Tour de Bordeaux - Wednesday Morning at Leoville Las Cases

Leoville Las Cases was our first stop on Wednesday, a day that was ultimately to be the highlight of the trip.
Leoville Las Cases in the morning, Chaateau D' Issan for lunch and Chateau Margaux for dinner.  But more on those other locations later.

The entrance to Leoville Las Cases

Léoville-Las Cases was once part of a much larger estate until the time of the French Revolution when a portion of this estate was separated into what is today  Chateau Leoville-Barton. In 1840, the estate was again divided and land that would eventually become Chageau Leoville-Poyferre was split off. Since the mid 20th century the Delon family have been owners of this estate, also owners of Chateau Potensac and Chateau Nenin.
In 1976, their 1971 vintage ranked number six among the ten French and California red wines in the historic "Judgment of Paris."

The vineyard area includes 97 hectares (240 acres) planted with a grape variety distribution of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot 13% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot. The vineyard underwent major replanting during the 1950s, and today the vines average 30 years of age.

Bruno Rolland - the Cellar Master at Leoville Las Cases with Peter and Patricia

A word about winery titles in Bordeaux.  I am not sure that I still have it figured out, but it seems that it is typical to have a General Manager (most often not the owner) at the top of the pyramid.  The GMs direct reports are usually the technical director and the cellar master who seek to have about equal status. It seems as if the "winemaker" may be the GM, it may be the technical director or it may be someone that reports to the technical director. Blends are generally done by a team that includes  the GM, the technical director, the cellar master, the winemaker and often an outside consultant (which no one talks about) like Michel Roland.

But, the cellar master is an important position that is ultimately accountable for the maintenance of the wines in the cellar and the blending process.

The wine making operation offered an interesting perspective. They make wine in both stainless and concrete tanks. Many of the wineries in Bordeaux use only wood and concrete, feeling that they get more consistent fermentation temperatures in either wood or concrete than they do in stainless.

It becomes increasingly clear, that you can tour ten great winemaking facilities and get ten different arguments about the best process and the best barrels in which to make great wine.  Bottom line take away from this trip and from other top wineries that I have visited.  There is no single best solution even for the greatest of wines. To make great wine you can use a variety of tanks and a variety of barrels, but you have to start with great fruit and then not make any big mistakes in the winery.


Our tasting at Leoville Las Cases was relatively quick as we had to be on time for dinner.  We tasted barrel samples of a 2010 Nenin and a 2010 Leoville Las Cases and a couple of older wines of each. All we great. I must say, however, that I am not really sure what all of the hype is about for the 2010 vintage. Bordeaux continues to get better and more consistent and it is truly difficult to decide whether the 2009 or 2010 is better. As some french wine writer opined, " Each is better than the other."  That being said, I wonder why anyone would pay the astronomical prices being charged for the 2009 and 2010 Bordeaux wines when you can buy great older wines, with a lot of very interesting bottle age for a whole lot less.

A Praying Mantis? or just a typical Bordeaux tractor and spraying machine?  I vote for the later. 

Interesting final point, in an area where everyone claims to be organic, spraying machines were everywhere.  You just can't get by without spraying at least sulfur in the vineyards.

On the Chateau D' Issan for Lunch.