Chateau Leoville Las Cases - Clos du Marquis 2016

ANTONIO GALLONI: "The 2016 Clos du Marquis is just as compelling from bottle as it was from barrel. Inky, deep and explosive, with superb depth and impeccable balance, the 2016 is fabulously delicious. One of the things I admire most about the 2016 is an uncanny ability to deliver serious flavor intensity without excess heaviness. This is a stellar effort from Jean-Hubert Delon and his team."

DECANTER: "From 18-55-year-old vines just outside the walled clos of Léoville. This is rich, with great depth and weight, showing lovely St-Julien balance and elegance in its pencil-lead and savoury cassis flavours. It's very well judged and extremely accomplished, displaying a touch of austerity on the finish. Very good quality."

JAMES SUCKLING: "This has a very suave, fresh and upbeat feel overall, with freshly baked berry pastry and ripe raspberry, boysenberry and red-plum aromas in abundance. The palate has a superb array of rich, fresh and deeply fruited tannins that roll smoothly into the elegant, focused and perfectly balanced finish. Try from 2023."

JEB DUNNUCK: "From the considerable talents of the Léoville Las Cases team, the 2016 Clos du Marquis is made from 73% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc that was raised in 60% new French oak. This full-bodied, concentrated, incredibly elegant Saint Julien has the purity and balance that’s the hallmark of the vintage as well as loads of underlying structure and depth. Great notes of ripe black cherries, blackcurrants, spring flowers, and graphite all emerge from this beauty, which is going to be one for the ages. It will need 8-10 years of cellaring and keep for three decades."

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "The wine resembles its big brother without the same level of concentration. Medium/full-bodied and loaded with fresh, chewy, bright cassis, the tannins are ripe, polished and the palate enjoys the splash of all that sweet, vibrant red fruit. Give it a few years in the cellar, if you can wait that long. This completes with several much more expensive classified growths!"

THE WINEADVOCATE: "Blended of 73% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc, the 2016 Clos du Marquis has a very deep garnet-purple color and is a little broody to begin, giving way to notes of crushed blackcurrants and black cherries with touches of warm plums, pencil shavings, earth and new leather with a waft of yeast extract. Medium-bodied with a rock-solid frame of grainy tannins, it has bold fruit matched by freshness, finishing long and mineral laced."

WEINWISSER: "73 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 24 % Merlot, 3 % Cabernet Franc. Purpur mit Granatrand. Duftiges Waldbeerbouquet und Veilchen, dahinter erkalteter Früchtetee und tabakige Würze. Am kräftigen Gaumen mit deutlichem Grip, sehr elegant bleibend, endet mit viel blauen Beeren und feiner Adstringenz im Nachhall."

WINE ENTHUSIAST: "This wine is dense with dark tannins as well as the elegance associated with the appellation. It comes from a vineyard that has been separated out from the Léoville las Cases estate. Packed with tannins as well as blueberry and blackberry fruits, the wine will develop well over several years. Drink from 2023."

WINESPECTATOR: "This has a plush edge of warm tar and ganache that slowly melds into the core of steeped plum and cassis flavors as they move through, picking up smoldering charcoal and graphite notes along the way. A very grounded wine that will age nicely. Best from 2023 through 2038. 12,500 cases made. — JM"