Chateau Leoville Barton Saint Julien 2019

Chateau Leoville Barton, 2eme Grand Cru Classe Saint Julien, Bordeaux, France, 2019  

Grapes: 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot, clay/gravel soil, hand harvested grapes, destemmed bunches, aged in oak for 16-18 months (60% new wood)

This great Médoc second growth has been on a qualitative roll in recent vintages, and the estate's brand new winery and chai, equipped with smaller fermentation vats to permit more precise parcel-by-parcel selection, will surely see Léoville and Langoa Barton hit even greater heights. The 2019 vintage, however, made in the old winery, has turned out superbly, uniting the Barton family's signature Cabernet-driven classicism with all the fleshy, perfumed charm of the vintage. In the vineyards, a steadily increasing percentage is farmed organically, and the old manual methods are perpetuated (tying the vines to their supporting stakes using osier instead of string; removing lateral shoots by hand, etc.). As proprietors of much of the appellation's woodland, the Barton family have always been in the forefront of newly fashionable "agroforestry." And period replanting increasingly aims to adapt grape variety to soil type, the heart of Léoville-Barton being of course Cabernet Sauvignon growing on the superbly situated quaternary gravel soils of Saint-Julien. In the cellar, barrels are largely supplied by Nadalié, Maury and Taransaud, and racking is traditional. A comparatively large percentage of press wine lends backbone and classic grip to the assemblage.

Critics' Tasting Notes:

"A graceful wine but with plenty of reserve. Great depth and purity of fruit. Refined cedar and cassis nose. Vibrant palate with a juicy quality to the fruit, plentiful tannins and a texture that is silky and smooth. Fresh, long and persistent. The absolute in harmony."

18/20 points, James Lawther MW, JANCISROBINSON.COM, June 2020 (Barrel sample)

"Like its stablemate Langoa Barton, the 2019 Léoville Barton is a timeless classic, made for patient connoisseurs. Offering up aromas of blackcurrants, plums, pencil shavings and licorice, it's full-bodied, deep and concentrated, its deep core of fruit framed by a chassis of rich, powdery tannin that makes itself felt on the youthfully firm finish. While it's clearly built for the long haul, its structural seamlessness and mid-palate plenitude mark it out as one of the finest wines from this château in recent times. Could it be a more concentrated modern-day version of Anthony Barton's brilliant 1985?"

97/100 points, William Kelley, WINE ADVOCATE, April 2022

"Powerful, concentrated, tannic, refined and almost muscular, the wine opens with tobacco leaf, cedar chest, cigar box, lead pencil, herbs and currants in the aromatics. Full-bodied, long and intense, with a black and red currant, spice and leafy, savory finish. This is an age-worthy vintage which is going to demand time in the cellar before it fully begins to soften and offer up all of its layers of nuance and complexities."

96/100 points, Jeff Leve, THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER, March 2022