Tasting Notes
Antonio Galloni 93
The 2012 Léoville-Las-Cases offers lovely up front voluptuousness, something I am almost shocked to write about one of the Left Bank’s most notoriously slow agers. Sweet red cherry, dried flowers and pipe tobacco scents meld into a translucent, mid-weight Las Cases that should drink relatively early by this wine’s standard. The silky finish only adds to the wine’s considerable early appeal. The blend is 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot and 11% Cabernet Franc.
Anticipated maturity: 2022-2042
Vinous 92-94
(74% cabernet sauvignon, 15% merlot and 11% cabernet franc; 3.6 pH; 5.4 g/l total acidity; 70 IPT; 13.5% alcohol; 80% new oak; 33 h/h): Dark ruby-red. Spice and vanillin nuances complicate red cherry, blackcurrant, cedar and graphite on the captivating, classic nose. Then suave and refined in the mouth, with clean flavors of blackcurrant, cedar and herbs. Finishes very long and pure, with insidious complexity and atypical levels of sweet creamy flesh for a 2012 Bordeaux from the Left Bank. I found this outstanding wine to be very LLC in style, not unlike a lighter version of the 2010. The grapes were picked on 12 different days between October 4 and 18. For my money, it’s one of the two best wines from the Left Bank in 2012.
Wine Advocate 93
The bigger sister or brother of Le Petit Lion, depending on your point of view, the 2012 Leoville Las Cases has gorgeous minerality, plenty of blueberry and blackcurrant fruit that is super-pure, an opaque ruby/purple color, medium body and firm structured, slightly austere personality. This wine is built for the long-term. A blend of 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot and 11% Cabernet Franc, it attained 13.5% alcohol, which is substantial for a 2012 Medoc. It has depth and richness, but also a boatload of tannin. Forget it for 8-10 years and drink over the following 15-20.
Anticipated maturity: 2023-2043
