Château Léoville-Las Cases

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A bottle of the 1975 Château Léoville-Las Cases

Château Léoville-Las Cases is a winery in the St-Julien appellation of the Bordeaux wine region of France. Château Léoville-Las Cases is also the name of the red wine produced by this property. The château was classified as one of fifteen Deuxièmes Cru Classés (Second Growths) in the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 (today there are only 14 Second Growths, with Château Mouton-Rothschild being reclassified as a First Growth). Thus, it is among the most prestigious in France.

Léoville-Las Cases was once part of a much larger estate until the time of the French Revolution when a portion of this estate was divided into what is today Château Léoville-Barton. In 1840, the estate was again divided and land that would eventually become Château Léoville-Poyferré was split off. Since the mid 20th century the Delon family have been owners of this estate.

1 Vineyard
2 The Wine
3 Wine competitions
4 See also
5 Sources

[edit] Vineyard

The largest plot of Léoville-Las Cases' vineyards, known as the Grand Clos, are located in the norther portion of the St-Julien with only the Juillac tributary separating its vineyards from those of Château Latour in Pauillac. A total of 97 hectares are planted to Cabernet Sauvignon (65%), Merlot (19%), Cabernet Franc (13%), and Petit Verdot (3%). The vineyard underwent major replanting during the 1950s, and today the vines average 30 years of age.

[edit] The Wine

Léoville-Las Cases produces two wines, its grand-vin, and a second wine called Clos du Marquis. Grapes are harvested by hand, crushed and then may be fermented in temerpature controlled wood, concrete, or stainless steel vats of varying size depending on the style of the vintage. Léoville-Las Cases also employs a state of the art reverse osmosis machine to help extract excess water from the grape must in a rainy vintage (Kramer). Use of this machine is considered legal, but highly controversial, and while Léoville-Las Cases is certainly not the only estate to employ such a machine, few other estates admit to their use. After processing and fermentation, the wine is transferred into oak barrels for 18-20 months of aging before being fined with egg whites and bottled. Chateau Léoville-Las Cases was one of the first estates in Bordeaux to introduce a second label, Clos du Marquis.

Wine from Léoville-Las Cases is typically well received by critics like Robert Parker, Jancis Robinson, and James Suckling of the Wine Spectator. It is often rated as highly as the First Growths, and its name is usually among the first nominated for promotion to this elite group should any re-classification ever take place. Top vintages of Léoville-Las Cases include the 1982, 1986, 1995, 1996, 2000, and 2003.