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History
The history of Léoville-Las-Cases begins as marshland, this being the Médoc after all, and of course to fully appreciate its history we must look back beyond the creation of Las-Cases itself to the time of the great Léoville estate, beginning in 1638. At this point the estate, clearly one of the oldest in the Médoc, was centred around a mound of gravel about which was only marshland, which flooded at high tide. This was the Mont-Moytié estate, the mont being the gravel mound, Moytié a wealthy local who owned the property. It was the Moytié family that were the first to plant vines here, during the twilight of the 17th Century, and it is through the marriage of one of the Moytié women that the estate then passed into the hands of her husband, Blaise Antoine Alexandre de Gascq. De Gascq was the seigneur of Léoville and a president of the Bordeaux parliament, locally an extremely influential and also wealthy figure, who did much to bolster the reputation of the estate. Even at this early point in the history of the Médoc, Léoville was recognised as being second only to the four accepted first growths, Latour, Lafite, Margaux and Pontac (Haut-Brion).When Blaise de Gascq died without having sired an heir in 1769, the estate was inherited by four family members, these being the Marquis de Las-Cases-Beauvoir, his brother and two sisters. But these were dangerous times for such nobility, and during the Revolution the Marquis, fearing for his life, was forced to flee France. As a consequence, although the intention was to sequester the whole estate, it was first broken up and initially one quarter was sold off, this being the origin of Léoville-Barton. The remaining three quarters remained in the family, and this was the state of affairs when Marquis was succeeded in 1815 by his son, Pierre-Jean, the Maréchal de Camps under Napoleon. Pierre-Jean inherited most of what that remained of the estate from his elders, with a smaller stake coming to his sister, Jeanne. This was effectively the second division of the estate, which was formalized in 1840. Jeanne's daughter married Baron Jean-Marie de Poyferré, her vineyards thus destined to be the Léoville-Poyferré of today; Pierre-Jean's holding, half of the original Léoville estate, was the start of Léoville-Las-Cases.
It was not long afterwards that the 1855 classification was drawn up as ordered by Napoleon III, prior to the Exposition Universelle de Paris that year. All of the Léoville estates were classed as deuxièmes crus, all in my opinion merited judged on the tasting of the wines of today. Léoville-Las-Cases remained in the Las-Cases family thereafter, passing to Pierre-Jean's son Adolphe, and then to the three members of the next generation, Gaston, Gabriel and Clothilde. Although the children had equal shares, they did not all have an equal level of interest in the estate; Gabriel wished to sell his share, probably to pay off his debts, and in the process a holding company was formed for Las-Cases. Clothilde came out the biggest stakeholder, having eight of the twenty shares, the remainder largely bought up by the wealthier members of the local wine trade, including a gentleman by the name of Théophile Skawinski, who was not only the general manager but also, I suspect, a very shrewd businessman. Skawinski poured his heart and soul into the estate, before it passed to his son-in-law André Delon. With time the Delon family acquired a greater and greater proportion of the shares in Las-Cases, until the family eventually became the majority shareholder. The Delon family remain at the head of Las-Cases today, André having been succeeded by his son Michel, and then the current incumbent Jean-Hubert, Théophile Skawinski's great-grandson.
Nowadays’ owner: Jean-Hubert
Technique Information
Location: Chateau Leoville Las-Cases lie in the northernmost corner of the St Julien appellation, abutting the Gironde, Stretching from Chateau Beychevelle down to Chateau Latour.
Appellation: Appellation Saint-Julien Controlee
Neighboring Chateau: Chateau Latour (1st Growth 1855 Medoc)
Chateau Leoville-Poyferree (2nd Growth 1855 Medoc)
Chateau Leoville-Barton (2th Growth 1855 Medoc)
Chateau Talbot (4sth Growth 1855 Medoc)
Acreage: 100 hectares
Soil: gravelly-clay soils
Grape Varieties: 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot.
Average age of vines: 30 year
Cultivation density:
Viticulture:
Winemaking: The fruit is harvested by hand before transport to the chai, where the berries are destemmed before fermentation under temperature controlled conditions, in a fascinating mix of wooden vats which lie in the main cellar, cement which lie in a smaller adjoining room, and the more recent addition of stainless steel vats. The fermenting must is pumped over to submerge the cap and there is a maceration of between two and three weeks. When finished the wine goes into oak, between 50% and 100% new for the grand vin, Chateau Léoville-Las-Cases, depending on the vintage. The wines are fined before bottling.
Yield:
Brand: Chateau Léoville-Las-Cases(First Label)(A.O.C Saint-Julien)
Clos du Marquis(Second Label)(A.O.C Saint-Julien)
Chateau du Grand Parc(Third Label)(A.O.C Saint-Julien)
Annually production: About 20 000 cases per year
Character:
Dark, intense and concentrated, Chateau Leoville-Las Cases is a tannic and richly fruity wine that takes over 10-15 years to mature.
Best vintages:
1982, 1986, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
Awards: Chateau Léoville- Las-Cases was classified as Second Cru Class in 1855.
Website: none
Serving Suggestion
Cellar Humidity and Temperature: 75-85%, 15 ℃
Serving Temperature: 17-19 °C
Optimal Drinking and Aging Potential: 10-40 years
Food match:
Great with roast beef, rich coq au vin and mature cheeses(Edam, Gouda), Lamb, Game, Ham, Rabbit in mustard sauce.
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