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Léoville Barton 2009

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

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

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Tasting Notes

The 2009 Léoville-Barton is one of the few Saint-Julien '09s to suggest just a smidgen of brettanomyces on the nose, although frankly it does not detract from its allure, with lovely meat juice and brown spice aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, juicy and slightly chewier than its peers, well judged acidity with ample density and rondeur towards the finish. It might benefit from another year in bottle but otherwise, this is just a wonderful, life-affirming and disarmingly charming Léoville-Barton. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting. 2019 - 2050

95
Neal Martin, vinous.com, March 2019

Head and shoulders above its stablemate, Langoa Barton, proprietor Anthony Barton's 2009 Leoville Barton is another massive, excruciatingly rich, tannic, potentially long-aged wine. Meant for consumers with old fashioned tastes, it boasts a dense opaque purple color as well as a bouquet of licorice, forest floor, unsmoked cigar tobacco and a hint of earth. The wine reveals tremendous denseness and richness, a broad, savory mouthfeel and elevated tannins in the finish. However, there is a sweetness to the tannins and no trace of bitterness and astringency, always a sign of a top vintage as well as fully mature grapes. Still a monolithic baby, this 2009 should be forgotten for at least a decade, and consumed over the next 30-50 years.

93+
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (199), March 2012

Licorice, berry, grape and currant on the nose turns to crushed fruit. Full-bodied, with very fine tannins, pretty fruit, currant and mineral. A balanced and pretty wine. Not quite the intensity and blockbuster style of the 2005, but excellent.

92/95
James Suckling, WineSpectator.com, March 2010

Medium to deep garnet colored, the 2009 Leoville Barton gives up expressive cherry cordial, warm cassis and blackberry tart scents with nuances of menthol, cigar box and fallen leaves. Medium-bodied and elegantly played with loads of freshness and soft tannins, it has a long, perfumed finish. 2019 - 2037

94
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (March 2019), March 2019

Measured and confident tannic hold with subtle grilled oak notes, a ton of ripe cassis and blueberry fruits, liquorice and eucalyptus on the finish, and a mouthwatering, moreish construction overall. This is a powerful St Julien, but with clear and present finesse. 60% new oak. A standout wine from this property, and a wonderful showcase of the slow burning brilliance of St Julien. 2020 - 2040

96
Jane Anson, Decanter.com, October 2020

Something reminiscent of a schoolmaster about this wine – ink and pencil lead? Fresh and minerally and sleek with a hint of mint and very strong Cabernet Sauvignon personality. A fine wine by any measure.
Drink 2020-2040

17.5
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, March 2019

Consistently brilliant quality in recent years and a reasonable pricing policy makes this one of our best selling wines. There is little need for us to recommend Léoville Barton as it has a dedicated following of loyal, regular customers who buy it faithfully every year en primeur. Our only problem is being able to source enough of it to satisfy demand. The 2009 is 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot. 60% new oak. All picked by October 3rd. This is absolutely packed with ripe but fresh cassis fruit. A really huge mouthful of black fruit with a beautiful overlay of smoke and vanilla. Dense, intense and serious. Lots of flesh and tannin to match. Classically structured and certainly on a par with the great wines made here in 2000, 2003 and 2005.

96+
Farr Vintners, April 2010

The nose has the depth of rich fruit cassis backed up by sloe and given freshness by lighter bilberry. There are layers of flavours that give complexity the black fruited richness supported by firm but ripe tannins. The richness of the flavour packs out the back palate giving the feeling of depth and power. Drink 2022-2050.

94/97
Derek Smedley MW, April 2010

A dense, darkly coloured, almost brooding effort from Anthony Barton, this is very good, but not as exceptional as the 2005. It's massive and masculine, with powerful cassis fruit, lots of oak and very firm, dry tannins. The wine will take at least a decade to soften and develop in bottle. My only concern is that the tannins are a little four-square. 20+ years.

94
Tim Atkin MW, April 2010

Dense purple red, finely concentrated blackcurrant Cabernet nose with many layers of complexity, shows freshness above the controlled intensity of pure vineyard fruit, still shut in but a very great expression to come. Drink 2017-40.

19
Steven Spurrier, Decanter.com, April 2010

A super-classic St.-Julien that only has a hint of the opulence of the vintage. The beautiful cassis fruit and elegantly dry tannins push briskly through the long and graceful finish. (Horizontal Tasting, London, 2019)

96
Stuart Pigott, JamesSuckling.com, March 2019
Read more tasting notes...

This behemoth possesses massive extraction, an opaque purple color, huge density, extreme tannins, and a nearly endless finish. Everything is there, but the highly extracted style and off the chart tannins ensures that no one over the age of forty will ever see this wine hit full maturity. Nevertheless, there is a lot to admire, and it-s good to taste a wine that will not be ready to drink for 30+ years. No compromise! (Tasted two times.) Drink 2010-2040.

93/95+
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (188), April 2010

Tasted at the château and the UGC. A blend of 22.5% Merlot, 77% Cabernet Sauvignon and 0.5% Cabernet Franc, delivering 13.1% alcohol. 84IPT. A dark garnet/purple colour. The nose is very well defined, taut at first but unwinding with aeration, crisp blackberry leaf, boysenberry, a touch of iodine and subtle hints of shellfish. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine tannins, a sense of tautness here, like a coiled spring, silky smooth, surfeit with freshness, very poised on the sorbet-like, almost Burgundian finish with that sense of transparency that allows the terroir to show through. Superb. Tasted March 2010.

91/93
Neal Martin, RobertParker.com, April 2010

An intense nose with some strange oak note? Sweet, light, polished start. Pretty sinewy. A bit austere. Needs a lot of time. Deliberately slimline? But a very good complex undertow. A very slow burner. Date tasted 1st April 2010. Drink 2018-2034.

17+
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.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.