Chateau Leoville Las Cases
Château Léoville-Las Cases originally was part of a much larger estate in Saint-Julien on the left bank of the Bordeaux area. After the French Revolution, in 1826 a part of the original vineyard was separated in what is now called Château Léoville-Barton.
In 1840, another piece of land was split off from the domaine and would become Léoville-Poyferré. Still consisting of 60% of the original estate, Château Léoville-Las Cases was classified as “Deuxième Grand Cru Classé” in the 1855 Classification. Since the late 19th century, the estate has been managed by the Delon family and the current owner is Jean-Hubert Delon / Domaines Delon.
The Grand Vin is produced mainly from the Clos Léoville-Las Cases, which has an exceptional terroir and covers over 55 Ha. The total surface area extends 97 Ha, which makes the Château one of the largest in the Bordeaux area.
The grape varieties planted at Léoville-Las Cases are: Cabernet Sauvignon (65%), Merlot (19%) and Cabernet Franc (16%). The average age of the vines is 40 years. Until 2002, they also used a small amount of the Petit Verdot grape.
The grape selection is very rigorous. For example: 50% of their crop in 1986 and 67% in 1990 was declassified and considered inferior. Already in 1902, Château Léoville-Las Cases was one of the first chateaux in the Bordeaux area that introduced a “second wine” named “Clos du Marquis”, although this wine comes from another plot of land which is not used for the “Grand Vin”. However, the real second wine was introduced in 2007: “Le Petit Lion du Marquis de las Cases”.
Léoville-Las Cases is a wine with a dark color, very concentrated with polished tannins and built for the cellar. Approximately 200.000 bottles of Léoville-Las Cases are produced each year and 250.000 bottles of the “Clos du Marquis”. The top vintages are: 1945, 1959, 1982, 1985, 1986, 1990, 1996, 2000, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2015 & 2016.
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