| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > St Julien |
| Colour | Red |
| Type | Still |
A second growth that is always a top quality Bordeaux of classic proportions. Structured, Cabernet Sauvignon dominated wines are produced here that are serious, controlled and pure. The 50 hectare vineyard is planted 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc. Always the epitome of Saint Julien and the ultimate "Englishman's Claret". The Barton family traditions continue with Lilian at the helm and her son Damien now taking an active role too.
Like its stablemate Langoa Barton, the 2019 Léoville Barton is a timeless classic, made for patient connoisseurs. Offering up aromas of blackcurrants, plums, pencil shavings and licorice, it's full-bodied, deep and concentrated, its deep core of fruit framed by a chassis of rich, powdery tannin that makes itself felt on the youthfully firm finish. While it's clearly built for the long haul, its structural seamlessness and mid-palate plenitude mark it out as one of the finest wines from this château in recent times. Could it be a more concentrated modern-day version of Anthony Barton's brilliant 1985? Drink Date 2029 - 2069
The 2019 Léoville Barton has a powerful and comparatively rich bouquet with layers of black fruit suffused with minerals - wonderful delineation. This has an effortlessness about it. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, gorgeous satin-like texture, mineral-driven with hints of truffle and white pepper towards the exceedingly harmonious finish. I thought this was outstanding before - now I think it might be a benchmark. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting. Drink 2026-2058.
Tasted blind at Southwold. 84% Cabernet Sauvignon and 16% Merlot. Deep colour. Great power and focus on the nose, layering intense cassis with hints of graphite, cedar and spice box. This same focus follows on the palate, which is incredibly dense yet beautifully poised. The balance between ripe fruit, fresh acid and saturating but ripe tannins is impeccable. This structure is highly impressive, mouthcoating without detracting from the impressive fruit at the core. The oak has been managed beautifully, softening the harder edges to add flecks of spice and textural richness. Muscular and taut, it continues to improve in the glass with air. This is one of the 2019s that needs a decade in bottle before it will hit its stride, but expect it to drink brilliantly for decades. An outstanding showing, even better than the last time we tasted it! Brilliant.
Currants, sweet fruit and fresh flowers on the nose. Medium-to full-bodied with firm, silky tannins that are chewy and powerful. Long and muscular, yet in a toned and polished way. Try after 2026.
The 2019 Leoville Barton is deep garnet-purple in color. It needs a fait bit of swirling to coax out wonderfully pure notes of blackcurrant jelly, wild blueberries, and boysenberries, followed by hints of tar, lavender, crushed rocks, and fragrant soil. The medium to full-bodied palate is an exercise in elegance, with very fine-grained, silt-like tannins and beautiful tension framing the highly nuanced black fruits, finishing very long and fantastically layered.
Big rich, powerful wine with pencil lead precision. This is a brilliant wine, I loved it En Primeur and it is delivering on expectations. It's big, as is Langoa in this vintage, with damson and black cherry fruits, and tons of gourmet notes from brioche to bacon rind to chocolate shavings. The tannins are going to need a good decade to soften, but when it is ready, this is going to be such a fun wine to share with friends.
Tasted blind. Very intense crimson. Restrained nose. Relatively light but with lots buried underneath, so it does manage to be emphatic. Really builds on the finish so that pretty much all the quality is revealed in the (notably dry) finish. 14%
Drink 2028
– 2055
The 2019 is a blend of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon and 16% Merlot, with ageing to take place in 60% new French oak as normal. Opaque purple colour in the glass. Superb purity on the nose, with refined cassis, cedar and light accents of nutmeg. The palate follows this precision, with real drive of black fruit that has huge intensity but narrow focus. The tannins are mouthcoating and grippy, but are ripe - they will allow this wine to age for many decades. The balance and proportion in this muscular wine are absolutely superb, and leave a harmonious, pure, black-fruited finish with finely integrated dark chocolate and vanilla. A superb Léoville Barton.
The flagship 2019 Château Léoville Barton is brilliant, showing both the style of the estate as well as the vintage beautifully. It's never the biggest or richest wine, yet it has a classic, vibrant, structured style that ages beautifully. Pure cassis, black currants, scorched earth, new leather, and graphite are just some of its nuances, and it's medium to full-bodied, with a lively spine of acidity, beautiful overall balance, and a great finish. This textbook Léoville Barton demands a decade of bottle age and will keep for 30-40 years.
