2019 Château Léoville-Las-Cases, Cru Classé St-Julien

So structured for the vintage, but there’s freshness and vibrancy from the acidity. Full-bodied, extremely creamy and polished. Plush silk. Extremely long, linear and compact. 79% cabernet sauvignon, 11% merlot and 10% cabernet franc.

I love it when a wine steals up on you, and you very definitely get that here, taking its time on the first attack then rapidly expanding outwards and upwards. Undoubtedly it will knit down as Las Cases can't help itself but do, but there is a creamy almost caramel side hiding among the tannins here. Beautiful power and layers of charcoal, slate, crushed stones, cassis, bilberry and tobacco - all displayed with elegance and tension. A long harvest of over three weeks from September 18 to October 8, 6.5% press wine used, a little more than in 2018 (where just over 2% was used). 3.67pH, 90% new oak.

The 2019 Léoville Las-Cases is a gorgeous, sophisticated wine. Deep and beautifully layered, the 2019 has remarkable depth and simply impeccable balance. Here, too, the integration of fruit, tannin and acidity is simply remarkable, especially for such a young wine. In so many vintages, Las Cases can be a brute, but the 2019 is incredibly polished. If anything, it is uncharacteristically shy at this stage. The 2019 saw 3-4 weeks on the skins, with malolactic fermentation in tank. Press wine is 6.5%, which is on the lower end for Las Cases. The wine was barreled down in December, fully blended.