| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > St Julien |
| Colour | Red |
| Type | Still |
Like next-door neighbour Latour, Léoville Lascases produces a wine that people think of as a second wine, but it isn't. Clos du Marquis is a wine of classed growth quality in its own right, produced from a vineyard on the other side of the road near to the vines of Leoville Poyferré. Lascases itself is situated in a walled vineyard alongside Latour overlooking the estuary. Clos du Marquis is the equal of most 3rd, 4th and 5th Growths and has been an outstanding performer for many years. Lascases is now producing a "proper" second wine called Le Petit Lion from their young vines and there is now a second wine of Clos du Marquis called "La Petite Marquise".
The 2019 Clos du Marquis is another cuvée from the Delon family that’s smaller than usual this year, as fully 20% of the vineyards that inform this bottling are in various stages of replanting, with the objective of bringing the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon vines up to more than 70%. Exhibiting aromas of inky cassis, plums, incense, wood smoke and spices, it’s medium to full-bodied, fleshy and concentrated, with lively acids, beautifully powdery tannins and a supple, more immediately charming profile than its big sibling across the street, Léoville-Las Cases. 2026 - 2055
From: Bordeaux 2019: The Southwold Tasting (Feb 2023)
The 2019 Clos du Marquis needs a little more precision on the nose, dark berry fruit, cedar, touches of sage and crushed iris petals. The palate is medium-bodied with fine, quite pliant tannins. Gentle grip, but there is certainly structure evident here with quite a tannic finish. This will need time in the cellar. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting.
- By Neal Martin on January 2023
Drink 2026-2046
So much gravel and dark-fruit character with raspberries and blackcurrants, as well as currant leaf. It’s medium-to full-bodied with very fine, rounded tannins and a bright finish. 70% cabernet sauvignon, 23% merlot and 7% cabernet franc. Drinkable now, but even better in 2024.
Made from 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, the 2019 Clos du Marquis is deep garnet-purple colored. It strides boldly out of the glass with warm cassis, blackberry preserves, and ripe, juicy plums, leading to hints of cardamom, cumin seed, and chocolate box with a waft of camphor. Medium to full-bodied, it offers up plenty of rich, ripe black fruits with a grainy texture and spicy lift on the finish.
I continue to just love this terroir. The 2019 Clos Du Marquis brings beautiful richness and depth with the purity and elegance of the vintage. Cassis, smoked black cherries, tobacco, gravelly earth, and spice are just some of the nuances, and it's medium to full-bodied, with a rich, dense mid-palate, serious, almost chewy tannins, and a great finish. It's not for those looking for instant gratification and demands a good decade of bottle age.
The 2019 Clos du Marquis is very well defined, almost pixelated, on the nose of blackberry, briar, crushed stone and cedar. This is more floral than the barrel sample sent to my home. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannins, layers of black fruit laced with licorice and orange sorbet, and more grip and backbone toward the finish, which means, I suspect, that it will require longer in bottle. 14.10% alcohol. 2026 - 2048
The 2019 Clos du Marquis was picked from 21 September to 9 October and matured in 50% new oak. It has a deep and quite penetrating bouquet: blackberry, hoisin intermingling with cedar and light pencil shaving scents. It becomes noticeably richer with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins that frame the vivid blackberry and wild strawberry fruit laced with orange sorbet. There is a citric freshness towards the end of this accomplished Clos du Marquis. Excellent. 2024 - 2048
So bright and vivid with crushed blackcurrants, blackberries and some tar. Full-bodied and focused with lots of fruit, yet the tannins are tight and polished. Sweet tobacco and fresh mushrooms. 70% cabernet sauvignon, 23% merlot and 7% cabernet franc.
The 2019 Clos du Marquis is composed of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc and 23% Merlot, harvested between the 21st of September and 9th of October. It is aging in French oak barriques, 50% new. The alcohol is 14.1% with a pH of 3.62 and an IPT of 79. Displaying a deep purple-black color, the nose is a little reticent to begin, but with just a little coaxing, it soon opens out to show off impressively flamboyant notes of blackberry preserves, baked plums and blackcurrant pastilles with suggestions of cinnamon toast, Darjeeling tea, licorice and camphor plus a hint of wilted roses. Medium to full-bodied, the palate layers in all of these exciting mineral sparks with with the energetic, fresh black fruits, supported by rock-solid, ripe, grainy tannins and bold freshness, finishing long and earthy. This a very polished and sophisticated Clos du Marquis!
