Cases from Chateau Leoville Las Cases. As an authority on fine wines, I've traversed many a vintage, yet the 2018 offering from this venerable estate stands as a defining moment for collectors and investors alike.

 

Precision and Pedigree: The Investment Worthy Vintage

Within the revered canvas of St-Julien lies a patchwork of terroirs that has yielded wines of formidable structure and longevity. It is within this grand milieu that Chateau Leoville Las Cases cements its stature with unwavering consistency. The 2018 vintage stands as a testament to this heritage, with an alignment of the stars for wine connoisseurs: a stellar growing season that has framed this particular expression in bright, fresh tannins, balanced acidities and expressive fruits.

 

The Virtues of Vintage: A 2018 Revelation

The providential mix of climatic munificence and adept vineyard management during 2018 culminated in grapes that reached their zenith of concentration whilst maintaining a nuanced equilibrium. On the palate, the 2018 Leoville Las Cases unravels with graceful layers; dark-berried fruits embrace tertiary undertones and folds of cassis. The vintage's profile reveals how precise oak ageing harmonises with substantial yet refined tannins—a likely harbinger of remarkable ageing potential.

This vinous composition not only befits immediate indulgence but also heralds prodigious returns when nurtured in the cellars. Understanding the zenith of such an investment caliber is essential, and I sense that now is an auspicious moment for aficionados to entwine their fates with the 2018 Leoville Las Cases.

 

Summing the Sensation

In summing up the 2018 Leoville Las Cases from Chateau Leoville Las Cases, we find a Bordeaux blend resonating with exceptional balance and structure, one destined to become enshrined in the annals of fine wine investing. This vintage mirrors St-Julien's prowess – profound complexity meets an elegance that teases the boundaries of perfection. It's not just another sterling addition to one’s portfolio but a veritable cornerstone around which collectors can build a fortress of oenophilic delight.

Current market price

$3,420.00

12x75cl

Highest score

99

POP score

107.89

Scores and tasting notes

99-100

OMG. This shows amazing depth of fruit and density. Full-bodied and so layered with incredible fruit and power. Blackberries. Blueberries. Violets. Hints of dried flowers. Fantastic fruit and tannins, yet agile and energetic. The château says 2016 plus, plus.

James Suckling - jamessuckling.com - April 2019

99

The 2018 Léoville Las Cases is composed of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc and 9% Merlot, harvested September 15 to October 4 with yields of 35.5 hectoliters per hectare, it has 14.49% alcohol and was aged in 90% new barriques. Deep purple-black colored, it needs a fair bit of coaxing to reveal striking scents of blackcurrant pastilles, wild blueberries and redcurrant jelly, giving way to notions of crushed rocks, lavender, Indian spices, unsmoked cigars and black truffles, plus a provocative waft of rose oil. The full-bodied palate is densely laden with black fruit preserves and earthy layers, accented by bright, lively red berry and floral sparks. It has a rock-solid frame of firm, ripe, grainy tannins and bold freshness, finishing very long and wonderfully minerally. The tannins are so beautifully approachable even at this youthful stage, making it delicious to drink now, but afford it 5-6 years in bottle to allow those finer nuances to emerge and drink it over the next 40+ years.

Lisa Perrotti-Brown - The Wine Advocate, 31 March 2021

98-100

We produced great Cabernet Franc this year, Directeur Général Pierre Graffeuille told me during my visit to Léoville Las Cases. Even though only 3% of the press wine was added back, he was also absolutely glowing about the quality of this too. And he should be—the finished blend for the 2018 Léoville Las Cases is yet another triumph for this great estate. Composed of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc and 9% Merlot, harvested September 15 to October 4 with yields of 35.5 hectoliters per hectare, it has 14.49% alcohol and will be aged in barriques, 90% new. Very deep purple-black in color, it is a little closed to begin, slowly emerging from the glass to reveal subtle woodsmoke, violets, tilled soil and underbrush scents over a core of warm cassis, wild blueberries and redcurrant jelly plus hints of rare beef and iron ore. Full-bodied, rich, super concentrated and bursting with latent energy, this is an atomic bomb waiting to go off in your mouth. It has a rock-solid foundation of firm, very ripe, very finely grained tannins and bold freshness supporting the muscular fruit through the epically long, amazingly nuanced finish. Simply breathtaking.

Lisa Perrotti-Brown - The Wine Advocate, 23rd April 2019

97-100

This is backward and dense, with thickly layered plum, blackberry, fig and blueberry reduction flavors wrapped liberally in warm ganache and melted licorice notes. A long echo of smoldering charcoal emerges at the very end. There's a lot to resolve here as the rich and austere sides are still melding, but the extra amplitude doesn't distort anything; it just all goes to 11.—J.M.

James Molesworth - Wine Spectator - April 2019

98

2018 is another vintage where it's pretty much impossible to find fault with Las Cases, and where you get a kick of happiness from tasting it. Owner Jean-Hubert Delon compares the 2016 to the 1961 and the 2018 to the 1959 - let's all check back in a few decades to see if that's true! But where the 2016 was monumental, this has a subtlety that's rarely seen in such a young LLC. It's not that you'd call this approachable but you rarely see this level of plush density to the fruit at this stage. There's a civilised quality to the structure that makes you think, just maybe, the 2018 will be at optimum drinking before the 2016. You're still getting the complex cigar box and cassis aromatics, with deep, rippling black fruits on the palate accompanied by a cassis and liquorice whoosh and the layering up of dense but fine tannins. It demonstrates precise balance and an exceptionally long finish. All in all, this is a standout St-Julien. This year sees the lowest percentage of press wine ever used at this estate, coming in at under 3% (it's normally double this), because the wine already had so much structure that the normal level of press wine threw it out of balance. I'm pretty sure that I've never given a drinking window this early for LLC at En Primeur, which says something. 90% new oak. 80IPT. 3.65pH. Yield of 35.5hl/ha.

Jane Anson - Decanter - April 2019

95-98

The 2018 Léoville Las Cases is a rich, sumptuous, exotic wine in 2018. Plush fruit and suave, silky tannins give the 2018 a level of textural richness that is unusual for a young Léoville Las Cases. Crème de cassis, lavender, mint and sweet spice all build in this extraordinarily beautiful wine. I can't recall tasting a young Las Cases with this much immediacy and sheer allure. The 2018 Las Cases has a very bright future. It is also one of the unquestioned stars of the vintage. In 2018, the blend is 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc and 9% Merlot.

Antonio Galloni - Vinous - April 2019

Vintage performance