Press review

Decanter (4/1/2010) : ********** 19 Maturity: 2017-2040

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.

Jean-Marc Quarin (3/1/2010) : 16,5 (90)

Lovely dark color. Fine, fruity nose, smelling of blueberry. Entry into the mouth is both smooth and fresh. The wine develops aromatically with taste, and a body that I would have wished fuller. Tannin a bit firm in the aftertaste. The wine is delicious and vivid in its fruitiness. Alcohol 13, total acidity 3.30; blend 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22.5% Merlot, 0.5% Cabernet Franc.

Le Point, Guide Jacques Dupont # 1964 (5/21/2010) : 17,5-18/20

Neal Martin's Wine Journal (5/1/2010) : 91-93

Tasted at the chateau 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.

Parker # 199 (2/29/2012) : 93+ Maturity: 2022-2072

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.

The Wine Doctor (3/1/2010) : 18-19+/20

A very deeply coloured wine again. And another crimson-purple rim. A fantastic nose here, loaded with pure and evocative fruit. Creamed blackcurrant, cassis-level richness, with touches of tar and rose petals. The palate starts off with a creamy style in keeping with the impressions on the nose, the supple and harmonious composition backed up by plenty of rolling, heavy-velvet tannins. Quite a cool, detached. elegant style despite this structure, well balanced with fresh acidity. For me, this wine has the upper hand in this vintage, but I am sure that many will prefer the delicious Poyferré. A classic Léoville-Barton? Probably not. Long-lived and delicious - given time - though? Almost certainly.

The property in brief

In 1826, Hugh Barton, already proprietor of Château Langoa , purchased part of the big Léoville estate. His part then became known as Léoville Barton. Six generations of Bartons have since followed, and continued to preserve the quality of the wine, classified a 2nd growth in 1855. Ronald Barton inherited the property in 1927. He in turn donated it to his nephew Anthony in 1983. Today thevineyards are jointly owned by Anthony Barton, his daughter Lilian Barton-Sartorius and her children Mélanie and Damien, thus making eight generations ofBarton family at Léoville Barton. Traditional methods of wine making are maintened to producea typical Saint-Julien of elegance and distinction.