| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > St Julien |
| Colour | Red |
| Type | Still |
Performing better from bottle than it did from cask, this blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, and 11% Cabernet Franc has put on weight over the last year. It exhibits the classic style of both Las Cases and St.-Julien in its deep black currant notes interwoven with sweet cherries, wet stones, and toasty vanillin. Made in a structured, medium to full-bodied style with superb concentration, beautiful purity, and admirable symmetry, this beauty is one of the strongest efforts of the vintage. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2028. Also tasted: 2004 Clos du Marquis (88)
The 2004 Léoville Las-Cases feels stubborn and closed on the nose despite rigorous coaxing. Eventually it reveals attractive, tightly wound blackberry, briary, sandalwood and undergrowth notes. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannin, masculine as usual with Las-Cases, rather aloof and you might say a bit charmless. It is not a Saint-Julien that has resolved to give pleasure, the austerity on the finish is a little blunt at the moment. Being Las-Cases, perhaps it just needs longer time in bottle? Tasted at the annual CVBG tasting in London. 2019 - 2035
Intense currant, blackberry and light vanilla aromas. Full-bodied, with velvety tannins and a long, caressing finish. Layered, with everything in the right proportion for the vintage. Excellent red. Reminds me of the 1996. Best after 2012.
Dark crimson. Lively topnotes of a confident wine with a seriously long term future ahead of it. Very concentrated but some almost sweet, treacly fruit on the front palate and then very fine tannins. Lots built in there but well integrated. Dry tannins but very fine. Not exaggerated. A good difference in drinking dates between this and the second wine Clos du Marquis but not of style. Very bright fruit. Real life. Good for the year. Needs lots of time. Drink 2017-30.
Intensity of colour, aromas and structure. This is dense, syrupy and intensley ripe, with great acidity, big, but ripe tannins and huge raspberry length. It's a terrific wine, rich with concentration, power and, at the same time, real finesse. It will continue to grow and flower. 2010-2030
Proprietor Jean-Hubert Delon believes the 2004 Leoville Las-Cases, a blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc, represents a lighter version of the 1996 and 1986 Las Cases. While an outstanding effort, it does not possess the breadth or depth of flavor found in the two aforementioned vintages. A classic bouquet of black cherries, cassis, crushed rocks, flowers, vanilla, and background oak emerges from this dense ruby/purple-tinged 2004. Medium-bodied with moderately high tannin and crisp acidity in the strong finish, it should be at its finest between 2010-2020.
Jean-Hubert Delon has produced an elegant, tannic 2004 that may lack the prodigious depth and texture of Las Cases’s finest vintages, but remains quintessentially pure as well as very St.-Julien. Only 34% of the production made it into the final blend (76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc). Rigid and tight, with a deep ruby/purple-tinged color, and a sweet nose of black cherries, currants, minerals, and subtle background oak, this medium-bodied 2004 is built along the lines of the 1999. As always, it is a wine of considerable distinction, subtlety, grace, and class.
Intense aromas of black licorice, berries and currants follow through to a full-bodied palate, with lots of velvety tannins and a long, caressing finish. Builds on the palate. Reminds me of the 1996 Las Cases. May be better.
