Château Léoville Las Cases 2024 en Primeur

Complex, refined and truly mineral, this has natural vibrancy and freshness as well as excellent depth. Light midpalate concentration but also no sweetness at all. Medium- to full-bodied with chalky, stony tannins and a long, very tense finish. A vintage of delicacy and finesse. If you seek less alcohol and less power, this will be a great year to buy. 84% cabernet sauvignon, 11% cabernet franc and 5% merlot.

Le nez profond et frais introduit encore un très grand Las Cases. En bouche, pas de doute, sa précision, son éclat et sa persistance en font un modèle du millésime. Son tour de force consiste à allier une impressionnante puissance et une grande finesse en finale. Il déroule une fantastique allonge. (Olivier Poels)

Very deep and rich saturated colour and perfume of blue and blackberry fruits with some floral and hawthorne rosehip complexity, all underlying the first shavings of spicy oak. Smells more of Léoville Las Cases than of 2024, which is good! Palate flooding depth and concentration with lush black fruits and spices. The tannins are of course marked, and serious, but the weight and poise is there to balance. Freshness to the acidity and a terrifically long finish. Certainly an astonishing work of travail in the vineyards and winery this year. Very classy.

Vivid and intense purple colour to the rim. Fragrant rosehip, violets and iris notes, deep and somewhat seductive in terms of aromatics. Supple and alive, the energy here is amazing. Tannins are chalky and filling, immediately covering the mouth with the clean and pure fruit underneath. This is quite massy still, but I love that it’s not at all too lean and focussed. More wide and approachable than some with a cola and liquorice and wet stone element. Chewy, ripe, concentrated and fun. Much less serious than I was expecting, so well crafted with a real element of drinkability and freshness. Not thick or rich, but there’s enough flesh to fill the palate. Ageing 18 months, 75% new barrels. 6.3% press. 3.60pH. (Georgina Hindle)

One of the wines of the vintage, and certainly one that's likely to number among the longest-lived, is the 2024 Léoville Las Cases, a blend of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc and 5% Merlot that attained 13.1% alcohol. Unwinding in the glass with a pure, intense bouquet of cassis, violets and pencil shavings, it's medium to full-bodied, with terrific mid-palate density and concentration but also a seamless integration of tannin and acidity that's especially rare this year, concluding with a long, penetrating finish. Jean-Hubert Delon observes that the 2024 shares "the aromas and flavors of the 1986," defined by Cabernet Sauvignon ripened at the end of the growing season, though of course the 2024, lacking the huge power and structure of that vintage, is much more amiable than the 1986. (William Kelley)