Region | |
---|---|
Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > St Julien |
Colour | Red |
Type | Still |
Anthony Barton's second growth 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 Damian now taking an active role too. They believe the 2018 to be on a par with 2009, 2010, 2015 and 2016.
Sweet berries, blackberries, raspberries and violets follow through to a full body with extremely creamy, polished tannins that caress the palate. It’s really long and polished. Gorgeous finish. Drink after 2025.
A brilliant Léoville, continuing to impress as it has every time I have tasted it. The width and depth of the ripe tannins is matched pace for pace by an elegance to the cassis, bilberry, blackcurrant fruit. As it opens, cocoa bean, smoked earth, charcoal, graphite and woodsmoke come spiralling out of the glass, and this is just gorgeous. Easily one of the wines of the vintage not just in St Julien but across Bordeaux. 70% new oak. Technical director François Brehant, consultant Eric Boissenot.
This estate has been on fire in recent vintages, and the 2018 Château Léoville Barton is up there with the best of them. Based on 82% Cabernet Sauvignon and 18% Merlot that was brought up in 60% new French oak, this classic, flawlessly balanced, straight-up awesome Saint-Julien has loads of cassis and mulberry fruits as well as notes of freshly sharpened pencils, leafy tobacco, chocolate, and earth. Rich, medium to full-bodied, and concentrated on the palate, it has building tannins and healthy acidity, yet the fruit is pure, perfectly ripe, and wonderfully integrated with all the wine's components. As is normal with this cuvée, it closes down with extended air and is going to take a solid 8-10 years of bottle age to reach the early stages of maturity. It's going to evolve for 30-40 years in cold cellars.
Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2018 Léoville Barton needs a little swirling to coax out delicate notions of fresh blackberries, mulberries and cassis, plus touches of pencil shavings, clove oil, charcoal and black truffles. The medium to full-bodied palate delivers a great intensity of earth and mineral-laced black fruit flavors, supported by firm, ripe, grainy tannins and seamless freshness, finishing on a lingering ferrous note. Give it a good 4-5 years in bottle and drink it over the next 20 years+. Drink 2025-2045.
Tasted blind at Southwold 2018. Saturated purple colour in the glass. Dense, brooding black fruit on the nose, this has underlying ripeness but remains deeply savoury with tones of cedar and pencil shavings. The palate bursts through and is shockingly intense after the closed nose. This is very powerful, with enveloping chewy tannins at this very early stage. There is ample fruit to match the structure, and it retains a cool precision despite the flamboyant nature of the vintage. A vin de garde that needs at least 10 years in bottle before approaching, this is a profound 2018.
Tasted blind. Second bottle much fruitier on the palate and impressively long. Though there are still some austere tannins on the end. 14%
Drink 2027 – 2043
82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot. 60% new oak. Barrel sample.
Black core, purple rim. Sweet intense nose of elderberry and small, wild berries. Extremely wholesome, dense, firm but with lots of fruit at the core. Oak well in check and the tannins finer than many, dry and layered but harmonious. For the long term. Dry and almost chalky on the finish. (JH) 14.03%
Drink 2028-2038
Deep in colour, with a dense and brooding nose of incense, truffles and ripe blackcurrant. The palate is concentrated and intense, both in the powerful black fruit at the core and the polished but chalky, chewy tannic structure. Layers of cedar, vanilla and toast add to the complexity, bringing sweet and savoury and integrating into the fruit. The finish is pure and enduring, with all parts in perfect harmony. One to lay down, but this will greatly reward patience.
A stunner, showing a great degree of purity, with long flavors of cassis, plum and blackberry preserves, seamlessly integrated with the graphite structure. A very vivid, defined, precise wine.
(82 Cabernet Sauvignon, 18 Merlot) | 60% new oak | 14.03% alc By contrast to the restrained and gentlemanly Langoa this is a flamboyant and expressive wine with a wide span of flavours including bitter cherry and cranberry notes among the deeper, darker tones. Superbly long and with great energy and loveliness this will be a long-lived style which will open incrementally as opposed to firing on all cylinders from the off.
This is very structured and powerful with lots of blueberry and blackcurrant character. Full-bodied and muscular with so much intensity and density. Extremely muscular. Yet, it’s agile.
Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2018 Léoville Barton simply sings of crushed black cherries, blackcurrant cordial and wild blueberries with touches of violets, dark chocolate, allspice and cardamom with a waft of stewed tea. Full-bodied, rich and decadently fruited in the mouth, the generous fruit has a solid structure of firm, ripe, grainy tannins and oodles of freshness, finishing long and layered.
I loved the 2018 Léoville-Barton. It’s a classic, structured, backward wine based on 82% Cabernet Sauvignon and 18% Merlot that’s still resting in 60% new French oak. While never the most showy or opulent, this team always fashions a fresh, focused, incredibly age-worthy wine, and the 2018 follows suit, revealing a vivid purple color, notes of crème de cassis, crushed violets, salty minerality, and lead pencil shaving-like aromas and flavors. Medium to full-bodied, concentrated, and incredibly elegant on the palate, it has building tannins, flawless balance, and integrated acidity, all making for a wine that’s going to demand upwards of a decade of bottle age yet keep for 40 years or more. The tannin quality here is exceptional and this is a wine you won’t regret having in the cellar.