New Release: 2022 Leoville Las Cases: Seven Potential 100 Point Scores

We have a gorgeous new release from Bordeaux, the 2022 vintage of the mighty Leoville Las Cases. A serious wine with a reputation for First Growth quality, it lives up to the billing in 2022 and has an incredible seven potential 100-point scores from the critics. Perhaps the wine of the vintage and, if it fulfils its potential, set for legendary status, this is one not to miss. 

Las Cases has a reputation for challenging the First Growths in sheer brilliance. For Robert Parker, “Leoville-Las Cases is unquestionably one of the great names and wines of Bordeaux… consistently of first-growth quality”, while Jane Anson highlights how “This is a wine that is often compared to its Pauillac neighbour Latour in profile.” Praise does not come much higher. 

In 2022 it is an astonishing wine with the potential to be an all-time great, as demonstrated by the scores and notes from the critics: 

• “is a “tour de force”. 98-100 points Neal Martin
• “One of the wines of the vintage this year”, 98-100 points William Kelley
• “stunning. Fine-grained and nuanced, the 2022 Las Cases is breathtaking”, 98-100 points Antonio Galloni
• “an amazing structure and so many intricate layers”, 98-100 points Lisa Perrotti-Brown
• “Very special. Thought-provoking. Endless”, 99-100 points James Suckling
• “will clearly rank with the truly greats from this address”, 98-100 points Jeb Dunnuck
• “the wine is all about its full-body, intensity, levels of concentration”, 98-100 points Jeff Leve

Also available is the excellent Clos du Marquis. From its own special vineyard, this is stepping out of its stablemate’s shadows in 2022 with a classed growth quality performance. For Dunnuck, it is “it’s full-bodied, with ultra-fine tannins and flawless balance”. 

Details are below, do take a look and let me know if you would like a case or two secured: 

2022 Chateau Leoville Lascases

£1,386 per case (6*75cl) in bond 

£1,392 per case mags (3*150cl) in bond 

SGD $2,500 ($2,700 inc GST) per case (6*75cl OWC)

SGD $2,510 ($2,710.80 inc GST) per case mags (3*150cl OWC)

The 2022 Léoville Las-Cases was picked 8-30 September with more infusion than extraction, matured in 84% new oak. Precocious, almost decadent blackberry and blueberry fruit on the nose, there is something lavish and audacious about this Saint-Julien. There is an underlying estuarine element, a whiff off the banks of the Gironde. The palate is medium-bodied with polished tannins, very detailed, extremely pure, what you might call a “vertical” Las-Cases with fabulous precision on the finish. This surpasses the 2018-2020 trio and to use that clichéd expression, is a “tour de force”.

98-100 points Neal Martin

One of the wines of the vintage this year is the 2022 Léoville Las Cases, a monument in the making that combines unerring classicism with unusual sensuality and charm by the standards of this estate’s sometimes youthfully forbidding wines. Exhibiting deep aromas of dark berries, violets, pencil lead, rose petals and tobacco leaf, it’s full-bodied, deep and multidimensional, with terrific concentration, beautiful purity of fruit, abundant but refined tannins and a long, vibrant finish. On the several occasions that I tasted it, the 2022 was surprisingly open for a young Las Cases, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it were to shut down after a few years in bottle. It’s a blend of 83.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10.5% Cabernet Franc and 6% Merlot.

98-100 points William Kelley

The 2022 Léoville Las Cases is stunning. Fine-grained and nuanced, the 2022 Las Cases is breathtaking. Red/purplish fruit, rose petals, lavender, spice and mocha open gradually but what impresses most about the 2022 is its sublime finesse. Silky, plush and exceptionally beautiful, the 2022 Las Cases is shaping up to be one of the wines of the year.

