2011 Château Léoville Las Cases, St Julien, Bordeaux

I have little doubt that this is one of the best wines of the vintage based on our April tastings. It is quite subtle at this stage but seems multi-faceted with bags of potential complexity. The bouquet shows crunchy red fruit, with considerable intensity, while on the palate there is amazing precision and purity.

The crisp acidity imbues the wine with great freshness, the tannins are plentiful but exceptionally fine, and there is a high level of persistence, always a hallmark of a very fine wine. It needs age, but looks to be in the tradition of the finest wines from this noble estate.