1989 | Château Léoville-Las Cases | Grand Vin de Leoville 5L

Very ripe, with raisin and dried fruits on the nose. You can smell the sun-dried grapes. Full-bodied, delivering firm tannins and a very fresh palate

Reviews:

• Wine Advocate: One of the most youthful wines of the vintage, the 1989 Léoville Las Cases unwinds in the decanter and glass with aromas of blackcurrant and pencil shavings, framed by a discrete patina from its aging in oak. Medium to full-bodied, deep and tightly wound, it's impressively pure and vibrant, though it lacks the mid-palate plenitude of the vintage's best wines, displaying a touch of tannic asperity on the finish. I wouldn't be surprised to see it continue to improve with further aging, though my sense is that the Cabernet Sauvignon might have been picked a little prematurely in this vintage.

• Decanter: 1989 was an early year, with flowering three weeks ahead of usual. Now at 30 years old, a floral aspect curls out of the glass, with touches of roses and peonies, followed on the palate by bilberries and blackberries, with a cigar smoke and eucalyptus finish. It's still vigorous in its tannic structure, but it's soft and supple enough to enjoy today. This bottle was recorked by hand at the winery last year, with five people checking every single one of the 5,000 bottles remaining at the chateau. The wines were topped up from magnums of the 1989. 3% Petit Verdot completes the blend - a variety not used in the grand vin since 1996.

Producer Information

Château Léoville-Las Cases is an estate in the Saint-Julien appellation of Bordeaux, ranked as a second growth in the 1855 Classification of the Médoc and Graves. Typical of the appellation, Château Léoville-Las Cases is Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant, with smaller amounts of Merlot and Cabernet Franc. The estate has a history dating back to the mid-17th Century, when it used to be part of a much larger estate. During the French Revolution (1789-1799) the estate was divided in two with a small section becoming Château Léoville Barton. In 1840, the original estate was again divided, creating Château Léoville-Poyferre. All three of the Léoville châteaux were named in the 1855 Classification as second growths, but Léoville-Las Cases remains the largest. There are 98 hectares (242 acres) of vineyards, planted with 66 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 24 percent Merlot, 9 percent Cabernet Franc and 1 percent Petit Verdot. The vineyard's soils are mostly gravel over sand and clay, with some areas where the clay reaches the surface. The proximity of the Gironde moderates weather extremes, lowering the risk of frost and allowing grapes to ripen earlier than vineyards further inland. The vines are on average 40 years old. Léoville-Las Cases produces three wines, all red Bordeaux blends. It is credited with being one of the first Bordeaux producers to release a second wine in 1902, even though the second wine in question, the Clos du Marquis, is made from a separate vineyard and thus is not really a second wine. A true second wine, Le Petit Lion du Marquis de Las Cases, was released in 2007, and is a Merlot-dominant wine made from younger vines, which are not yet ready for the grand vin. Domaines Delon, proprietors of the estate, also own Château Potensac in the Medoc and Château Nénin in Pomerol.

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