Last night, I attended a wonderful tasting of Leoville las Cases organized by my good friend Panos Kakaviatos and featuring Pierre Graffeuille of Leoville las Cases. The dinner was in the back room at Ripple and featured a fabulous meal prepared by their newish executive chef Ryan Ratino. He has been doing an unbelievable job since taking over as chef last year and I really loved all the food.
Pierre Graffeuille lovingly explained all the wines, etc., that we were tasting. He was really fun to listen to and I learned a lot. I should say that I have always loved the wines of Leoville las Cases. The only strike against them is they take forever to age, but when they are finally mature, I really like them. Probably my favorite non-first growths in Bordeaux are Leoville las Cases, Ducru and Palmer. So, this evening was a special treat tasting some legendary vintages of LLC and a fascinating wine unlike anything I have had before.
The first wines we tasted were Clos du Marquis 2005 and Petit Lion du Marquis de las Cases 2009. I am becoming a big fan of 2005 Bordeaux and I thought the Clos du Marquis was a fine example of one. It tasted a lot like a Leoville las Cases in style, but certainly without the weight, depth, length and complexity. Still, it was an excellent wine. The Petit Lion (the second wine of LLC) was interesting as it was about 71% Merlot). Rich and easy to drink, it had a lot of characteristics that one expects from 2009 - although hard to tell if the richness and softness was from the vintage or from the Merlot. Enjoyable and elegant, but I probably enjoyed the Clos du Marquis more.
Next we had a 2003 Potensac. I thought this was a beautiful wine, perfect for drinking now. I would have loved a bit more acidity in this wine, but for the vintage (not one of my favorite Bordeaux vintages), I thought this wine was impressively balanced.
We went on to a 2001 Nenin. Now, this is a vintage I like a good bit and the Nenin showed why. Longer finish and more complexity than any of the wines that came before it, this was a serious wine. Still, I kind of missed the LLC flavors of the earlier wines and, while this is probably a “better” wine than the Clos du Marquis, I might have subjectively enjoyed the Clos du Marquis more.
Now time for the big boys. The first flight of LLC that we had was a real wow flight. 1996, 1990, 1989. When hands went up, the 1990 was the group’s clear favorite, but it was probably my least favorite of the three. But not by much. These were great, great wines. The 1996 was the most elegant of the wines, although the most unready to drink - still I truly loved it. I called it at various times - a burgundy lover’s Bordeaux (I was afraid that this would get me kicked out, but somehow I was safe), a throwback to pre-1982 styled Bordeaux and, when compared to more recent vintages, most 2005 in style (others having compared 1990 to a 2009 and 1989 to a 2010). The 1990 was rich and hedonistic. And, the 1989 tasted like it was the 1990, with some 1996 thrown in - in other words, a wonderful blend of richness and complexity. We could have argued all night about which was the best, but we had other wines to go to.
And, frankly, as good as these wines were, we stopped talking about them as soon as we started drinking the 1986. I have had this wine a few times in recent years and this was the best it has tasted. An absolutely complete, legendary wine.
And to compare to the 1986, we had a real treat. A 100% Petit Verdot from LLC from 1986 that Mr. Graffeuille said had never been tasted outside the winery before. Certainly not as complete a wine as any of the LLCs, it was a fascinating glimpse of this single variety. I have only had one 100% PV wine before and it certainly was not 30 years old. I probably learned more from this wine last night than from any of the others - truly special.
Then, to cap off the LLC wines, we had a 1975 and a 1982. I have always really liked the 1975 and last night was no exception. A classic, mature wine, it was a joy to drink. But, on this night, it was just outclassed by the legendary vintages we tasted - 1986, 1989, 1990, 1996 and the wine to follow. Yes, we finished with a 1982 LLC. I had this wine when it was first released and thought it was fabulous. It was never that good again - it was always closed and too young. I feel like I have been waiting my entire life for this wine to open up. Well, it probably still is not mature, but it has opened up. And, my confidence has been restored that this is a truly legendary wine. This, for me, was the WOTN and clearly so, which is amazing when I think about what came before it.
My good friend Chris Bublitz brought two dessert wines to finish the evening - a very nice 2001 Haut Peraguay and a truly fabulous Zind Humbrecht Rangen de Thenn VT 1994. Wow was this a fabulous wine and a wonderful way to cap off an extraordinarily special evening.
Thanks Panos for including me.