Clos du Marquis, St Julien, 2025
Chateau Leoville Las Cases's other wine, the one that hails from the other side of the track (D2), is mighty impressive this year. Tasted in the new, state-of-the-art winery, it is as classical as ever. We are still in St Julien (just), but there's a Pauillac finesse here. There's a wonderful web of tannins, very fine-grained, sophisticated and powerful; really very impressive stuff. Pixilated, fragrant and tightly-knit, this is a firm and athletic style with a wonderful Cabernet perfume, and a gorgeous, salty finish with a hint of orange rind.
critic reviews
The 2025 Clos du Marquis was harvested between September 8 and 20 at 24 hl/ha and matured in 55% new oak for a planned 16 months. This has a fragrant and intense bouquet, with just a hint of lavender suffusing the black cherry and blackcurrant scents, more blue fruit surfacing with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied, with a powerful entry, quite precocious licorice-tinged black fruit. A little "heady" in style, I feel that the warmth of that summer comes through more here compared to the Las Cases.
Brambled fruit on the nose, full of hawthorn and hedgerow fruits, shot through with blackcurrant pastille and incense, crab apple, grip and slate-textured minerality, will soften further over ageing, has the austerity that you hope for at this early stage of the Las Cases stable. Michael Georges technical director.
The 2025 Clos du Marquis is a serious wine that will reward patience. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of dark berries, crème de cassis, violets and burning embers, it's medium- to full-bodied, deep and layered, with bright acids and a chassis of ripe, powdery but abundant tannins. The blend this year is 73% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc.