In Case You Missed It – 2008 First Bottle Tasting: Leoville Las Cases, Clos du Marquis

In Case You Missed It: Originally posted December 25, 2010

The owner of second growth Château Léoville Las Cases, Jean-Hubert Delon, often says that his St. Julien estate is a first growth for wine drinkers. I think he is right considering the consistent high quality of his wine, and its relatively fair price compared to the first growths. His 2008 is one of the top wines of my tasting and reminds me of the excellent 1996, or perhaps the 1978, which I drank on Christmas Day in England. It’s a rich, yet racy red with wonderful aromas. We also tasted his Clos du Marquis, which he explained is not his second wine, but a red made from vineyards outside of the historical estate of Leoville. It’s always an excellent wine for the money. He now has a second wine of Las Cases called Le Petit Lion. So the hierarchy of the reds from his estate is now much clearer. I didn’t taste his second wine in 2008.

Ratings

Château Léoville Las Cases, St. Julien: 95 points

Clos du Marquis, St. Julien: 92 points