1986 Leoville Las Cases
By Chateau Leoville Las Cases
1986 Leoville Las Cases from Chateau Leoville Las Cases, St-Julien, Bordeaux
The celestial 1986 Leoville Las Cases from Chateau Leoville Las Cases is a vintage that speaks to my soul. In decades dedicated to the discernment of Bordeaux's finest offerings, this particular year stands resolute in memory, a testament to the alchemy between nature and winemaker's craft. Plucked from the illustrious soils of St-Julien, this vintage has matured into one for the annals of great wine histories.
Complexity Embodied: The 1986 Harvest
1986 was a year characterised by whimsical climatic twists; a year that demanded mastery over viticulture to coax vines into yielding their latent potential. The growing season was marked by a mildew threat, turned around by a fortuitously dry and sunny late period, which provided optimal ripening. The harvest begot small but concentrated berries, each laden with an intensity that time has sculpted into something ethereal.
A Vintage with Elegance and Investment Appeal
Investors seeking wines of structural integrity and prolonged longevity need look no further than the 1986 vintage from Chateau Leoville Las Cases. It is a paragon of Bordeaux stability—its tannic backbone impeccably fused with flavours that unfurl regally, much like an expertly woven tapestry approaching its form in completion. With hints of cassis, truffle, and tobacco enclosed within its still-vivid ruby hue, the 1986 Leoville Las Cases burgeons with secondary characteristics that beckon a contemplative tasting experience.
A synonym for investment potential in fine wine portfolios lies within each savoured glass of the 1986 Leoville Las Cases—a wine that continues to enchant with its grace and sublime structure.
In Retrospect: An Unfading Legacy
Reflecting on years past and tastes eternally imprinted on my palate, the 1986 Leoville Las Cases from Chateau Leoville Las Cases stands out as one of patience and heritage. Its narrative woven through time – the sage wine whispers of savvy decisions to collectors poised at the nexus of passion and prudence.
Market price (USD)
$4,080.00
12x75cl
Highest score
99
POP score
175.79
Scores and tasting notes
The late Michel Delon always thought that this was the greatest vintage he had produced. We often tasted it side by side with the 1982, because I always preferred the latter vintage. Of course, the two vintages are quite different in style, with the 1986 a monument to classicism, with great tannin, extraordinary delineation, and a huge, full-bodied nose of sweet, ripe cassis fruit intermixed with vanilla, melon, fruitcake, and a multitude of spices. The wine has always been phenomenally concentrated, yet wonderfully fresh and vigorous. The wine still seems young, yet it is hard to believe it is not close to full maturity. It is a great example of Leoville Las Cases, and another compelling reason to take a serious look at the top Cabernet Sauvignon-based Medocs of 1986. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2035. Last tasted, 9/02.
Robert Parker Jr - Bordeaux Book, 4th Edition Jan 2003
The 1986 Leoville-Las Cases is still so youthful in appearance after 30 years, with only a thin bricking on the rim giving away its age. The bouquet is magnificent: extraordinarily pure and delineated, bewitching black fruit laced with cedar and graphite, the latter lending an almost Pauillac-like personality. The palate is exactly as I have found the previous dozen or so bottles I have tasted: structured, delineated, intense, aristocratic and imperious. It is less formidable than say, ten years ago, so it has probably just stepped onto its drinking plateau. The acidity is perfectly judged lending freshness and tension, crucial to counterbalance those layers of spicy black fruit that fans out with cedar and graphite (again) towards the finish. You come away with the feeling of having consumed a wine with immense energy, yet with so much more to give over the next three decades, and knowing this property, perhaps even the three decades after that! I would agree with the late Michel Delon: the 1986 Léoville Las-Cases is the summit of the 1980s. Tasted September 2016.
Neal Martin - The Wine Advocate, 30 December 2016
This has always been one of my favourite wines from the estate, Michel Delon's favourite
Neal Martin - Wine Journal May 2013