98-100 points Antonio Galloni

A blend of 83.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10.5% Cabernet Franc, and 6% Merlot, with a pH of 3.8, the 2022 Leoville Las Cases is deep garnet-purple in color. It needs a lot of waking up before it strides confidently out of the glass with classic scents of warm cassis, juicy black plums, and pencil shavings, giving way to wafts of evocative scents of iron ore, crushed rocks, wood smoke, and violets, with a hint of star anise. The medium to full-bodied palate is the Taj Mahal of Cabernets, built with an amazing structure and so many intricate layers, it makes the mind spin. Youthful, crunchy black fruits and mineral sparks give way to a core of savory notes and plum preserves, intertwined with a firm backbone of exquisitely ripe tannins, and a very long, seamlessly lively finish. Wow!

98-100 points Lisa Perrotti-Brown

This shows no gravity. The tannins are totally melted in the wine and give it fantastic structure, but the texture is so fresh and vivid. Crushed stone. Cloves. Chinese spices. Great finish. Opening and flying away. Orange peel. Very special. Thought-provoking. Endless. 83.5% cabernet sauvignon, 10.5% cabernet franc and 6% merlot.

99-100 points James Suckling

Looking at the Grand Vin 2022 Château Léoville Las Cases, it has an almost Pauillac-like style in its ripe, powerful aromatics of graphite, lead pencil shavings, cassis, and liquid rock-like minerality. Full-bodied, massively concentrated, and powerful on the palate, it nevertheless stays flawlessly balanced, has just about off-the-charts purity, ripe yet building tannins, and a great finish. This will clearly rank with the truly greats from this address and reminds me slightly of a mix of the 2016 and 2018. It is not, however, going to be for those looking for instant gratification.

98-100 points Jeb Dunnuck

Inky in color, the wine is all about its full-body, intensity, levels of concentration, and sense of purity. The wine starts off with violets, cassis, blackberries, Cuban cigar wrapper, ash, smoke, licorice, and mint. On the palate, the levels of concentration are readily apparent. Yet, even with all its depth of flavor, there is refinement, lift, and complexity that requires time and effort to unfurl. The fruit is uncommonly rich in the mid-palate the tannins are strong, ripe and firm. The seamless finish, with its wall of rich, black and blue fruit hits the 60 second mark with ease. As always, Leoville Las Cases requires bottle aging. But, with 2022, my guess is the wine will start to shine after a decade of age, evolving and improving for 40-50 years with ease. Produced from a blend 83.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10.5% Cabernet Franc and 6% Merlot. 14.25% ABV. 3.80 pH. Harvesting took place September 8 – September 30. Yields were 36 hectoliters per hectare. This is only the second time in the history of the estate that you find more Cabernet Franc than Merlot in the blend. Drink from 2030-2065.

98-100 points Jeff Leve

2022 Clos du Marquis

£363 per case (6*75cl) in bond 

£369 per case mags (3*150cl) in bond 

SGD $680 ($734.40 inc GST) per case (6*75cl OWC)

SGD $690 ($745.20 inc GST) per case mags (3*150cl OWC)

I loved the 2022 Clos Du Marquis, which is a brilliant effort, if not the finest vintage of this cuvée I’ve tasted. Cassis, graphite, and floral notes all define the bouquet, and it’s full-bodied, with ultra-fine tannins and flawless balance. It shows the ripe, concentrated, powerful style of the vintage yet is incredibly pure and seamless, with everything in the right places. It’s going to round into form with just a few years of bottle age but have decades of prime drinking.

95-97 points Jeb Dunnuck

“We’ve never seen such refined Cabernet Sauvignon at this property,” says Jean-Hubert Delon of the 2022 Clos du Marquis, and the resulting wine is certainly unusually suave and expressive, bursting with aromas of cassis, plums, orange zest, violets and pencil shavings. Medium to full-bodied, ample and fleshy, with excellent concentration, supple tannins and a long, mouthwatering finish, it will likely offer a rather broad drinking window.

93-95+ points William Kelley

*Offered subject to final confirmation. Available in 2024/2025