Wijnen

Al twintig jaar lang volgt, net na de Premiers van de Médoc, Léoville-las-Cases.
Extreem donker kleur. 2003 Léoville las Cases brengt de perfecte vertolking van Cabernet Sauvignon, de Koning der Druiven die de Médoc weet te kenmerken. Assemblage: 70% Cabernet Sauvignon aangevuld met 17% Merlot en 13% Cabernet Franc. Elevage in nieuwe eik ter hoogte van 60%. Aanvankelijk gesloten, met zoethout en overdonderende concentratie. Geplette krieken, cassis en eik. Enorme wijn, gespierd maar voorzien van grote zachtheid en frisheid.

IN DE PERS

96 Robert Parker - The Wine Advocate (Issue #214 - Augustus 2014) - erobertparker.com
An incredibly fresh, lively 2003 (the pH is only 3,6 and the alcohol is 13.1%), this wine offers a dense ruby/purple color along with full body and a remarkable nose of black currants, kirsch, lead pensil shavings and vanilla. Opulent, full-bodied and close to full maturity, it is a seamless classic that will age for 15-20 more years. Kudos to the Delon family for such a brilliant achievement in a tricky vintage.

93+ Robert Parker - The Wine Advocate (Issue #164 - April 2006) - erobertparker.com
The solidly made 2003 Leoville Las-Cases (13.2% alcohol) is a blend of 70.2% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17.2% Merlot, and 12.6% Cabernet Franc. In this incredibly hot vintage, the alcohol is slightly lower than achieved in 2002, a cool-climate year. While not a profound example of Las-Cases, the 2003 is muscular, deep, and full-bodied with an impressive ruby/purple color, a tight but juicy bouquet of vanilla, black cherries, crushed rocks, and flowers, a sweet attack, and moderately high tannin. Backward and fresh, displaying impeccable delineation and purity, it can be enjoyed between 2012-2023.

93-95 Robert Parker - The Wine Advocate (Issue #158 - April 2005) - erobertparker.com
I do not think this wine will ever match the quality of the 1982, 1986, 1990, 1996, or 2000, and may actually end up being slightly behind the fabulous 2002. Nevertheless, this is a beautiful effort and certainly one of the top wines of the Medoc. Deep ruby/purple in color, this blend of 70.2% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17.2% Merlot, and 12.6% Cabernet Franc tips the scales at 13.2% alcohol (actually less than the 2002), with a relatively high pH of 3.82. The wine comes across more like the 1985, which I actually had a bottle of a few days before I tasted this wine, and I was super-impressed by how slowly that wine is aging from a relatively fast-evolving vintage. Wonderfully pure notes of cassis, vanilla, and sweet cherries and minerals are present in this medium to full-bodied wine, which is soft, fleshy, and surprisingly forward for a wine from Las Cases, and even corpulent, which is not a characteristic I often associate with this estate. The sweetness of the fruit and the lushness suggest a wine that will drink well early on but age nicely for 15-20 years. I don’t believe this is one of the most profound wines from Leoville Las Cases, but it is certainly one of the best wines of this tricky vintage. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2025.

94-96 Robert Parker - The Wine Advocate (Issue #152 -  April 2004) - erobertparker.com
Extremely small yields of only 21.2 hectoliters per hectare, from a harvest that began on September 11 and ended September 26, the 2003 Leoville Las Cases is a blend of 70.2% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17.2% Merlot, and 12.6% Cabernet Franc. The 13.27% alcohol is slightly less than the record alcohol level attained here in 2002, and the pH is 3.82. Only 54% of the harvest made it into the grand vin. Still a large-scaled, monolithic wine, it will no doubt move up the scale as it sorts itself out and becomes more delineated. Inky/ruby/purple-colored, it possesses the classic Las Cases purity and balance along with layer upon layer of ripe, pure, black cherry and black currant fruit wrapped around a solid core of minerals and subtle oak. Medium to full-bodied, with sweet tannin, but not as opulent as many of its peers, this classically proportioned, well-delineated 2003 is a brilliant achievement from Jean-Hubert Delon and his staff.

