Château Léoville Las Cases - Saint-Julien 2017

Wine Advocate

98 / 100

par Lisa Perrotti-Brown le 17/03/2020

This comes from 50- to 90-year-old vines and is a blend of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc and 10% Merlot with 13.28% alcohol, 3.72 pH and an IPT of 71. The 2017 Léoville Las Cases is deep garnet-purple in color, and wow, the nose bursts with beautiful blackcurrant cordial, blackberry pie and blueberry preserve notes followed by hints of lilacs, dark chocolate, cedar chest, sassafras and licorice with emerging wafts of oolong tea, lavender and iron ore. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is an exercise in elegance and soft-spoken nuances within a mouth-coating palate of almost electric black and blue fruits, framed by very firm, exquisitely ripe, fine-grained tannins and seamless freshness, finishing epically long and wonderfully perfumed. Damn, that’s good. Drinking Window : 2023 - 2070. 98+

Vinous

97 / 100

par Antonio Galloni le 11/03/2020

The 2017 Léoville Las Cases captures all the best the vintage has to offer. Rich, unctuous and stunning in its beauty, the 2017 possesses tremendous richness and textural intensity that carry through to the very long finish, all with the regal, statuesque feel that is the quintessential signature of Las Cases. Just as it was from barrel, Las Cases is wonderfully polished. Tasted two times. What a wine! 97+

Wine Spectator

96 / 100

par James Molesworth le 07/02/2020

A very focused, very pure rendition, laden with cassis, plum reduction and boysenberry puree fruit that is mostly waiting in reserve. A cold cast iron edge imparts a sense of restraint, while smoldering tobacco, charcoal and alder notes are deeply buried on the finish. The opposite of flamboyant. In need of time. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. Best from 2025 through 2040. 12,500 cases made. — JM

Jamessuckling.com

98 / 100

par James Suckling le 13/01/2020

The purity here is really something. Blackberries and blackcurrants with sandalwood, mint and other classic herbs. Full-bodied and dense with ultra-fine tannins. Silky in all ways. Goes on for a long, long time. A blend of 79% cabernet sauvignon, 11% cabernet franc and 10% merlot. Joyous and serious wine for the vintage. And comparable to 2014 and 2015. Try after 2023.

Le Point

18 / 20

par Jacques Dupont le 20/06/2018

Fruits noirs, de la chair, sérieux, droit, dense, vibrant, profond, très droit, racé, parfaitement équilibré, ?finale fraîche.

Jeb DUNNUCK

95-97 / 100

par Jeb Dunnuck le 12/06/2018

The flagship 2017 Léoville Las Cases is made from 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc, and 10% Merlot, still aging in 90% new barrels, and it’s unquestionably one of the greatest wines in this complex, far from homogenous vintage. Inky black colored with sensational richness in its black currants, scorched earth, graphite, and charcoal aromas and flavors, this blockbuster barrel sample is full-bodied, powerful, and concentrated. It has bright acidity, building tannin, and is going to need 5-7 years of cellaring to be drinkable.

WeinWisser

18,5 / 20

par René Gabriel le 03/06/2018

79% Caber­net Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 11 % Caber­net Franc, 90% neue Barriques. 37 hl/ha. Dichtes Granat mit rubinrotem Rand. Was für ein konzentriertes Parfüm nach reifen Schattenmorellen, Himbeeren und Veilchen, lm zweiten Ansatz mit schônen blaubeerigen Konturen, dahinter Preisel-beermarmetade, Lakritze und Kandis-noten. Am geradlinigen Gaumen mit —perfekt stützenden, reifen Tanninen, bleibt prâzise wie ein Pfeil, bis ins lan-ganhaltende Finale, das mit Noten von roter Grütze nachklingt. Ein St.-Julien der Spitzenklasse, die spannende Frage wird sein: «Zu welchem Preis?» Ein klas-sischer Bordeauxstil, mit abgerundeten Tanninen, früher Trinkgenuss und Poten-zial. Erinnert an 88 in der Aromatik und an 14+ vom Kôrper her Kratzt an die 19/20.                           
18.5/20 2026 - 2055

Vinifera

96 / 100

par Jacques Perrin le 28/05/2018

Il se distingue par sa grâce aristocratique, la précision de sa construction et sa continuité de bouche, avec une véritable dimension séveuse et figure sans conteste parmi les grandes réussites du millésime.

Bettane & Desseauve

18-18,5 / 20

par Bettane & Desseauve le 28/05/2018

Comme souvent, il est difficile de ne pas s'émerveiller devant l'harmonie et la plénitude immédiates de cette expression insurpassée du potentiel du millésime. (...) Seul Latour semble en état de soutenir la comparaison.

