Leoville las Cases 1975

This came as a big surprise because I usually associate outstanding bottles of Bordeaux from this vintage with only the Right Bank or Graves. But the 1975 Las Cases is superb. It showed gorgeous aromas of dried berry and tobacco with iodine and shells. It was full body, firm with pleasantly chewy tannins and a chalk, berry and lavender aftertaste. Fresh finish. It’s still so beautifu

A good vintage compared with the early 1970s. Paler garnet and some brick at the rim but still quite a bit of red at the core. The first really developed nose of this line up – liquorice and undergrowth and bloody and a touch of mint. Very bloody. Much juicier than I expected after the nose, high acidity, resolved tannins but a slightly lean finish. Acid starting to stick out. More old-fashioned style. Julia Harding MW