Bordeaux 2025: Leoville Las Cases and Ausone

SPRINT FINISH

We are in the final furlong of the 2025 en primeur stakes with only a handful runners left to make their moves. Today sees the release of St Julien’s preeminent name, Leoville Las Cases. William Kelley declares this to be,“One of the most serious, brooding wines of the vintage”. We wouldn’t expect anything less. Hubert Delon’s flagship estate is renowned as one of the greatest terroirs in Bordeaux and famed for delivering wines with real substance and backbone. Bordeaux purists will be enthralled by this edition, the third vintage made in their grand, newly opened winery.

From the limestone Côte of St Emilion, we are delighted to offer the magnificent Château Ausone 2025, a wine described by William Kelley as,“one of the most refined, classy Ausone vintages in recent years”. Neal Martin affirms this is,“Very long, with a peacock's tail on the finish… a fascinating and alluring Ausone that will age with style.” It is indeed a spectacular vintage from the Vauthiers’ star property: multifaceted, distinguished and enduring, a truly great wine.

CRITICS' NOTES

“One of the most serious, brooding wines of the vintage is the 2025 Léoville Las Cases, a blend of 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Cabernet Franc and 6% Merlot. Unfurling in the glass with aromas of dark berries, plums, pencil shavings and creamy new oak, it's medium- to full-bodied, deep and dense, with prodigious reserves of sweet but assertive tannin, lively acids and a long, muscular finish. This will require patience.”

96-98/100 William Kelley, The Wine Advocate

“The 2025 Léoville Las Cases is the earliest harvest since 1989, starting on September 5 until September 20. Yields are 23 hl/ha, with a soft extraction using air pumps introduced in 2019, and it was matured in 80% new oak. It is the third vintage made in the new, impressive facility. This has another intense nose, quite flamboyant for Las Cases due to the warmth of the summer, with hints of pencil shavings and cigar box coming through with time. The palate is medium-bodied but very concentrated. Real depth and density here, very primal, with an intense, multi-layered finish that coats the mouth. Not a subtle Las Cases, nor should it be, though I aver that it will oblige long-term ageing. Drinking Window 2035 - 2070.”

96-98/100 Neal Martin, vinous.com

“A blend of 65% Cabernet Franc, 30% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon,the 2025 Château Ausone unwinds in the glass with notes of sweet raspberries and mulberries mingled with notions of mint, rose petals and blood orange. Medium- to full-bodied, lively and perfumed, with lovely energy, exquisitely refined tannins and a bright, precise finish, it shows extraordinary potential. Some discreet changes are underway at this address, with picking (between September 2 and 23) broken up plot by plot to a greater degree; a review of the estate's cooperage choices in pursuit of better integration; and, at least this year, no second wine for the first time since 1994—given the quality of Ausone's terroir and vine material, that seems entirely reasonable. The result is one of the most refined, classy Ausone vintages in recent years, and it will be exciting to follow these evolutions over the years to come.”

97-99/100 William Kelley, The Wine Advocate

“The 2025 Ausone represents the entirety of the vineyard this year after trial blends convinced the Vauthiers not to make a Chapelle d’Ausone. There is also 5% Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend for the first time, from five tiny plots located on a terrace close to the quarry, so that heat reflects off the wall to ensure ripening. It was picked between September 2 and 23. Almost immediately, I noticed how that soupçon of Cabernet Sauvignon tilts the style of the Grand Vin in a different and, to my mind, positive direction. Beautifully defined, a little more sapid, perhaps just a tad less precocious than usual, there is a sense of classicism in this Ausone that I admire, terroir over growing season perhaps? The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins, real depth, silky smooth, with layers of blackberry and raspberry fruit and hints of white pepper and clove. Very long, with a peacock's tail on the finish, this is a fascinating and alluring Ausone that will age with style. Drink: 2035 – 2065”

96-98/100 Neal Martin, vinous.com