CHÂTEAU LÉOVILLE LAS CASES

Brooding plum fruit with spice, tarry black fruit, coconut and vanilla notes. Quite rich and suave with an appealing juiciness, given lift by the acidity. A lovely St-Julien that is still evolving. Drinking range: 2014 - 2024 Rating: 90-90 Decanter Magazine(Sep 2014)

It has intensity of colour, aroma and structure. It is dense, sweet fruited and very ripe, with great acidity, big, but very ripe tannins and great length of raspberry fruit. It is truly great, rich and powerful with concentration yet at the same time, real elegance, finesse. It will go on emerging for a long time and the plateau will then stretch into the distance. 2010-35 Rating: 91-95 Derek Smedley MW, www.dereksmedleymw.co.uk(Dec 2013)

Deep red-ruby. Expressive aromas of currant, plum, mocha, tobacco and minerals, with a slight dusty character. Supple but a bit youthfully inky, with a dusty quality to the moderately sweet fruit. This is a bit dry compared to the young 2006, and one has the impression that the oak tannins are less successfully integrated with the wine's fruit. This concentrated, persistent wine really needs seven or eight years of cellaring. Rating: 90(+?)? Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar(May 2007)

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 Rating: 17.5+ Jancis Robinson MW OBE - www.JancisRobinson.com(Apr 2005)

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 Rating: 95-100 James Suckling, The Wine Spectator(Apr 2005)