Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: 90 points

As I have indicated numerous times in this journal, the second wine of Las Cases, Clos du Marquis, is one of the finest second wines being made in Bordeaux. Over recent years, it has become a wine of classified growth quality. The 1996 may turn out to be even better than the outstanding 1995. Both are exceptional wines, with the 1996 slightly thicker and more viscous, with more noticeable new oak, as well as more massive body, and a blockbuster finish. In contrast, the 1995 is the quintessentially elegant style of Las Cases, with copious quantities of sweet fruit, outstanding depth, ripeness, and overall equilibrium, but no sense of heaviness. Like so many of this estate's great wines, everything is in proper proportion, with the acidity, alcohol, and tannin well-integrated. The 1995 is slightly more up-front and precocious than the 1996 it can be drunk now as well as over the next 15 years.

Review date: February 1998