By Clos du Marquis
2019 Saint-Julien

Overview
Clos du Marquis is one of the most historically significant wines of Saint-Julien, created in 1902 by the Delon family and named after the "Petit Clos" surrounding the residence of the Marquis de Las Cases. Today, under the direction of Jean-Hubert Delon, the wine is produced with the same rigor, philosophy, and long-term vision that define the great wines of the Medoc. Clos du Marquis is crafted under the supervision of winemaker Michael Georges and benefits from the same technical expertise, vineyard discipline, and uncompromising standards applied at Chateau Leoville Las Cases. Its vineyards lie on deep gravel soils in the western part of Saint-Julien, in proximity to some of the appellation's most prestigious estates, including Chateau Leoville Barton and Chateau Leoville Poyferre, and just across the appellation boundary from Chateau Latour. This exceptional location contributes to a wine of structure, precision, and refined power.

Production
Clos du Marquis is produced with the same attention to detail and technical discipline as the wines of Leoville Las Cases. Hand-harvesting, strict parcel selection, and controlled vinification ensure both precision and consistency. Aging in oak barrels brings structure and integration, supporting the wine's depth while preserving its identity.

Tasting Notes
The nose reveals intense aromas of cassis, blackberry, cedar, and graphite, layered with floral notes and subtle spice. On the palate, the wine is structured and precise, with refined tannins and a dense, focused core of fruit. The finish is long, elegant, and mineral, with remarkable balance and aging potential.

Food Pairing
Roasted lamb, ribeye steak, duck breast, and classic Bordeaux cuisine.
[Information provided by Serge Dore Selections]
[Information is not vintage specific]

Wine: Clos du Marquis, St-Julien, Bordeaux, France, 2019
Score/Rating: 95
Suggested Drinking Window: 2025 - 2045
Review Date: 01/04/2022
Reviewed By: Georgina Hindle
Tasting Notes: Fragrant and full with deep, rich, dark and silky tannins underpinned by great freshness. It has a smooth texture, the flavours of sweet but fresh and vibrant cherry fruit and a touch of menthol just gliding across the palate, supported by tight-knit tannins. High-toned with well-defined edges and a consistency from start to finish. You could drink this now for its rich but seductive charming fruit-forwardness.

Wine: Clos du Marquis 2019 Barrel Sample (Saint-Julien)
Score/Rating: 95
Reviewed By: Roger Voss
Tasting Notes: 94-96. Barrel Sample. The wine from a single vineyard within the Leoville Las Cases estate shows power with discretion. Its tannins and rich black currant fruits from Cabernet Sauvignon are solid, ripe and also stylish. That makes for a wine that will have balance between structure and fruit, concentration and openness. The wine is set for long aging.

Wine: 2019 Clos Du Marquis
Score/Rating: 94+
Suggested Drinking Window: After 2032
Review Date: 04/11/2022
Reviewed By: Jeb Dunnuck
Tasting Notes: I continue to just love this terroir. The 2019 Clos Du Marquis brings beautiful richness and depth with the purity and elegance of the vintage. Cassis, smoked black cherries, tobacco, gravelly earth, and spice are just some of the nuances, and it's medium to full-bodied, with a rich, dense mid-palate, serious, almost chewy tannins, and a great finish. It's not for those looking for instant gratification and demands a good decade of bottle age.

Wine: 2019 Clos du Marquis
Score/Rating: 94
Suggested Drinking Window: 2026 - 2055
Review Date: 04/07/2022
Reviewed By: William Kelley
Tasting Notes: The 2019 Clos du Marquis is another cuvee from the Delon family that’s smaller than usual this year, as fully 20% of the vineyards that inform this bottling are in various stages of replanting, with the objective of bringing the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon vines up to more than 70%. Exhibiting aromas of inky cassis, plums, incense, wood smoke and spices, it’s medium to full-bodied, fleshy and concentrated, with lively acids, beautifully powdery tannins and a supple, more immediately charming profile than its big sibling across the street, Leoville-Las Cases.

Wine: Clos du Marquis St.-Julien 2019
Score/Rating: 93
Suggested Drinking Window: Drink now through 2038
Review Date: 03/31/2022
Reviewed By: James Molesworth
Tasting Notes: Shows steeped plum, boysenberry and blackberry notes that form the core, with enough depth to absorb the apple wood and mesquite notes that line it, while a taut iron note drives the finish. Features lively savory and tobacco notes that add energy through the finish. A bit rigid in terms of structure, but that's the vintage. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2025 through 2038.

Wine: 2019 Clos du Marquis (St. Julien)
Score/Rating: 93
Suggested Drinking Window: 2024 - 2037
Review Date: 03/29/2022
Tasting Notes: Flowers, spice, tobacco leaf and red with black currant aromas crowd into the perfume. There is a gorgeous freshness to the fruit, elegance to the tannins and energy in the finish that makes this all work. The wine leaves you with a long, sweet and vibrant red fruit, spice, earth and tobacco note. Drink From 2024-2037.

Wine: Clos du Marquis St.-Julien 2019
Score/Rating: 93
Review Date: 02/01/2022
Reviewed By: James Suckling
Tasting Notes: So much gravel and dark-fruit character with raspberries and blackcurrants, as well as currant leaf. It’s medium-to full-bodied with very fine, rounded tannins and a bright finish. 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot and 7% Cabernet Franc. [...]

Wine: 2019 Clos du Marquis
Score/Rating: 91+
Suggested Drinking Window: 2026 - 2046
Review Date: 01/2023
Reviewed By: Neal Martin
Tasting Notes: The 2019 Clos du Marquis needs a little more precision on the nose, dark berry fruit, cedar, touches of sage and crushed iris petals. The palate is medium-bodied with fine, quite pliant tannins. Gentle grip, but there is certainly structure evident here with quite a tannic finish. This will need time in the cellar. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting.

Wine: 2019 Clos du Marquis
Score/Rating: 91
Suggested Drinking Window: 2025 - 2040
Review Date: 05/01/2023
Reviewed By: Lisa Perrotti-Brown
Tasting Notes: The 2019 Clos du Marquis, composed of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, and 7% Cabernet Franc, is deep garnet-purple in color. It wears a lot of oak on the nose, giving way to a core of plum pudding, baked blackberries, and tar plus a waft of tapenade. The medium to full-bodied palate has a sturdy structure of very firm oak tannins, appealing freshness, and taut, muscular fruit, finishing savory.

Wine: Ch Leoville Las Cases, Clos du Marquis 2019 St-Julien
Score/Rating: 16/20
Suggested Drinking Window: 2025 - 2035
Review Date: 02/01/2023
Reviewed By: Jancis Robinson
Tasting Notes: Tasted blind. Good colour. A little gamey on the nose and very soft. Fine for early drinking, but without the energy or purity of some. Hard work.