Jeb Dunnuck 97-100 Points: Based on a blend of 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Cabernet Franc, and 6% Merlot that's resting in 80% new barrels, the 2025 Château Léoville Las Cases is one of the wines of the vintage and just has an incredible sense of class, balance, purity, and richness. Harvest began on September 5th, the earliest ever for this estate, wrapping up on the 20th. Cassis, graphite, liquid minerality, and freshly sharpened pencil all define the nose, and it's full-bodied on the palate, with a round, layered mouthfeel, beautiful tannins, and a blockbuster of a finish. If this doesn't make your eyes roll back in your head, nothing will. It checks in at 13.65% alcohol with a pH of 3.56. -Jeb Dunnuck

Vinous 96-98 Points: The 2025 Léoville Las Cases is the earliest harvest since 1989, starting on September 5 until September 20. Yields are 23 hl/ha, with a soft extraction using air pumps introduced in 2019, and it was matured in 80% new oak. It is the third vintage made in the new, impressive facility. This has another intense nose, quite flamboyant for Las Cases due to the warmth of the summer, with hints of pencil shavings and cigar box coming through with time. The palate is medium-bodied but very concentrated. Real depth and density here, very primal, with an intense, multi-layered finish that coats the mouth. Not a subtle Las Cases, nor should it be, though I aver that it will oblige long-term ageing. -Neal Martin