Château Léoville Las Cases: History, environment, grape-growing, and wines

Having completed our study of the Pauillac region, the Orlando Tasting Group now turns its attention to the St. Julien sub-appellation and the Léoville wines.

History

The three current Léoville estates had a common beginning back in 1638 when Jean de Moytie founded a vineyard on a Medoc gravel ridge and named it Mont Moytie. This estate, along with Margaux and Latour, was the earliest wine producer in the region and remained a unit until the period 1826 to 1844 when it was split into three separate entities. The chart below details the history of the estate up until its dismemberment.

From the 1840s on, the Las Cases branch of the Léoville tree was managed by a succession of family members. Somewhere along the way 20 shares were authorized to account for the total ownership of the enterprise. In 1900 one of those shares was issued to Theophile Skawinski, the estate’s general manger. Skawinski was the great great-grandfather of the current owner and, over the years, the family has set itself the task of acquiring every share that it did not already own. That goal was accomplished in 1994 when the Delon family became the sole owners of the estate.

Léoville Las Cases introduced a new wine — Clos du Marquis — from a different terroir in 1902. In the first two decades of the 21st century the enterprise introduced true second wines for each of its primary labels: Le Petit Lion for Las Cases and La Petit Marquis for Clos du Marquis.

Léoville Las Cases Grape-Growing Environment

Saint Julien, being south of Pauillac, is slightly warmer but still subject to similar climate-modification effects (see chart below). The soil is similarly gravelly but has less clay and limestone.

Leoville Las Cases sources the grapes for its wines from two separate terroirs: A walled vineyard (Grand Clos) for the primary wine and a vineyard 500 yards to the west for the Clos du Marquis.

The Grand Clos extends over two small hills and is the heart of the Las Cases vineyard. It lies in the north of St Julien, bordering on Pauillac, and is separated from Chateau Latour by a small stream. The deep gravel soils rest on clay and sand sub-soils. The aspect is SE. 

The vineyard is divided into seven main blocks and, further, into 125 parcels. Cabernet Sauvignon is planted on the hills while Merlot is planted at the bottom of the slopes. 

The vineyard is farmed organically with sustainability the driving force behind vineyard practices:

• Cover crops between rows to prevent soil erosion and boost soil health 
• Limits on chemical use. Natural products are used to control pests
• Efficient irrigation systems.

Vineyard management practices include::

• Dense planting scheme — forces vines to compete, resulting in lower yields and higher quality
• Pruning and canopy management by hand; allows for precise control
• Each plot harvested at optimal ripeness

Winemaking at Leoville Las Cases

Philosophy

The Chateau seeks to produce wines:

• Representative of their terroirs
• To be consumed during meals 
• With great aging potential
• That improve with age.

Process

The Leoville Las Cases winemaking process is labor-intensive and meticulous and is mostly unchanged from the 19th century. The requirements/steps are as follows:

• Harvesting of high-quality grapes
• These grapes are carefully selected and sorted (including optical sorting (a relatively new innovation)) to ensure that only the best grapes make it into the wine 
• Fermentation vessels include wood, concrete, and stainless steel vats of varying sizes. Eight oak vats are reserved for confiscation of the Grand Vin whike cement tanks are used for all other wines.
• Movement of wines within the cellar is via gravity flow
• Malolactic fermentation occurs in tanks
• Blending is conducted post-MLF but prior to oak aging in order to ensure no oak influence in the construction of the blends
• Wines are allowed to mature post fermentation so that they can develop their complex flavors and aromas. Recently the wine has been aged for 18 months in 90% new French oak
• Beginning in 1987, reverse osmosis technology has been employed during the winemaking process to help extract excess water from the mist. This is, of course, controversial among purists. 

Wines of Léoville Las Cases

Grand Vin de Léoville

This wine has been described by Berry Bros & Ruud as “… arguably the most exotically perfumed wine in the Medoc and this can be partially attributed to the must being fermented at lower-than-average temperatures, which leads to its youthful, aromatic richness being retained. On the palate it is powerful and concentrated and marvelously well-balanced.”

The wine is structured, firm, austere, and powerful with top vintages taking 15 - 20 years to lose its tannic structure. The wine displays intense ripe fruit flavors of black currant, cassis, and wild blackberries with subtle floral aromas and finely grained tannins. Depending on the vintage, it can present a more upright Pauillac profile or a more tender St Julien profile.

The wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Between 9000 and 15,000 cases are produced annually.

Le Petit Lion du Marquis de Las Cases

This is a true second wine made from younger vines. The blend is approximately 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot, and 10% Cabernet Franc. The wine shows dominant black fruit flavors, graphite, minerality, tobacco, and grainy tannins.

The wine is designed to be more accessible.

Clos du Marquis

This wine was first produced in 1902 with grapes secured from the top terroirs of St Julien that was a part of the Léoville historic vineyard. This wine offers a fine expression of the St Julien character: structure, complexity, harmony, distinction, and aging potential.

Annual production of between 4,000 and 8,000 bottles per year.

La Petite Marquise

Young vines from the Clos du Marquis terroirs. 56% Merlot, 44% Cabernet Sauvignon.

I next address our tasting of the wines from this estate.

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