Appellations

Clos du Marquis 2018

St Julien, Second wine

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Tasting Notes

The 2018 Clos du Marquis is so expressive, and frankly, delicious. In 2018 there is a bit more richness than typical, but that is 2018. A rush of inky dark fruit, graphite, lavender, spice, crushed rocks and smoke all race out of the glass. All the elements are so impeccably balanced. The 2018 spent 16 months on French oak, 55% new. It is one of the hidden gems in this vintage. I would give it a few years to soften, as the tannins are imposing.

Score: 94 Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com Maturity: 2024 - 2038 Date: 26 August 2021

The 2018 Clos du Marquis is a powerful, heady Saint-Julien. Smoke, cedar, tobacco, menthol, licorice, iron, scorched earth and gravel all run through this potent, virile Saint-Julien. In 2018, Clos du Marquis is especially tannic. There is so much to like about Clos de Marquis in 2018, but it will need time in bottle. Best of all, it should be a solid value. The blend is 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc. Tasted two times.

Score: 90 - 93 Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com Date: 01 April 2019

The 2018 Clos du Marquis is consistent with my tasting note from barrel. It has a perfumed, camphor-tinged bouquet featuring plenty of brambly red fruit, and maybe just a hint of dark chocolate loitering in the background. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins and quite saline in the mouth with fine depth. It is not the most complex Clos du Marquis that I have tasted, but I appreciate the persistent black pepper aftertaste, which is quite Pauillac in style. Very fine.

Score: 92 Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2023 - 2045 Date: 18 August 2021

The 2018 Clos du Marquis has a rich and forward bouquet with layers of red berry fruit mixed with camphor and touches of iron filings. The palate is rich and powerful, rounded in texture with white pepper and thyme infusing the black fruit. This is a voluminous and powerful Clos du Marquis with depth and girth, leading to a tannic finish that will need a few years to soften. Good potential.

Score: 90 - 92 Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2023-2045 Date: 01 November 2019

A blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc, the 2018 Clos Du Marquis offers a brilliant nose of ripe black cherries, smoked tobacco, cedar pencil, and violet-laced aromas. These carry to a full-bodied, rich, concentrated 2018 with plenty of background oak, a juicy spine of acidity, rock star levels of concentration and mid-palate depth, and ripe, silky tannins. Given its tannins and acidity, it's not for those seeking instant gratification, and a solid decade of cellaring is going to be warranted.

Score: 95 Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com Maturity: 2029 - 2049 Date: 19 July 2021

Rocking stuff, the 2018 Clos du Marquis checks in 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet Franc that hit 14.5% alcohol with a healthy pH of 3.64 and an IPT of 79. It boasts a deep, saturated purple color as well as ripe, powerful, yet complex aromatics. Full-bodied and rich, with a stacked mid-palate, this beauty builds on the palate with ripe, polished tannin, ample oomph, and a great finish. It’s a powerful, concentrated wine from the team at Léoville Las Cases that will benefit from 5-7 years of bottle age and keep for two decades.

Score: 94 - 96 Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com Date: 01 May 2019

The 2018 Clos du Marquis is composed of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc, with 13% press wine added back to the blend. The wine has 14.5% alcohol and was aged in 55% new barriques. Deep garnet-purple colored, it strolls confidently out of the glass with notes of warm cassis, ripe black plums and boysenberries and hints of underbrush, cedar chest, graphite and black olives plus a touch of baking spices. The medium to full-bodied palate is jam-packed with juicy blackberry layers, supported by firm, grainy tannins and bags of freshness, finishing long with an invigorating burst.

Score: 93 Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2023 - 2040 Date: 11 July 2021

The 2018 Clos du Marquis is composed of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc, with 13% press wine added back to the blend. Grapes were harvested September 18 to October 10, with yields of 35.5 hectoliters per hectare, and the wine has 14.5% alcohol. It will be aged in barriques, 55% new. The finished blend was put into barrels last December. Deep purple-black in color, it displays flamboyant scents of kirsch, crushed black cherries and warm cassis with hints of cinnamon stick, underbrush and chocolate box plus a waft of sandalwood. Full-bodied and built like a brick house with firm, grainy tannins and bold freshness supporting the muscular fruit, it finishes long and spicy.

Score: 92 - 94 Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Date: 23 April 2019

Graphite is a marker that you often find in LLC but typically less so in Clos du Marquis, but it's here in 2018. This is a glass-staining purple colour, with a lovely rich quality to the autumnal blackberry and cassis fruits, with the balance of St-Julien and the intensity of the vintage. This is a good vintage to try out this wine, as you definitely get some of the signature of its elder statesman sibling. 55% new oak. Yield of 35.5hl/ha. 3.64pH.

Score: 91 Jane Anson, Decanter.com Maturity: 2025-2038 Date: 15 April 2019

The purple-fruit and black-olive character with violet undertones is wonderful here. Full-bodied, yet reserved and intense. Finesse. Graphite and minerality. Layered.

Score: 94 - 95 James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com Date: 11 April 2019

Warm and fleshy in feel, with steeped plum and boysenberry flavors. Light ganache and licorice notes underscore the finish. Slightly brooding in feel today, but retains a healthy core of fruit.

Score: 92 - 95 James Molesworth, Wine Spectator Date: 01 April 2019