84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot. Barrel sample.
A graceful wine but with plenty of reserve. Great depth and purity of fruit. Refined cedar and cassis nose. Vibrant palate with a juicy quality to the fruit, plentiful tannins and a texture that is silky and smooth. Fresh, long and persistent. The absolute in harmony. (JL)
Drink 2030 – 2050
The 2019 Léoville Barton has a gorgeous bouquet, very delineated and quite mineral-driven, offering blackberry and briary scents, a whiff of freshly rolled tobacco and a hint of orange rind. The beautifully balanced palate features sappy black fruit and fine acidity, quite gentle at first but developing wonderful poise and weight toward the finish. I adore the way this grows in the glass but retains an appealing spiciness on the aftertaste. Superb. A testament to the late, great Anthony Barton. 13.88% alcohol 2026 - 2065
The 2019 Léoville Barton is a different kettle of fish compared to its sibling Langoa. It has a complex bouquet of blackberry, sous-bois, tobacco and minerals, much more introverted yet exceedingly complex. The palate is exquisite in terms of balance, laden with intense black fruit laced with orange zest, that citrus element counterbalancing the tannic grip and structure. There is a sense of completeness to this Léoville-Barton, certainly on par with the best vintages in recent years. A formidable yet charming Saint-Julien in the making. 2026 - 2065.
84% Cabernet Sauvignon and 16% Merlot. Saturated purple colour. Intensely focused on pure cassis fruit on the nose, layers of cedar, menthol and pencil shavings come through with air. The palate is both intense and very driven. Mouthcoating, chewy tannins ensure great ageing potential, but dark fruit rushes through this structure, unfurling from a tightly wound core. Smoky spices build through the mid palate, but there is no escaping the density of both fruit and structure. Growing through the finish, this muscular, powerful effort should be left for at least a decade. It is an outstanding effort from the Chateau that will age effortlessly for decades.
A pure, focused red with blackberries and blackcurrants. Very floral, too. Medium-to full-bodied, tight and fine-tannined. Pretty clarity and balance to this. Less muscular than the 2018, but very attractive all the same.
The 2019 Leoville Barton is a blend of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon and 16% Merlot. Deep garnet-purple in color, it features a wonderfully fragrant nose of blackberry preserves, warm plums, and blackcurrant jelly, followed by suggestions of rose oil, cardamom, and dusty soil. The medium to full-bodied palate is fantastically opulent, with layer upon layer of perfumed fruit and wonderfully ripe, densely pixilated tannins, finishing long and minerally.
Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2019 Leoville Barton leaps with vibrant notes of warm red and black currants, black raspberries, and iris, plus hints of wild sage, tilled soil, and clove oil. Medium to full-bodied, the palate delivers beautiful tension to the red and black berry layers with velvety tannins and a long, mineral-tinged finish. This wine has so much energy!
Sporting a deep garnet-purple color, the 2019 Léoville Barton comes bounding out of the glass with exuberant notes of black raspberries, wild blueberries and crushed red and black currants plus hints of cedar chest, pencil lead, crushed rocks and red roses with a suggestion of Indian spices. The medium-bodied palate is chock-full of ripe, expressive black fruits and a very sophisticated, fine-grained texture, possessing plenty of freshness and finishing with impressive style and poise. While this beauty is just dripping with class, it's that flirtatious peek of perfume and fruitiness that really makes your heart pound. Love it! 2025 - 2055
Medium to full intensity in colour, this is glass-staining ruby and yet another hit from an estate that is making seriously great wine right now. Mint and eucalyptus are clear, tension and grip held through the palate. This has shoulders and swagger to the tannins, pure cassis hit of fruit and some lovely black chocolate and slate overtones along the way. Strays almost to Pauillac in terms of the weight of the tannins, but it's brilliant. Drinking Window 2029 - 2045
84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot.
Dark, deep purplish crimson. Briary, high-toned nose. A very long-term proposition! Massive tannins and dry Cabernet fruit. Quite painful at this early stage. 14%
Drink 2033 – 2050
