1975 Chateau Leoville Las Cases Saint Julien

This is one of the great successes of the vintage. However, those with modern day tastes for soft, easy-going, supple wines may not enjoy the 1975 Leoville Las-Cases. Why? It is a tannic, backward, old style wine cut from the mold of such vintages as 1948 and 1928. The color is a dark ruby/garnet with a hint of amber at the edge. The nose offers up distinctive mineral, lead pencil, sweet, blackcurrant scents with flinty overtones. Full-bodied, thick, and concentrated, as well as atypically muscular and powerful, this should prove to be one of the longest-lived wines of the vintage. There are sensational levels of richness and intensity. While the vintage's tough tannin level ensures another 20-35 years of longevity, the wine may dry out by that time. I thought this wine would be at its peak by the mid-nineties, but it still needs another 5-8 years of cellaring. It is a very impressive, albeit backward and hard wine. Review Date: February 1996