2014 Leoville Las Cases

Tasted blind. Deep garnet. Oak sweetness combines with black fruit and leafy perfume and lead pencil. Very firm, slightly oaky and lots of freshness. Powerful but in balance for the long term. (JH)

Less exuberant than some of its neighbours, as you might expect, but no less exceptional. Very much in the estate signature, demanding attention but expecting you to wait and pay homage until it is ready to speak. Give it time to unveil its muscular, concentrated cassis and bilberry fruits, puncuated by crushed mint leaf, crayon and liqourice bud. Huge depth through the mid palate, serious, structured, very much in the estate signature, showcasing the idea of it being a wine that is Burdundian in its balance of frustration and delight. Huge potential, but as I said last time I tasted it around a year ago, for now it's not giving much away. 50% new oak.

I love the 2014 vintage in this northerly stretch of the Haut-Médoc, and this is a monumantal Las Cases that is still in its austere phase. It's almost impossible to believe that this will soften in another decade, but it will, because this was fleshy and rich during En Primeur, and all that powerful fruit is still visible - just - but surrounded by tannins, mint bud, eucalyptus, earth, black pepper, cassis and slate minerality. As so often happens with Las Cases in its early stages, so much is about what is not said, rather what is felt but not yet articulated - in this case a sense of growing energy through the palate. Huge potential, but for now it's not giving much away. 50% new oak.