To all Best Winers,
The lion is not sleeping tonight. In fact, Chateau Leoville Las Cases is doing what it has always done, produce first growth quality wines at second growth prices. How Las Cases is not a first growth at this juncture always boggles our mind. What more can it do? And for how long does it need to continue doing it?
That being said, one of the greatest wineries in Bordeaux selling its top wine at a third the cost of the first growths is nowadays still a very pricey proposition. I know I don’t have $300 burning a hole in my pocket, regardless of whether the wine is a true deal vis a vis the competition or not.
Jean Delon’s Clos du Marquis is not the second label of the famed super-second growth St. Julien, Leoville Las Cases. Let’s get that out in the open right now. Clos du Marquis is, in fact, a separate parcel owned by the Delon family that is essentially across the street from the legendary Las Cases. It could be a highly classified growth in its own right and may be if Bordeaux ever decides to re-classify its Left Bank vineyards…which is not likely.
As we’ve written previously about this very special spot, Clos du Marquis has been a tremendous value from the start, incorporating the top barrels from the final culling for Las Cases into its own unique terroir, located across the D2. The wine is generally a bit more Merlot, maybe some younger vineyards in the mix, the wine is built to be a more accessible version of its pricier sibling. Still, as this wine attests, the wine has the gumption to cellar remarkably well.
The 1998 Clos du Marquis is drinking just about perfect right now. It is one of several left bank ‘shockers’ from the 1998 vintage we bumped into during our last buying trip. Of course, these top value plays from ’98 on the Left bank have something in common with their Right Bank brethren, namely a healthy percentage of Merlot, which enjoyed picture-perfect conditions during its growing season. Thus, these second wines from ‘98 are oftentimes outperforming their pricier counterparts. Twelve years of bottle age, Las Cases pedigree, dark color, soft tannins, lush fruit flavors, touch of that Bordeaux ‘funk’ for complexity, this one is the complete package…
There’s nothing like getting the chance to offer up some true legends from Bordeaux, direct from the chateau’s cellars, at pricing that defies logic.
Second case in point? How the heck should we be offering a 94 point, Wine Spectator Top 100 from 10 years ago at a price that is far below the current release price for wines of comparable (or lesser) quality?
It doesn’t make sense. We know. Offers that defy ‘sense’ in the wine market are our specialties!
We tasted (drank) the 2000 Clos du Marquis again the other night and it ripped the doors off. How good are these 2000’s showing right now! This always-delicious vintage is starting to kick into another gear and the wines have developed that perfect combo of primary fruit and secondary characters, with the typical Bordeaux tannins now starting to resolve and the wine taking on a lush, creamy feel (for Bordeaux) that we always knew it was going to have. Exciting to see this kid ‘grow up’ seen as we have been following this talented youngster since its release.
Our shipments, direct from the cellars of Leoville Las Cases, are now in-stock at a truly remarkable price given the quality, press and provenance.
Regarding the 2000:
91 points from Robert Parker, who, on release called the wine, “One of the great sleepers of the vintage and probably the best Clos du Marquis I have ever tasted…this wine could easily compete with many of the vintage's classified growths.”
94 points from Wine Spectator and a #14 nod in their Top 100…of 2003! Spectator’s Jim Suckling at the time noted, “It's full-bodied, with firm, yet velvety textured tannins. It's big and rounded. If you can't afford Las Cases, try some of this.”
If you’re looking for something ‘fresher’ from the Delon family, be advised we are down to our last two cases of the awesome 2009 Clos Du Marquis (93 points Parker, 93 points Suckling), considered one of the finest St. Julien wines of this spectacular vintage and, at $54.88 a bottle, a serious bargain!
Kyle Meyer and Tristen Beamon, Proprietors, BestWinesOnline.com
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