Château Léoville Las Cases 2019

Dégusté le 14.05.2020 par Yves Beck 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc Pourpre violacé. Encore un de ces grands vins qui est en mesure de me sortir de ma zone de confort. Pas parce que j’ai un problème avec lui mais parce qu’il me rappelle que, parfois, il suffit d’une fraction de seconde pour comprendre la grandeur. Sans démonstration, sans longue dégustation, juste humer une seule fois et réaliser que le vin est énorme. Superbes notes fruitées en symbiose avec de la fraîcheur et des fèves de cacao. Il y a aussi le côté herbacé avec du thym et puis la minéralité avec du graphite. En bouche le vin est compact, gras, crémeux, frais et racé. Quelle grandeur et quelle aptitude à convaincre. C’est la première fois que Léoville Las Cases n’est pas seulement brillant dans sa notion de puissance mais dans sa notion de finesse et de race. Il est convaincant et séduisant. 2024-2049.

The 2019 Léoville Las Cases is a blend of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc and 11% Merlot. Harvest began early for the Merlot, on the 18th of September, and the Cabernets were picked in October, finishing on the 8th of October. The IPT number (measurement of tannins) is 80—the same as 2018. The alcohol came at 14.02% (lower than 2018), but it does seem a little lower than this percentage, probably because the pH is a little lower this year, at 3.67. It is aging in French oak barriques, 90% new. The color is opaque purple-black, with a nose that unfurls slowly in the glass, beginning with vibrant, expressive black fruit notes of freshly crushed blackcurrants, ripe blackberries and fresh black cherries, followed by a beguiling array of floral and earth nuances—candied violets, lavender, fragrant soil, underbrush, crushed rocks and black truffles. The medium to full-bodied wine dances ever so gracefully on the palate, demurely revealing tightly wound layers of of bright, crunchy black fruits and tantalizing floral and mineral sparks, supported by a rock-solid structure of firm, finely grained tannins and fantastic tension, finishing with epic persistence. Although the style is completely different, the barrel sample is behaving a lot like the Haut-Brion sample was when I tasted it, in that it appears to be holding just that little bit extra back right now. I have to call it as I see it today, but I wouldn't be surprised if when I come back to taste this from bottle, it shows me all that and a lot more.