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Langoa Barton 2009

RegionBordeaux
Subregion France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > St Julien
ColourRed
TypeStill
Grape VarietyCabernet Sauvignon/Merlot/Cabernet Franc

View all vintages of this wine | View all wines by Château Langoa Barton

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Tasting Notes

The 2009 Langoa-Barton has a gorgeous bouquet with blackberry, bilberry, cedar and light tobacco aromas that blossom from the glass. This feels so composed and pure. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit, fine-grain tannin, beautifully judged acidity and a svelte, languorous finish that fans out with style. What a gorgeous and utterly seductive Saint-Julien. It turns out to be Langoa Barton, a wine that I have rated very highly in the past. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting. Drink 2022-2045.

94
Neal Martin, vinous.com, March 2019

The 2009 Langoa Barton is now absolutely delicious, over-delivering on its early promise. Deep ruby in colour with an effortlessly enticing nose of blackcurrant, menthol, deep cherry and dried leaves, it exudes confidence. The palate follows in the same vein, 2009's solar summer carried effortlessly by the coolness of Cabernet Sauvignon farmed and picked at the right time. Deep, yet bright black fruit drives everything here. There are flecks of dried herbs, cedar and the subtlest sweet spices. Pairing succulence and freshness effortlessly, the balance here is outstanding. Building intensity through to the finish with superbly integrated tannins, you can drink this now, or enjoy it over the next 30 years. A brilliant wine that remains incredible value in a great vintage.

95+
Thomas Parker MW, Farr Vintners, March 2022

Tar, cloves, girolle mushrooms, with intense black fruits that are met by fresher red fruits, ensuring nother is too overpowering. This is a great vintage at Langoa, has the intensity that will please the crowds but the delicacy and St Julien finesse that makes it true to itself. First year for technical director François Brehant. 70% new oak.

94
Jane Anson, JaneAnson.com, March 2022

Backward, tannic and beefy, this youthful but formidable 2009 Langoa Barton exhibits a dense ruby/purple color as well as lots of damp earth, underbrush and black currant aromas and flavors, medium to full body, lively acids and, not surprisingly, massive tannins (a characteristic of all the Barton wines). The overall impression is somewhat incongruous, having a certain precociousness in the aromatics, but then clamping down on the taster in the mouth. I recommend waiting 5-7 years before opening a bottle. It should drink well over the following 20-25 years.

90
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate, March 2012

Opulent blackberry aromas. Lovely jam, but fresh. Full-bodied and rich. This wine sneaks up on you and follows on the end with lots of chewy tannins. Balanced and round.

90/93
James Suckling, WineSpectator.com, March 2010

The medium to deep garnet colored 2009 Langoa Barton is scented of warm red and black plums, dried mulberries and blackcurrant cordial with touches of dried mint and new leather. Medium to full-bodied with a solid frame of grainy tannins and bold freshness, it has loads of red and black berry preserves layers on the long, savory finish.

91
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (March 2019), March 2019

Mid crimson with quite a pale rim. Pretty light - early picked? There's a nice freshness and neatness to this but it's overall a bit dry and grainy. 'Classic style'... Rather dry on the end. Date tasted 1st April 2010. Drink 2018-2030.

16.5
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, April 2010

Léoville Barton's 15 hectare sister Chateau is normally very fairly priced for the consistent quality. Grape varieties, viticulture and vinification are similar to those of Léoville. Quality is often very similar too. 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Cabernet Franc, 34% Merlot, with elevage in 60% new oak. Lots of black fruit here. Tarry and dense. Classic firm structure, this is a big, bruiser of a Langoa that will need time to shed its cloak of tannin. Cedary, serious powerful stuff that is, as usual, not far in quality from the great Leoville Barton.

93
Farr Vintners, April 2010

The nose is lovely and bright refreshed by red and black cherry. Sweeter fruit is there on the palate enriching the middle and giving lots flesh towards the back. The layers of flavour give complexity and although the tannins are firm there is nothing aggressive allowing the fruit to show to advantage on the finish. Drink 2020-2045.

92/95
Derek Smedley MW, April 2010

Langoa is usually considered to be lighter than Léoville-Barton (also owned by the Bartons) and so it proved in 2009. But what the former lacks in weight and power it more than makes up for in brightness and freshness, showing red fruits, well handled oak and a hint of kirsch. 10+ years.

93
Tim Atkin MW, April 2010

Black red, rich, intense black summer fruits, clear and precise with very good natural concentration and depth, expressively elegant, already showing great charm above the firmness. Drink 2015-28.

18
Steven Spurrier, Decanter.com, April 2010

Dark black colour, intense nose of super-ripe cassis fruit. Black olives, black truffles, black everything. Quite a monster. Inky, classically structured. Great. (OK, I'm slightly embarrassed to have rated it half a point above its big brother and Lascases but it really was good!)

17.5
Stephen Browett, Southwold Bordeaux Tasting, January 2013

A rich and fleshy wine, yet it remains decisively dry. Attractive blueberry aroma and impressive supple tannins make this very harmonious. If it was slightly brighter in the nose this would rate even higher. Drink now. (Horizontal Tasting, London, 2019)

93
Stuart Pigott, JamesSuckling.com, March 2019
Read more tasting notes...

I found the 2009 Langoa Barton to be so painfully extracted, excruciatingly tannic, powerful, and backward that I wrote it "should be forgotten for 15 years, and may have some charm in 30-40." There is no doubting its level of concentration and massiveness, but, wow, proprietor Anthony Barton has sure pushed the extraction, producing a wine for our children's children. (Tasted once.)

90/92+
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (188), April 2010

Served blind at the Southwold 2009 tasting. This is a superb performance from Langoa Barton. Here, the 2009 has a lifted, perfumed, Burgundy-inspired bouquet that is nicely defined but showing a little more unresolved oak than its peers. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red fruit on the entry: strawberry, cedar and blackcurrant. This is strict and very linear, conservative but compelling. The class is here from start to finish and presently stands shoulder to shoulder with its “big bro’”. Tasted January 2013.

94
Neal Martin, RobertParker.com, January 2013

Tasted at the Union de Grand Cru in London. Initially, I was just looking for a little more animation and joie-de-vivre on the nose of the Langoa -09, yet undeniably is boasts fine delineation and is very pure. I am sure this will evolve beautifully with time. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine tannins, great purity, very fine cohesion. Indeed, the palate is more vivacious than the nose suggests and though I would like a little more weight on the finish, the bottom line is that it is delicious. Tasted October 2011.

92
Neal Martin, RobertParker.com, October 2011

Tasted at the château and the UGC. Cropped between 23rd September and 3rd October, a blend of 34% Merlot, 54% Cabernet Sauvignon and 12% Cabernet Franc, delivering 13.0% alcohol. A deep purple colour. The bouquet has a great purity and sense of nonchalance to it, light and airy, superb definition with black cherries, a touch of cassis and autumn leaves and then with aeration, hints of oyster shell and cockle shell. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, a gentle but insistent grip, pure black cherries, touches of cassis and boysenberry towards the focused finish. Good length and breeding. Everything in its right place. Tasted March 2010.

92/94
Neal Martin, RobertParker.com, April 2010
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.