Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Firm and tannic, this dark berry-flavored wine comes from a specific parcel in the Léoville las Cases vineyard. It’s full of tannins and structure, firm and concentrated. At the end, both tannins and tight black currants promise aging. Drink from 2020. Cellar Selection.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Tasted blind at the Bordeaux 2012 Southwold tasting. The 2012 Clos du Marquis has a very intense bouquet, the more fruit-driven of all the Saint Julien 2012s with layers of black cherries and cranberry fruit, an undercurrent of autumn leaves and cigar box. The palate is medium-bodied with fine definition: smooth and very harmonious, quite intense on the entry and yet without that long sustain on the finish. That does not matter too much, because what comes before is very precise and pure, the class of the terroir evident from start to finish. Tasted January 2016.
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James Suckling
This is a soulful Clos du Marquis with currants, blackberries and hints of earth. Full body, velvety tannins and a long and flavorful finish. A fascinating earthy undertone. Better in 2018.
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Wine Spectator
A textbook St.-Julien, with a core of plum sauce and blackberry paste framed with roasted apple wood and backed by a solid graphite spine. Has the lightly chewy edge of the vintage, but offers good, pure fruit for balance. Best from 2016 through 2022.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
An icon of balance and tradition, St. Julien boasts the highest proportion of classed growths in the Médoc. What it lacks in any first growths, it makes up in the rest: five amazing second growth chateaux, two superb third growths and four well-reputed fourth growths. While the actual class rankings set in 1855 (first, second, and so on the fifth) today do not necessarily indicate a score of quality, the classification system is important to understand in the context of Bordeaux history. Today rivalry among the classed chateaux only serves to elevate the appellation overall.
One of its best historically, the estate of Leoville, was the largest in the Médoc in the 18th century, before it was divided into the three second growths known today as Chateau Léoville-Las-Cases, Léoville-Poyferré and Léoville-Barton. Located in the north section, these are stone’s throw from Chateau Latour in Pauillac and share much in common with that well-esteemed estate.
The relatively homogeneous gravelly and rocky top soil on top of clay-limestone subsoil is broken only by a narrow strip of bank on either side of the “jalle,” or stream, that bisects the zone and flows into the Gironde.
St. Julien wines are for those wanting subtlety, balance and consistency in their Bordeaux. Rewarding and persistent, the best among these Bordeaux Blends are full of blueberry, blackberry, cassis, plum, tobacco and licorice. They are intense and complex and finish with fine, velvety tannins.