La Revue du Vin de France

18-18,5 / 20

par Olivier Poels le 27/05/2018

matthewjukes.com

18,5 / 20

par Matthew Jukes le 22/05/2018

Jancis Robinson

18 / 20

par Julia Harding MW le 21/05/2018

Vinous

94-97 / 100

par Antonio Galloni le 15/05/2018

The 2017 Léoville Las Cases is remarkably elegant and polished for this typically brutish Saint-Julien. Persistence more than power is the key element that distinguishes the 2017 from most other vintages and most other Saint-Juliens as well. The classic Las Cases flavor profile is very much in evidence, but in a wine that is silky, nuanced and exceptionally polished. In 2017, Las Cases is truly magical, and one of the most complete wines of the Left Bank. In a word: sublime. Don't miss it. Tasted two times.

The Wine Cellar Insider

95-97 / 100

par Jeff Leve le 11/05/2018

It is not often you can use the word fruity to describe Leoville Las Cases but it is certainly fitting for 2017. Yes, the wine is fruity! And in addition you’ll find complexities of licorice, cigar box and lead pencil with tannins so refined it’s almost precocious. The fruit is airy and bright with a sweetness that carries through from start to finish. This is the perfect vintage to enjoy while waiting for the bigger, more tannic vintages to come around. The wine was made from a blend of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc and 10% Merlot, reaching 13.28% alcohol with a pH of 3.72. The harvest took place from September 15 to October 4 and the wine was made from 60% of the harvest.

Vinous

93-95 / 100

par Neal Martin le 01/05/2018

The 2017 Léoville Las-Cases was picked between 15 September and 4 October, cropped at 37hl/ha and as usual, comes from the oldest vines that average around 50-years old. This year there is 13.28° alcohol. It is matured in 90% new oak and contains 7.5% vin de presse. It has a very clean and precise bouquet with blackberry, just a touch of blueberry, violet and a hint of bay leaf. This gains intensity with aeration but it is not as detailed as last year’s 2016. The palate is medium-bodied with more supple tannins than usual (that word is apt – there is nothing “soft” about this Saint-Julien). It has great depth with layers of black fruit laced with graphite and a pinch of white pepper, whilst it delivers fine salinity on the sappy finish. Excellent.

Wine Advocate

96-98 / 100

par Lisa Perrotti-Brown le 27/04/2018

The 2017 Léoville Las Cases, a blend of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon with 11% Cabernet Franc and 10% Merlot from 50- to 90-year-old vines, is deep garnet-purple in color and simply sings of crushed blackcurrants, wild blueberries and plum preserves with notions of wood smoke, cigar boxes, crushed rocks and beef drippings. Medium-bodied with wonderful intensity and vivacity, it gives a firm, fine-grained frame and a densely packed mid-palate, finishing long and earthy. This should age incredibly!

Decanter.com

97 / 100

par Jane Anson le 25/04/2018

One of the very few wines in this vintage that truly stains the glass with its wonderfully vibrant anthocyanins. This is an exceptional wine - Léoville just knows how to knock it out of the park again and again. An early vintage meant everything was blended and in barrels before Christmas, with 7.5% press wine, so this has had some time to settle down already. There's huge persistency through the palate, very similar to last year. It has presence and a grip that doesn't want to let go, and you don't want it to either. It continues to reveal itself over the course of the glass, showing slate, cassis, blackberry and charcoal. It's not as powerfully knitted as the 2016, but watch out for those tannins. I expect this will be a wine that, like the 1996 and 2016, will close down and evolve extremely slowly. Stunning aromatics. 90% new oak.

Jean-Marc QUARIN

18 / 20

par Jean-Marc Quarin le 17/04/2018

Wine Enthusiast

95-97 / 100

par Roger Voss le 17/04/2018

This normally serious, complex wine has a smile on its face in this vintage. Even at this young stage the black fruits shine. It is certainly concentrated and dense, but the intense fruitiness cuts the tannins. This very fine wine will certainly age, although it is likely to be accessible sooner than usual.

Jamessuckling.com

96-97 / 100

par James Suckling le 06/04/2018

This is very muscular with formed and bright tannins that give the wine super drive and length. The tannins build on the finish with a lovely integration of black fruits. Serious for the vintage.

Wine Spectator

93-96 / 100

par James Molesworth le 04/04/2018

This has the vintage’s fresh acidity, which does a wonderful job of driving the core of blueberry, black currant and blackberry fruit along. Light anise and graphite accents lend typicity, with a sleek mineral edge on the finish. Rock solid.—J.M.