2003 Léoville Las Cases

97 POINTS

James Suckling

This is more exotic and monstrous than the 2000. It is like a muscle builder, with lots of round and rich tannins and a core of dark fruits like black cherries and blueberries. Still very young, but structured and in need of five more years. Don’t touch this until 2015.

97 POINTS

James Suckling - Wine Spectator

Incredible nose of crushed berry, licorice, violets and lightly toasted oak. Pure crème de cassis. Full-bodied, with big, velvety tannins and a long, long finish. Solid. Best after 2011.

97 POINTS

Huon Hooke - The Real Review

(1500ml magnum) A classic wine, in tip-top condition. Classic Medoc cedary, tobaccoey and cigarbox bouquet - very cabernet, properly ripe, and without any aberrant characters. Clean, stately, elegant Bordeaux with a gentlemanly bearing. Textbook Pauillac-style St Julien! Many more years ahead of it.

96 POINTS

Wine Spectator

There's a lovely backdrop of charcoal and paving stone notes here, offset by juicy black currant, fig, melted licorice and ganache flavors. Sweet tobacco hints course through the finish, where the cold charcoal steadily turns to lit embers. Impressively maintains some austerity in this vintage.—Blind '01/'03/'05 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2017).

96 POINTS

Robert Parker - Robert Parker Wine Advocate

An incredibly fresh, lively 2003 (the pH is only 3.6 and the alcohol is 13.1%), this wine offers a dense ruby/purple color along with full body and a remarkable nose of black currants, kirsch, lead pencil shavings and vanilla. Opulent, full-bodied and close to full maturity, it is a seamless classic that will age for 15-20 more years. Kudos to the Delon family for such a brilliant achievement in a tricky vintage.

96 POINTS

Falstaff

Dark ruby garnet colour with purple reflections, broad watery rim. Ripe sour cherry confit, a hint of sloes, fine wood savouriness. Juicy, pronounced in fruit and elegant, beautiful complexity, very round and harmonious, ripe heart cherries on the finish, lingers for a long time, a delicate aftertaste, already accessible.

95 POINTS

James Molesworth - Wine Spectator

There’s a lovely backdrop of charcoal and paving stone notes here, offset by juicy black currant, fig, melted licorice and ganache flavors. Sweet tobacco hints course through the finish, where the cold charcoal steadily turns to lit embers. Impressively maintains some austerity in this vintage. Best from 2020 through 2040. 10,833 cases made.

93 POINTS

Roger Voss - Wine Enthusiast

92-94 Almost black in color, this huge, ripe wine is driven by immense tannins and dark fruits. Yet it is still unmistakably Bordeaux with its sense of structure and promise of longevity.