Chateau Leoville Las Cases 2004

Number 6 on Wine Spectator's Top 100 of 2007!  The fruit is harvested by hand. The fermentation vessels include a fascinating mix of wooden, cement and stainless steel vats. When finished the wine is pumped to the barrel cellar. Here it is transferred into oak barrique, between 50% and 100% new for the grand vin, Chateau Leoville-Las-Cases, depending on the vintage.

95 Points - Decanter    A cooler year than 2003 or 2005, and the precision is clear, with layers of tight black fruits, cedar and fresh mint confidently on display. It's pretty austere right now, but its weight and texture is far more impressive than its youth. In vintages like this, it's clear that the terroir always takes precedence here. There is 90% new oak here, and yet you barely get a whisper of it besides the soft, cold ash smoke on the finish.

95 Points - Wine Spectator    Bordeaux's wet, cool 2004 vintage got lost between the exceptional 2003 and 2005, but Jean-Hubert Delon's St.-Julien estate consistently delivers excellent wines in both great and difficult years. Half of the Chateau's 250 acres are planted in the famous Clos Léoville Las Cases, a gravelly vineyard that gently slopes down to the Gironde river. The wine was fermented in a mix of stainless-steel tanks, oak vats and cement tanks, then aged for about 18 months in oak barriques.

95 Points - Wine Enthusiast    This "super second" lives up to its billing. It is rich and concentrated with dark tannins that lie over the ripe, jammy fruit and black, rich chocolate flavors. Acidity and wood are there, but only just hints after the richness of the fruit. A real, magnificent aging wine.

95 Points - James Suckling    This is so beautiful now with ceps, mushrooms, bark and blackberries, as well as some flowers and black olives. It’s full-bodied, round and soft. Lovely now. Drink and enjoy now, or hold.

93 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate    Performing better from bottle than it did from cask, this blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, and 11% Cabernet Franc has put on weight over the last year. It exhibits the classic style of both Las Cases and St.-Julien in its deep black currant notes interwoven with sweet cherries, wet stones, and toasty vanillin. Made in a structured, medium to full-bodied style with superb concentration, beautiful purity, and admirable symmetry, this beauty is one of the strongest efforts of the vintage. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2028.

93 Points - Vinous    The 2004 Léoville–Las Cases has the tough job of following the 2005. It offers black fruit mixed with sous-bois, smoke and sage aromas, now moving into its secondary stage but without the intensity of great vintages like 2005 or 2010. The palate is well balanced, with off-dry tannin. Classic in style, fresh and poised, leading to a lovely, quite sensual finish that leaves you wishing for another sip. Very fine.