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Léoville Las Cases 1989

RegionBordeaux
Subregion France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > St Julien
ColourRed
TypeStill
Grape VarietyCabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc/Merlot

View all vintages of this wine | View all wines by Château Léoville-Las Cases

Label

Tasting Notes

Spiced sandalwood, white pepper, saffron, cigar box, oyster shell salinity, orange peel, and still juicy blackcurrant and blueberry fruit, even as it heads towards 35 years old. Utterly gorgeous, effortless even, the word beguiling comes out of nowhere. Love this, and provides a glimpse into what this wine can acheive when you are lucky enough to catch it at the right moment. 50% new oak, Michel Delon owner. Harvest September 5 to 25, after a hot dry year.

98
Jane Anson, JaneAnson.com, January 2023

Very ripe, with raisin and dried fruits on the nose. You can smell the sun-dried grapes. Full-bodied, delivering firm tannins and a very fresh palate. Long and flavorful, offering currant, berries and all sorts of dark fruits, but turns lightly earthy and floral. This is a thoroughly complex wine. Just starting to really open into the mature 20-year-old wine it is, but such a great life ahead of it. Muscular.--'89/'99 Bordeaux blind retrospective (2009). Drink now.

96
James Suckling, Wine Spectator, January 2010
90
Robert Parker, Bordeaux Book (4), December 2003

The 1989 tasted California-like in its ripe, sweet, black cherry fruit, nicely-integrated, toasty new oak, and clean, pure winemaking style. A tighter, more compact finish is the result of elevated tannin, but this is an outstanding, rich, medium-weight Las Cases that tastes less well-endowed than I originally predicted. It is built more along the lines of the classy, elegant 1985 than the blockbuster 1982 and 1986. The wine is still youthful, with no amber at the edge of its healthy deep ruby/purple color. It will improve for another 8-12 years, and then plateau, offering very fine drinking over the subsequent two decades. I overrated this wine from cask. As appealing as I still find it, it lacks the concentration and intensity I originally thought it possessed. Last tasted 11/96

91
Robert Parker, Bordeaux Book (3), November 1998
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.