94 Neal Martin - Wine Journal (Mei 2013) - robertparker.com
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Las-Cases has the most complex nose of the three Leovilles with beautifully defined blackberry, wild hedgerow, leather and black truffle scents that waft seductively from the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with plenty of pure dark cherry and boysenberry fruit stuck through by a keen thread of acidity. This is very composed, very animated with a long, sensual finish. Superb. Tasted March 2013.

93+ Stephen Tanzer - vinous.com (Mei 2006)
Full ruby-red. Plum, tar, cedar and nutty oak on the nose; less exotic than most '03s. Then massive and full on the palate; almost too big for the mouth. As silky as this is, it also possesses very good acidity for the vintage. Finishes with huge but lush tannins and superb length. The IPT here is 74, compared to 70 in 2005, and the alcohol is a tad higher, at 13.2%. A perfect vintage of Las Cases for tasters who normally find this wine too rigorous, but this still promises to be long-lived.

18+/20 Jancis Robinson - jancisrobinson.com (April 2004)
At this early stage this wine is usually completely impenetrable but even Las Cases managed to show some opulence in this extraordinary vintage. Fruit beat those tannins for once! As usual the colour is almost black, and, like the first growths, this wine is so dense it contrasts with its second wine in its lack of overt message because it is just so massive. On the palate however it is quite unusually round and flattering - amazing for LLC! This is followed by a huge charge of tannin underneath, by no means integrated at the moment. It's extraordinary how 'cool' it tastes. It doesn't taste as tannic as most previous vintages but the analyses belie this apparently. Jean-Hubert Delon says his LLC vines were actually more stressed in 2002 than in 2003.

95-100 James Suckling - winespectator.com (Maart 2004)
Warm and rich aromas of plums, blackberries and currants, turning to flowers and hints of mineral. Very complex. Layers of cashmerelike tannins, turning to leather. Warm and inviting, yet rich and powerful; fantastic purity, yet voluptuous. This is what exciting wine is about.

**** Vino Magazine
Een korf vol aroma’s. Veel kracht in een uitzonderlijk en elegant smaakpalet. Rijp fruit, edele tannines, een merkwaardige structuur in een algehele harmonie. Een zeer grote wijn.

Léoville las Cases

Was er Premier in Saint Julien, dan was dit ongetwijfeld Léoville las Cases geweest. Zijn bravoure en chutzpah maakt zijn stijl imposanter dan deze van zijn rivalen in Saint Julien. Léoville las Cases is een dure maar emblematische Médoc met een vlekkeloos parcours sinds 1975.

De ommuurde wijngaard van 97 hectare is gescheiden van Château Latour door een beekje genaamd de Juillac. Hij werd beplant met 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc en 3% Petit Verdot. Regelmatig wordt hoogstens de helft van de oogst weerhouden voor de Grand Vin. Clos du Marquis wordt gemaakt op een apart perceel, terwijl Le Petit Lion de eigenlijke tweede wijn is. Een afbeelding van de stenen leeuw die de centrale “Grand Enclos” van 50 hectare bewaakt, prijkt op het etiket.

Delon

Jean-Hubert Delon beheert Léoville las Cases met ijzeren hand. Hij is eigenaar samen met zijn zus, Geneviève d’Alton. Maniacaal zoekt hij de perfectie expressie van Médoc. Je ziet snel waar hij het accent legt: de wijngaard is piekfijn onderhouden en een marmeren vloer ligt in de cuverie. Zijn medewerkers waren lange tijd Michel Rolland (een naamgenoot van de befaamde oenoloog uit Libourne) en Jacques Depoisier. Hij is ook eigenaar van Potensac in Médoc en van Nenin, één van de grotere oppervlaktes in Pomerol. Jean Guillaume Prats komt hem sinds 2022 versterken.