2023 Château Léoville Las Cases En Primeur
Released this morning for sale en primeur, 2023 Château Léoville Las Cases is offered at £831 per six bottles, an enormous reduction of 40% on the release price for the 2022 vintage. This is despite the wine receiving 98 points from Jane Anson (one point ahead of her score for the '22). The new release also receives an impressive 97-98 points from Suckling.
Last week, we tasted Las Cases and its sibling estates owned by Domaines Delon (Potensac, Clos du Marquis and Nénin, also due out today). The 2023 Léoville Las Cases seemed to us to be up there with the very best wines from this estate that we have tasted, less extrovert than the 2022 but more thoughtful and serious with an understated, aristocratic austerity and an 'Atlantic' feel, conveyed by the fresh aromatics.
Hopefully, this very sensible pricing will set a benchmark for the campaign, but for now, with limited stocks available, we suggest snapping up what you can of this release.
Offered en primeur. Landing spring 2026.
Magnums available with £20 ex-VAT bottling surcharge per six, please enquire for other formats.
All previous offers of 2023 Bordeaux can be found here.
To order, e-mail us at sales@richardkihl.ltd.uk
Producer Profile
Château Léoville Las Cases, St.-Julien.
Château Léoville Las Cases is a Deuxième Grand Cru Classé in St.-Julien.
One of the oldest Medoc estates, the enormous Domaine de Léoville was acquired by the Las Cases family and split up between 1826 and 1840 as a result of the French Revolution, with parts of the estate becoming Léoville Barton and Leoville Poyferré. Château Léoville Las Cases retained three-fifths of the original estate at the heart of the domain, including the walled Clos Léoville Las Cases.
In 1900, Théophile Skawinski (part of the famous Skawinski winemaking family and formerly manager at Lynch) purchased a share in the estate and became its manager. His son in law André Delon inherited his share and the Delon family still manage the estate today. Jean-Hubert Delon now runs the estate and is also the sole owner of Château Potensac in the Medoc and Château Nénin in Pomerol.
The 55 ha vineyard is on quaternary gravel, planted to 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot and 16% Cabernet Franc. The vines average 52 years of age.
| RED | 2023 | Château Léoville Las Cases | 75cl | £831 per case of 6 | Château Léoville Las Cases 2023 / / 75cl £831 per case of 6 |
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Tasting Notes"A blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc and only 4% Merlot, the 2023 Léoville Las Cases is one of the more serious, structured wines of the vintage, reminiscent of a modern-day version of the estate's excellent 2001. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of cherries, cassis and plums mingled with hints of licorice, mint and creamy new oak, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with a taut core of fruit, lively acids and plenty of fine, youthfully firm tannins. It will require and reward patience. 94-96 points" William Kelley, RobertParker.com------"The 2023 Léoville Las-Cases was picked from Septemer 9 to October 2 at 43hL/ha and matured in 80% new oak barrels. This has a very precise bouquet, and, like the Clos du Marquis, it is imbued with an attractive estuarine element-aromatics that transport the imbiber to the banks of the Gironde. The oak is neatly integrated, 80% is much more optimaI than 100% would have been. The palate is lightly spiced on the entry, moderately deep and quite lively on the mid-palate. This is a more linear Las-Cases than recent vintages, conveying a sense of "seriousness" toward the almost saturnine finish Impressive in terms of persistence, this is a worthy follow-up to the magnificent 2022, but it will demand patience. 95-97 points" Neal Martin, Vinous.com------"Exceptional quality of cabernet comes through here, with a lot of graphite, lead pencil, crushed stone, walnut and currant fruit. It grows and expands on the palate, remaining in focus at the same time. Refined and seamless with beautiful tannins that show power and intensity. It rolls across the palate with verve. 86% cabernet sauvignon, 10% cabernet franc and 4% merlot. 97-98 points" jamessuckling.com------"Structured and powerful, this is not as forbidding as En Primeur in many vintages of Las Cases, showing both flesh and florality, but the tannic walls of this great estate remain fully in place, coupled with layers of cassis and bilberry fruits, subtle hints of bitter aniseed, fennel, cola, espresso, squid ink, textured slate tannins. Expect inky depths and unashamed austerity, a wine that will take its time to open, making no excuses for demanding patience. So so good, with a balance and classicism that delivers on the best of the vintage. 80% new oak, 6.6% press wine, 3.79h, harvest September 9 to October 2, 43hl/h yield. First year in the new cellars, with 43.5ha going into the main wine from the historic walled vineyard site. 98 points" janeanson.com |
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