Tasting Notes
Vinous 93+
Moderately saturated red-ruby. Captivating if cooler nose of blackcurrant, licorice and minerals. Very intensely flavored and gripping if currently quite tight. The black fruit and menthol flavors show an almost medicinal austerity and uncanny penetration on the palate. Very ripe for 2002, at 13.5%, with a pH of 3.85. Today, I find a more classically firm finish and a bit more personality than in the young 2004, but then the new vintage has a long way to go before it’s in bottle.
Robert Parker 96
A sensational effort from proprietor Jean-Hubert Delon, the 2002 Leoville Las-Cases (a blend of 66.7% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14.5% Merlot, 13.9% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot) possesses the highest natural alcohol of any vintage produced at Las Cases (a whopping 13.5%, compared to 2000’s 12.9%, 1982’s 12.8%, and 1990’s 13.2%). Yields were a low 27 hectoliters per hectare. Approximately 43% of the production made it into the 2002. The wine has tremendously high measurements of extract and phenolics. The color is nearly black/purple, and the wine looks like syrup of Leoville Las-Cases. Dense, concentrated, broodingly backward as well as tannic, but oh, so promising and intense, the 2002 reveals tremendous purity, great intensity, and a finish that lasts for 45 seconds. Clearly Leoville Las-Cases has produced a wine of first-growth quality (what’s new?) that competes for the wine of the vintage moniker. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2030+
Anticipated maturity: 2015-2030