Saturday, June 24, 2006

1994 Clos du Marquis (St. Julien - Bordeaux)

Wow! That’s the first word that comes to mind with the 1994 Clos du Marquis, the second wine of Chateau Leoville Las Cases in the St. Julien region of Bordeaux. This beautifully mature wine has aged beautifully despite not being a Grand Vin and coming from a not so great vintage. I think this is a testament to the winemakers at Leoville Las Cases and the graceful way a fine Bordeaux can age.

This Clos du Marquis is ruby red in color with cedar, oak and tobacco on the nose. There is an overall presence of dark fruit with notes of fig and blackberry. The blackberry especially comes through on the tongue. Very soft texture with a nice long finish. After about an hour, the wine opens up more, continuing to reveal cedar but adding chocolate and violets to the mix.

This wine was purchased on our trip to Bordeaux at Vinotheque, a wonderful wine shop near the center of town. I have never seen this wine available in the US which is one of the reasons we picked this up there. As wonderful as it was, I would look for other easier to find vintages available year as this wine is of high quality year in and year out.

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