Michel Bettane and Thierry Desseauve: Tasted at the château. One of the high-points of the vintage, combining power and finesse at the highest level, its finesse due in particular to the amazing Cabernet Franc in this year of aromatic refinement. Remarkable Cabernet Sauvignon contributes superior balance. The overall effect is marginally less heady, but much finer and more in the spirit of St-Julien, than the very Pauillac 2006. 18.5/19

Michael Schuster: Black purple; a classy nose of dry-yet-ripe Cabernet Sauvignon marked by gravel and subtle new oak; a beautiful balance of rich, freshly ripe fruit within a softly generous charge of tannin; great length across the palate and finish; elegant, aristocratic, restrained, and effortlessly complete. None of the hard work, rather extractive character, of some of the Las-Cases of the late 1990s and early 2000s. The cellarmaster Bruno Rolland described it as un grand vin de plaisir. Very fair, I think, even allowing for a certain amount of bias! 2017–35+. 17/17.5