Need help? Call +44 (0)20 7793 7900 or email wine@goedhuiswaddesdon.com.
With 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 11% Cabernet Franc in the blend, the team at Las Cases were able to harvest as late as possible, not starting until 30th September. This has allowed them to produce a very intense wine, deep in colour and full of dark concentrated black fruit flavours. A wine with plenty of “matière”, weight and richness. Fresh and spicy on the finish and very long.
With 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 11% Cabernet Franc in the blend, the team at Las Cases were able to harvest as late as possible, not starting until 30th September. This has allowed them to produce a very intense wine, deep in colour and full of dark concentrated black fruit flavours. A wine with plenty of “matière”, weight and richness. Fresh and spicy on the finish and very long.
The Château Léoville-Las-Cases 2014 is a blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc and 10% Merlot cropped at 33 hectoliter per hectare matured in 85% new oak. There is 6.8% vin de presse this year. Picked between 30 September and 13 October over 12 days, it has an intense, graphite-scented bouquet, one of the most Pauillac-like that I have encountered, extremely precise and perhaps less flamboyant than recent vintages. This is very controlled. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, succinctly pitched acidity and an almost pixelated finish that lingers long and tenderly. I love the elegance here – this is an outstanding wine from Jean-Hubert Delon and his team and dare I say, equal to some of the First Growths.
The 2014 Léoville-las-Cases is striking, even if it is reticent. Crème de cassis, blueberry jam, pencil shavings, cloves and new leather are all woven together effortlessly. Today, the 2014 comes across as restrained and finessed, with less of the volume and energy that is common. It's hard to imagine the notoriously slow-to-mature Léoville-las-Cases won't blossom during its élevage, but at this stage the elements aren't fully put together. The blend is 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc and 10% Merlot.
The aromas to this wine are enchanting with blackberries, dried flowers, blueberries, citrus and stones. Full body, ultra-fine tannins and bright acidity. Citrus skin undertones. Very, very long. Structured. This is 13.8 alcohol meaning the cabernet was incredibly ripe for the vintage. Yet it remains agile, structured and bright.
Fragrant density from 79% Cabernet Sauvignon. Fine chalky tannins and great purity and depth – quite severe in the Las Cases style but clearly a wine of great class. Drink: 2020-2040
(79 Cabernet Sauvignon, 11 Cabernet Franc, 10 Merlot) | 13.8% alc. | 85% new oak. You can sense the oak here and the fruit is imposing, too - everything is bigger at Las Cases. This is a powerful and dark wine and yet there is velvet intertwined here with the muscle. I am very impressed with the dense graphite and plum notes and also the amazing weight and lovely long finish. There is incredibly clean and ripe Cabernet forming a stunning backbone for this wine. This is a very grand Las Cases, with a lot of profound fruit, but the acidity and freshness balance everything perfectly and this is why it warrants a mighty score.
79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc, 10% Merlot. Some press wine. Very dark crimson. Intense nose but much lighter and more transparent than Las Cases of old. A little tough at the moment. Dry finish but neither austere nor overdone. Almost delicate – not an adjective I would normally associate with Las Cases. 13.8% Drink 2025-2040
There’s no denying that this is built to last, as Las-Cases often is, but it also has an immediacy that is not always apparent in young samples. Aromatic, cedary and very complete with compact tannins, tightly wound fruit and a sheen of mostly new oak. One of the best Left Bank wines of the vintage. Drink: 2022-35
A pure, coiled and focused wine, with a superdense core of red and black currant fruit, carried by a mouthwatering iron spine. The long finish features gorgeous notes of dried anise and smoldering charcoal, while the fruit stays pure and racy.
St Julien is like the middle child of the Médoc - not as assertive as Pauillac or as coquettish as Margaux. It lies firmly between the two more outspoken communes and as a result produces a blend of them both. St Julien's wines have often been sought out by aficionados for their balance and consistency, particularly in the UK. Yet due to its middle child nature, it can occasionally be overlooked globally and as a result underrated by those markets outside the UK. Despite the fact that it has no first growths, it has several second growths including Léoville Las Cases, Léoville Barton, Léoville Poyferré and Ducru Beaucaillou as well as the celebrated châteaux such as Talbot and Beychevelle.
