Château Léoville Barton, 2ème Cru Classé, St Julien, 2015
By complete contrast to Langoa, Leoville Barton is a monumental wine with real gravitas. Produced from 86% Cabernet and the balance Merlot, this is a reserved, reticent wine that slowly unfurls to reveal a glorious bouquet of damson liqueur, graphite, cloves, spice, fine herbs, tobacco and flowers. There is considerable mid palate weight here although there is no excess; it is all pure, taut dark fruit which builds and builds offering layers of nuanced black and red berry fruit and minerals. Although understated this is a big wine and will reward considerable cellaring; the stunning fruit coated tannins hint to a long future. Impressive stuff!
critic reviews
The 2015 Léoville Barton is one of the few Saint-Julien wines to show a bit of sur-maturité on the nose. Hints of tinned prune infuse the black cherry fruit. The palate is ripe, very sweet and plush in style. It has a note of peppermint toward the finish that is rather distracting and otiose. Given how this has shown before, I will not rate this. Tasted blind at the 2015 Bordeaux Ten-Year-On tasting at Farr Vintners.
Elongated tannins, a slow build through the palate, showing the finessed side of Barton compared to the monumental 2016. Plenty of deep brambled cassis and blackberry fruits, a crunch of pomegranate, crayon and graphite, and a juicy finish that is standing of the edge of its drinking window, and will deliver for the next decade. Tasted separately to the rest of the horizontal. 60% new oak.