Bright ruby. Sexy, ripe nose combines cassis, Cuban cigar tobacco, licorice and minerals. Sweet, tactile and intense, with concentrated, sharply delineated flavors of dark fruits and minerals. Densely packed, ripe and deep.
Reviews:
- James Suckling: This was always one of the wines of the vintage with currant, cassis and chocolate aromas and flavors. Full body, chewy and polished tannins and a fresh and fine finish.
- Wine Enthusiast: A dense, beautifully structured wine. It shows intense, ripe fruit with balanced acidity. It’s the fine tannins that give it such class, surrounding the fruit, promising long aging.
Producer Information
Château Léoville Barton is a well-regarded estate in the Saint-Julien region of Bordeaux, ranked a second growth in the 1855 Classification. Quality has soared since the 1980s, and it is considered one of the most dependable wines in Bordeaux, gaining regular praise for its reasonable pricing. Léoville Barton is Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant, tannic and austere when young but develops intense blackcurrant and cassis notes, as well as classic Saint-Julien cedar characteristics. The vineyard, which has gravel soils over clay, is planted 74 percent to Cabernet Sauvignon, 23 percent to Merlot and 3 percent to Cabernet Franc. After a manual harvest, fermentation takes place in large temperature-controlled wooden vats, and then the wine is aged in 50 percent new oak barrels. There is no château building; that which features on the label belongs to Langoa-Barton, Léoville Barton’s sister estate. In 1821, Anglo-Irish wine merchant Hugh Barton bought Château Langoa Barton and a portion of the Léoville estate which became Léoville Barton (the other sections are now Léoville-Poyferré and Léoville-Las Cases). A second wine, La Réserve de Léoville Barton is produced from younger vines and lots which lack the quality and depth of the grand vin.
