Château Léoville Las Cases 2005

Sleek and racy, with black currant and fig fruit laced liberally with a bright iron streak and singed alder notes. This is very tightly coiled, as the fruit seems to be preserved for now, while the cold fireplace character holds sway. A superb energy in reserve gives this more than enough time to wait. Could outlast them all in this vintage. -- Blind '01/'03/'05 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2017). Best from 2025 through 2050. 15,000 cases made.

To some, this is the best wine estate in St-Julien. Château Léoville Las Cases is one of the three Léovilles and is the largest at 97 hectares. Though the wine is a 2ème Cru Classé, or second growth, many see this old estate rivalling the first growths and have prices to match. I've been lucky enough to taste this a few times this year, and the last one (at a Christie's dinner in early November) confirmed once again what an incredible wine this is. With a full 87% cabernet sauvignon, and the rest made up of merlot and cabernet franc, the colour here is rich ecclesiastical purple, and the fruit still tight and brooding, although it starts to soften up with a good carafing even now. It's the texture of Léoville Las Cases that often hits you, and the confidence of a wine that knows it has years ahead of it. Dark fruits, bitter chocolate, black truffles, all perfectly in place. One to savour.

A stunningly complex and complete nose of flowers, dark fruits, and minerals. Very perfumed and subtle at the same time. The palate is full, yet tight and powerful, with perfect tannins and a long, long finish. The quality of the tannins is phenomenal; please leave this alone for ten years. Pull the cork in 2020.

This is a superb wine that, with time, should go up in score. But patience is needed here. Decanted for 4 hours, which was not enough to tame the strict tannins. Still, it was impossible not to enjoy the perfectly ripe, regal red and black fruits, the intensity, length, and concentration found here. This is what older British writers called good breed. I get their point, even if the term is archaic. That said, perhaps this will be ready between 2025 and 2030 for the start of its long, 100-year life.

Deep dark garnet, black core, purple reflections. Inviting ripe fruit on the nose, fine nougat, fascinating precision. Transparent fruit on the palate, a wine of great finesse, freshness and complexity, red-berry nuances, silky-sweet tannins, wonderful length, a perfect wine with just under 13% alcohol. Great ageing potential, undoubtedly of premier cru quality.

Still inky hued and not yet in its prime, the 2005 Château Leoville Las Cases is nevertheless jaw-droppingly good, and certainly a perfect wine in this reviewer’s opinion. Cassis, ripe currants, leather, graphite, crushed stone, and smoke all define the aromatics, and it has a massive, full-bodied profile on the palate as well as the more focused, regal style of the Chateau. There’s no shortage of tannins, it has incredible purity, integrated acidity, and a monster of a finish. It actually has a touch of Latour-like character, and it needs another 4–6 years, if not a decade, to hit prime time, and will have 30 years of longevity. The 2005 is 87% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Merlot and Cabernet Franc, representing only 37% of the total production.

This is still too young to drink, and provides a lesson in how Léoville Las Cases can be out of step with the rest of its appellation. This remains austere, with tannins that are well built but still hiding the dark chocolate shavings, cloves, cassis, slate and black truffle character underneath. Right now this is a 2005 that accentuates the structure of the year, and is not yet showing its generosity. Mouthwatering finish though, with the fresh acidities that make this wine such an ageing powerhouse. Give it time, the rewards will come. 50% new oak. mark LLC and make it such an ageing powerhouse. Jean-Hubert Delon owner.

The 2005 Leoville Las Cases is a blend of 87.6% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7.6% Merlot, and 4.8% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-brick in color, it explodes with black and blue fruit preserves notes before giving way to a spray of creme de cassis, hoisin, Indian spices, and crushed rocks scents. The medium-bodied palate is finely knit with elegantly styled, fragrant black fruit and earthy layers, supported by firm, densely pixilated tannins and lively acidity, finishing long and opulent. At a sweet-spot in its evolutionary curve, poised between fruitiness and a tertiary spice bomb, this is gorgeous right now, although it will cellar easily to 2055+. Leoville Las Cases is owned by the Delon family - now Jean Hubert Delon. It consists of 125 different parcels, but the heart of the estate is a walled clos that borders Latour, including around 124 acres (out of 240 in total). Of all the Saint-Julien estates, Leoville Las Cases is the closest to the estuary and to Pauillac, so in some vintages it can seem more like a Pauillac. The style here is more concentrated and opulent than other Saint-Juliens with a firmer backbone. It does behave, in many respects, like a Pauillac, except with more perfume and decadence.

You will need to be patient to see this exuberant, rich and explosive wine reach maturity. Spherical, it is still impenetrable.