Chateau Leoville Las Cases (1.5 Liter Magnum) 2000

Professional Ratings

• 100 Wine Spectator
  Absolutely fantastic. This is one of the most exciting young reds I have tasted in a long, long time. It shows intense aromas of berries, currants and minerals, with hints of mint. Full-bodied and packed with fruit and tannins, its long finish is refined and silky. A benchmark for the vintage. Las Cases has always wanted to make first-growth quality in a top-notch vintage, and it certainly did in 2000.
• 100 James Suckling
  A classic Las Cases with masses of mineral, floral and blueberry character. Full and chewy, with so much power. It’s just opening now.
• 99 Jeb Dunnuck
  The 2000 Leoville Las Cases is another brilliant wine and, like most 2000s, appears to just now be at the early stages of its drink window. Smoky black fruits, crushed rocks, lead pencil, and menthol notes all emerge from this brilliant, blockbuster beauty that still tastes like it's just 5-6 years old. Beautifully concentrated, ripe, sexy, and seamless, it has the classic elegance and regal quality of this domaine front and center. It has another 3-4 decades of longevity.
• 98 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

  The 2000 Léoville Las Cases takes time to unwind in the decanter and glass, but when it begins to show all its cards, the display is spectacular. Mingling aromas of dark berries and red fruits with aromas of pencil shavings, loamy soil, cedar box, bitter chocolate, dried rose petals and licorice, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with a layered, complete mid-palate that's rare in this vintage, powdery tannins and a long, resonant finish. An uncompromising classic, even as it closes in on its 22nd birthday, the 2000 Las Cases remains an infant in terms of evolution. Best After 2025

• 98 Decanter
  Now closing in on two decades, this is starting to soften and open, bringing exotic spices to the fore. The inky colour translates into tight black fruits with liquorice, cigar box, graphite and grilled gunsmoke. It’s still a little fierce in its tannic structure, and will need a few more years to be truly welcoming, but it’s clear that the grapes reached full phenolic ripeness. The invariably low pH at Leoville, often below 3.5 (as it is here), explains its iron grip. I last tasted this in October 2017 and it has barely budged an inch since then, but it gets significantly better after an hour in the glass (and being double decanted), giving you an idea of just how much life remains ahead.