Château Léoville Las Cases, 2ème Cru Classé, St Julien, 2012

Tasted straight after Lafite, one might expect the Las Cases to be somewhat overshadowed, but as is normally the case, Domaines Delon's flagship estate is more than up to the challenge. Intensely floral, with notes of crème de cassis, cherry jam, gravelly terroir, meat, hedgerow fruit and griotte cherry. This is powerful, concentrated and refined. It possesses wonderful depth but is clearly not a result of heavy extractions. It is lithe, full of vigour, seductive, regal, long and firm. An epic Las Cases which is qualitatively a match for the First Growths.