1981 Leoville-Las Cases

Dark with a brick color around the edges. Expansive nose with red cherry, plums and hints of cigar box. Red cherry, plum and leather on the fruit, good acid, some tannin that was not obvious with the fruit intensity, and a long fruity finish. This is a very elegant, well structured, complex, mature Bordeaux which I found very enjoyable. 1981 is generally thought of as a classic, good vintage, rather than a great vintage. I believe Leoville-Las Cases was considered one of the top wines of 1981. The price sticker that was still on the bottle shows I paid $20 in the early 1980s. My rating 92.