Chateau Léoville Barton 2018

Léoville Barton – Saint-Julien – Deuxième cru classé

Decanter – Jane Anson – (96)

They are just hitting it out of the park at Léoville Barton at the moment, keeping the relaxed and effortless feel of a great St-Julien but loading up on the complexity and concentration that lies behind it. You don’t see all the mechanisms, but you know they are there.

This is going to age exceptionally well, but there’s a freshness and juiciness to the structure already that suggests it’s going to be great fun to drink along the way. It has glass-staining extraction, with plenty of cassis, graphite and liquorice flavours – everything’s turned up high. 60% new oak.

• ·         Wine Advocate – Lisa Perrotti-Brown (94 – 96)

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.

• James Suckling – (93-94)

There’s real freshness to the crushed-raspberry and blueberry character of this young red. Medium-to full-bodied and zingy with energetic tannins. Crisp finish. Lovely purity of fruit to this.

• Wine Spectator – James Molesworth (96-99)

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