Chateau Léoville-Las Cases, Saint-Julien

[2eme Cru Classé 1855] Stretching from Château Beychevelle down to Château Latour, Château Leoville-Las Cases' main estate is a picturesque, enclosed 100 acre vineyard depicted on the label.

Chateau Leoville-Las Cases is one of the largest and oldest classified growths in the Medoc. Originally the other two Leovilles, Leoville Poyferre and Leoville Barton were part of the large estate. Today Leoville-Las Cases comprises over 97 hectares and has been run since 1950 by the Delon Family. 

In 1707 Jean de Moytié partitioned his fiefdom of "Calon", christening one of the sections "Mont-Moytié" ("Mont" referring to the mound of gravel upon which the estate was located.) The reputation of the estate was enhanced when ownership passed into the hands of "Blaise Antoine Alexandre de Gascq" who had married one of Moytié's daughters. He was a distinguished and influential Court Judge, a useful ally when the two daughters entered an acrimonious dispute over inheritance of the estate. Blaise de Gascq won the inheritance rights and his family became owners of one of the most esteemed estates in Saint-Julien.

He died in 1769 without heirs and bequeathed the property to four nephews: Jean-Pierre d'Abbadie, Bernard and Jean-Joseph d'Alozier and the head of the family, Marqis de Las Cases Beauvoir. He fled the country during the Revolution but rather than sequestrating the estate, one-quarter was sold a consortium which ultimately became Chateau Léoville Barton.

The property remained under the ownership of Pierre-Jean de Las Cases, Maréchal de Camps from 1815 and was divided again in 1840, two-thirds remaining with Pierre-Jean to form Chateau Léoville-Las Cases and the other third to his sister Jeanne de Las Cases which formed Chateau Léoville Poyferré. When the 1855 Classification was completed, all three properties from the original Léoville estate were classed as Second Growths.

The estate passed through the hands of several members of the Las Cases family until 1900, when the proprietor "Gabriel de Las Cases" became embroiled in financial difficulties and sold his shares to 13 citizens of Bordeaux, one of whom was "Théophile Skawinski" who became the general manager of the estate. Over three decades he reassembled the scattered parcels of land, thereafter passed his share on to his son-in-law, André Delon whose family became majority shareholders. The present owner-manager is Jean-Hubert Delon who succeeded his father Michel Delon in 2000.

Facts & Figures

Area under vine 
97 hectares

Production
540,000 bottles

Soil
Garonne gravel

Grape varieties
65% Cabernet Sauvignon
19% Merlot
13% Cabernet Franc
  3% Petit Verdot

Aging
18 to months in 50 to 90% new French oak

Average age of the vines
30 years

Second wine
Clos du Marquis

Wines available