Château Léoville Las Cases 2017

One of the very few wines in this vintage that truly stains the glass with its wonderfully vibrant anthocyanins. This is an exceptional wine - Léoville just knows how to knock it out of the park again and again. An early vintage meant everything was blended and in barrels before Christmas, with 7.5% press wine, so this has had some time to settle down already. There's huge persistency through the palate, very similar to last year. It has presence and a grip that doesn't want to let go, and you don't want it to either. It continues to reveal itself over the course of the glass, showing slate, cassis, blackberry and charcoal. It's not as powerfully knitted as the 2016, but watch out for those tannins. I expect this will be a wine that, like the 1996 and 2016, will close down and evolve extremely slowly. Stunning aromatics. 90% new oak. 3.72pH. Drinking Window 2027 - 2042

Pourpre violacé. Bouquet intense, profond, marqué par des notes de bois de réglisse, baies noires telles que cassis et mûres. Touche de betterave rouge. Quelle superbe expression olfactive et quelle profondeur. Attaque dense, compacte et fruitée. En premier lieu, on pense que le vin ne dispose pas de la matière nécessaire pour gérer l’intensité olfactive et tout ce qui s’en suit, et puis on se retrouve face à une expression tannique puissante et persistante qui se révèle lentement et qui gagne en dimension au fil du palais. Un vin fruité, racé, épicé et complexe. Une très grande réussite. 2023–2042

This is very muscular with formed and bright tannins that give the wine super drive and length. The tannins build on the finish with a lovely integration of black fruits. Serious for the vintage.

This has the vintage's fresh acidity, which does a wonderful job of driving the core of blueberry, black currant and blackberry fruit along. Light anise and graphite accents lend typicity, with a sleek mineral edge on the finish. Rock solid. –JM