Chateau Leoville Les Cases 2020 En Primeur
This is incredibly classic in style with so much currant, pencil, stone and sweet tobacco. It is full-bodied with mineral, rocky and powerful tannins. It goes on and one. Real Las Cases here. Solid as a rock. Progressively purple, graphite and licorice.
98-99 points, James Suckling
Dark garnet in color, the wine opens with aromas of tobacco leaf, cigar box, cedar, herbs, black currant, coffee and spice. Refined, fresh, polished and firm, the fruit is vibrant, long and intense. The tannins are ripe, almost creamy. The finish is long, regal and compelling, leaving you with a layer of black currant and cassis. Give it at least 12-15 years before popping a cork and enjoy it for the next 3 decades after that. The wine is a blend of 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot and 8% Cabernet Franc, 13.68% vol, 3.80 pH. Harvest took place September 12-27, making this the first vintage since 1989.
96-98 points, Jeff Leve, wine cellar expert
The 2020 Léoville Las Cases is a blend of 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc and 8% Merlot, aged in 80% new French oak barrels, with an alcohol content of 13.68%, a pH of 3.8 and an IPT (tannin index) of 79. The Cabernet Sauvignon was harvested September 21-27, the Merlot September 12-15 and the Cabernet Franc September 18-19. Opaque purple-black in color, it unfolds slowly to reveal enticing notes of fresh black currants, morello cherry, candied violets and dark chocolate, giving way to an undercurrent of crushed stones, unsmoked cigars, clove oil and fragrant earth. The medium-bodied palate is a concentration of energy, offering tightly wound red and black fruits, mineral and floral layers, supported by fantastic tension and incredibly ripe, silt-like tannins. The finish has stunning fragrance and depth. Drink 2026-2061.
96-98 points, Lisa Perrotti-Brown, RobertParker.com
The 2020 Léoville-Las Cases was harvested September 12-29 and matured in 80% new oak with 13.68° alcohol. Cabernet Sauvignon is at the wheel of the nose, offering almost saturnine black fruit, pencil shavings and cedar, perhaps one of the most pauillac bouquets I've noticed on this bulk wine, which is no surprise considering its varietals border on that appellation. The palate is medium-bodied, initially rigorous and linear, which Pauillac tinges with conspicuous graphite/matite lead notes intertwined with black fruit. There's plenty of freshness here and impressive weight, but no sense of heaviness towards the finish. Drinking 2030-2070.
96-98 points, Neal Martin