Clos du Marquis
Grand Vin
Saint Julien
2016

The producer

Clos de Marquis is produced by the historic Château Léoville Las Cases estate in Saint-Julien and was created to showcase fruit from specific vineyard parcels surrounding the château. Although often described as the “second wine” of Léoville Las Cases, Clos de Marquis actually comes from distinct plots of vines located on the western side of the appellation, on gravelly soils well suited to Cabernet Sauvignon.

The vineyards are planted predominantly with Cabernet Sauvignon, supported by Merlot and a small proportion of Cabernet Franc, producing a wine that reflects the classical structure and finesse of Saint-Julien. Ageing typically takes place in French oak barrels for around 18–20 months, lending subtle spice and texture to the wine while preserving its vibrant fruit.

Clos de Marquis offers much of the precision, depth and ageing potential associated with the Léoville Las Cases stable, but in a style that is often more approachable in its youth. It is a refined and classically styled Saint-Julien that represents excellent value from one of the Médoc’s most respected addresses.

The wine

Clos du Marquis is produced by the renowned Château Léoville Las Cases estate in Saint-Julien and comes from vineyard parcels located to the west and north of the Grand Enclos of Las Cases. These gravel-rich soils, long prized for producing structured Médoc wines, are planted predominantly with Cabernet Sauvignon, supported by Merlot and a small proportion of Cabernet Franc.

Fermentation takes place in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks, followed by 16–18 months of ageing in French oak barrels, a proportion of which are new, adding depth and subtle spice while preserving the wine’s purity of fruit.

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.