Lot 174
CHÂTEAU LÉOVILLE LAS CASES 1982 (1) WA 95+
CHÂTEAU LÉOVILLE LAS CASES 1986 (1) WA 98
Lot 174 Details
CHÂTEAU LÉOVILLE LAS CASES 1982 (1)
Saint-Julien. 2ième Cru Classé
u. bn. wrinkled label. scraped capsule
Classic lead pencil, cassis, kirsch, cedar, and spice characteristics are abundant in both the nose and full-bodied flavors. The tannins are still there, and, at least from my cellar, this 1982 does not appear to have changed much in the last 10-12 years. One wonders how much patience admirers of this brilliant St.-Julien will continue to exhibit. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2050. June 2009 WA 95+
CHÂTEAU LÉOVILLE LAS CASES 1986 (1)
Saint-Julien. 2ième Cru Classé
u. bn. wrinkled label. scraped capsule
The 1986 Leoville-Las Cases is still so youthful in appearance after 30 years, with only a thin bricking on the rim giving away its age. The bouquet is magnificent: extraordinarily pure and delineated, bewitching black fruit laced with cedar and graphite, the latter lending an almost Pauillac-like personality. The palate is exactly as I have found the previous dozen or so bottles I have tasted: structured, delineated, intense, aristocratic and imperious. It is less formidable than say, ten years ago, so it has probably just stepped onto its drinking plateau. The acidity is perfectly judged lending freshness and tension, crucial to counterbalance those layers of spicy black fruit that fans out with cedar and graphite (again) towards the finish. You come away with the feeling of having consumed a wine with immense energy, yet with so much more to give over the next three decades, and knowing this property, perhaps even the three decades after that! I would agree with the late Michel Delon: the 1986 Léoville Las-Cases is the summit of the 1980s. Tasted September 2016. Drink 2016-2060 WA 98