WINEMAKER'S NOTES:
Blend: 83.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10.5% Cabernet Franc, 6% Merlot
TASTING NOTES:
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.
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 100 pts.
Sophistication and pure beauty on the nose, showing intense lead pencil, blackcurrants, ink and blackberries as well as crushed stones. Spellbinding. Medium-bodied, it grows endlessly on the palate, superb tannins caressing like the finest silk. It just keeps on coming. The character is immaculate. Ethereal. Power with elegance. 83.5% cabernet sauvignon, 10.5% cabernet franc and 6% merlot. It gives the impression you can drink it now, but it needs five to six years of bottle age. A neoclassical masterpiece.
- James Suckling, 100 pts.
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.
- Jeb Dunnuck, 99 pts.
A luminous and utterly brilliant wine in 2022 that really sets itself apart. Hints of black bramble fruit, spicy peppercorns, violets, sweet cherries, crushed stones, ink and cocoa powder on the nose - all so very appealing. Tension and direction from the get go, this is sleek and slick, dense but such alluring coolness, with crushed stones and blueberries giving minerality as well as juicy acidity providing lift. It’s not out to shine right now, but there’s such confidence on show. Direct, slowly expanding effortlessly as it goes from start to finish, elongating the fine tannic structure that supports but doesn't overwhelm. So poised and refined, charming in a dark, utterly seductive way. Firm, but fruity, cool and calm, coming in waves. One of the wines of the vintage with striking power but delivered so perfectly with everything in balance.
Barrel Sample: 98
- Decanter, 98 pts.
Dark, winey and alluring, this offers a deep well of steeped black currant, blackberry and black cherry paste flavors that are sappy in their intensity. Sweet bay, violet, tobacco and apple wood accents fill in along the way, giving this superb range, while the long, cast iron–edged finish pulls everything to its vanishing point. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot.
- Wine Spectator, 97 pts.
