Leoville Las Cases 2011 (750ML)

96 WE / 95 WS / 95 JS / 94 DE / 93+ RP

Huge structure, huge potential, a wine that will bring out all the fruit and density of the vintage while remaining very fresh. Black plums are already showing strongly along with the dry core that promises aging. It's serious while alive and bright. Drink this major wine from 2022. Cellar Selection. - Roger Voss, Wine Enthusiast

This has some toast to shed, but retains a terrific core of crushed plum and blackberry confiture. Has a beautiful ripple of charcoal for texture, honest acidity for balance and a bolt of iron that keeps this firmly grounded. A brick-house Cabernet. Best from 2018 through 2030. 8,330 cases made.- James Molesworth, Wine Spectator

This shows so much spice and berry character on the nose. Focused and beautiful. Full body with a clearly outstanding core of fruit and polished tannins. The finish lasts for minutes. Reminds me of the superb 1996. Try in 2020. - James Suckling

Concentrated black fruits and sappy power. This is a delicious Las Cases if on the side of a hard taskmaster, this is for those who really love to be whipped by their wines before giving in. Those tannins are still very much present - binding in the exoticism, black pepper, charcoal and dried herbs. A yield of 26hl/ha, the second hottest vintage since 2000 and with very little rain overall (although it fell at difficult times). Drinking Window 2021 - 2044 - Jane Anson, Decanter

One of the more formidably backward and potentially long-lived wines of the vintage, the medium to full-bodied 2011 Leoville Las Cases behaves like a first-growth, which in a sense it truly is. Revealing a dense inky/purple color, it is a structured, rich, impressively endowed effort that is meant for the long haul. Atypical for this vintage, it requires 5-7 years of bottle age and should drink well for two decades thereafter. The final blend was 76% Cabernet Sauvignon and the balance equal parts Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Yields were a low 27 hectoliters per hectare, and the natural alcohol achieved 13.4%. - Robert Parker, Wine Advocate