Leoville Barton

Tasting Notes:
This classically made, dense purple-hued wine exhibits enormous potential, but currently it is forebodingly backward, dense, and broad. Once again, proprietor Anthony Barton delivers a wine with superb concentration, a classic style, and the possibility of three decades or more of ageability. Like most of the finest Leoville Bartons, considerable patience will be required. The 2006 will need 8-10 years of cellaring, and may even rival the 2005. Anticipated maturity: 2016-2035. Wine Advocate # 170 Apr 2007.
Parker Points: 92-94
Drinking Period: 2016-2035

Tasting Notes:
This classically made, dense purple-hued wine exhibits enormous potential, but currently it is forebodingly backward, dense, and broad. Once again, proprietor Anthony Barton delivers a wine with superb concentration, a classic style, and the possibility of three decades or more of ageability. Like most of the finest Leoville Bartons, considerable patience will be required. The 2006 will need 8-10 years of cellaring, and may even rival the 2005. Anticipated maturity: 2016-2035. Wine Advocate # 170 Apr 2007.
Parker Points: 92-94
Drinking Period: 2016-2035

Tasting Notes:
This classically made, dense purple-hued wine exhibits enormous potential, but currently it is forebodingly backward, dense, and broad. Once again, proprietor Anthony Barton delivers a wine with superb concentration, a classic style, and the possibility of three decades or more of ageability. Like most of the finest Leoville Bartons, considerable patience will be required. The 2006 will need 8-10 years of cellaring, and may even rival the 2005. Anticipated maturity: 2016-2035. Wine Advocate # 170 Apr 2007.
Parker Points: 92-94
Drinking Period: 2016-2035

Tasting Notes:
This classically made, dense purple-hued wine exhibits enormous potential, but currently it is forebodingly backward, dense, and broad. Once again, proprietor Anthony Barton delivers a wine with superb concentration, a classic style, and the possibility of three decades or more of ageability. Like most of the finest Leoville Bartons, considerable patience will be required. The 2006 will need 8-10 years of cellaring, and may even rival the 2005. Anticipated maturity: 2016-2035. Wine Advocate # 170 Apr 2007.
Parker Points: 92-94
Drinking Period: 2016-2035

Tasting Notes:
Not surprisingly, this wine is closed, masculine, but super-rich, with a denser, more complete and full-bodied style than its sibling, Langoa Barton. Some toasty vanillin is apparent in the black currant aromas intermixed with tobacco leaf, cedar, and spice box. The wine is full-bodied and has a boatload of tannin, not unusual for this estate, as well as an impressively pure, long finish. Everything is here, but this wine, made with uncompromising vision, is meant to be cellared for an exceptionally long period of time.
Parker Points: 91+
Drinking Period: 2020 - 2035

Tasting Notes:
Another prodigious, but brutally tannic, offering from the affable Anthony Barton, the inky/blue/black-hued 2005 Leoville Barton exhibits a sensational perfume of charcoal, burning embers, underbrush, cedar, creme de cassis, and subtle toasty oak. Painfully concentrated (much like the 2000 was at the same stage), with full body, admirable purity, and several boatloads of muscular tannin, this St.-Julien is built for 50-60 years of cellaring. Its purity and precision are typical of todayÕs winemaking, but Barton is certainly not making a wine for near-term gratification. This is another 2005 that will require enormous patience. Wine Advocate # 176 Apr 2008
Parker Points: 94
Drinking Period: 2020-2065

Tasting Notes:
Another prodigious, but brutally tannic, offering from the affable Anthony Barton, the inky/blue/black-hued 2005 Leoville Barton exhibits a sensational perfume of charcoal, burning embers, underbrush, cedar, creme de cassis, and subtle toasty oak. Painfully concentrated (much like the 2000 was at the same stage), with full body, admirable purity, and several boatloads of muscular tannin, this St.-Julien is built for 50-60 years of cellaring. Its purity and precision are typical of todayÕs winemaking, but Barton is certainly not making a wine for near-term gratification. This is another 2005 that will require enormous patience. Wine Advocate # 176 Apr 2008
Parker Points: 94
Drinking Period: 2020-2065

Tasting Notes:
Another prodigious, but brutally tannic, offering from the affable Anthony Barton, the inky/blue/black-hued 2005 Leoville Barton exhibits a sensational perfume of charcoal, burning embers, underbrush, cedar, creme de cassis, and subtle toasty oak. Painfully concentrated (much like the 2000 was at the same stage), with full body, admirable purity, and several boatloads of muscular tannin, this St.-Julien is built for 50-60 years of cellaring. Its purity and precision are typical of todayÕs winemaking, but Barton is certainly not making a wine for near-term gratification. This is another 2005 that will require enormous patience. Wine Advocate # 176 Apr 2008
Parker Points: 94
Drinking Period: 2020-2065

Tasting Notes:
Another prodigious, but brutally tannic, offering from the affable Anthony Barton, the inky/blue/black-hued 2005 Leoville Barton exhibits a sensational perfume of charcoal, burning embers, underbrush, cedar, creme de cassis, and subtle toasty oak. Painfully concentrated (much like the 2000 was at the same stage), with full body, admirable purity, and several boatloads of muscular tannin, this St.-Julien is built for 50-60 years of cellaring. Its purity and precision are typical of todayÕs winemaking, but Barton is certainly not making a wine for near-term gratification. This is another 2005 that will require enormous patience. Wine Advocate # 176 Apr 2008
Parker Points: 94
Drinking Period: 2020-2065

Tasting Notes:
Another prodigious, but brutally tannic, offering from the affable Anthony Barton, the inky/blue/black-hued 2005 Leoville Barton exhibits a sensational perfume of charcoal, burning embers, underbrush, cedar, creme de cassis, and subtle toasty oak. Painfully concentrated (much like the 2000 was at the same stage), with full body, admirable purity, and several boatloads of muscular tannin, this St.-Julien is built for 50-60 years of cellaring. Its purity and precision are typical of todayÕs winemaking, but Barton is certainly not making a wine for near-term gratification. This is another 2005 that will require enormous patience. Wine Advocate # 176 Apr 2008
Parker Points: 94
Drinking Period: 2020-2065

Tasting Notes:
Another prodigious, but brutally tannic, offering from the affable Anthony Barton, the inky/blue/black-hued 2005 Leoville Barton exhibits a sensational perfume of charcoal, burning embers, underbrush, cedar, creme de cassis, and subtle toasty oak. Painfully concentrated (much like the 2000 was at the same stage), with full body, admirable purity, and several boatloads of muscular tannin, this St.-Julien is built for 50-60 years of cellaring. Its purity and precision are typical of todayÕs winemaking, but Barton is certainly not making a wine for near-term gratification. This is another 2005 that will require enormous patience. Wine Advocate # 176 Apr 2008
Parker Points: 94
Drinking Period: 2020-2065

Tasting Notes:
What can you say about Anthony Barton? He has made yet another classic wine that will not be approachable for a decade, but will last 50 or more years. The inky/blue/purple-colored 2005 Leoville Barton offers up aromas of forest floor, cedar, spice box, black currants, and background oak as well as smoke. Boasting massive concentration, full body, and exceptional purity, but excruciatingly tannic and backward, this cuvee is meant for those with 19th century tastes, but also exhibits the purity and precision of modern winemaking. Patience is demanded with this beauty as it will take many years to approach any level of accessibility/maturity. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2060+. The Wine Advocate #170 Apr-07.
Parker Points: 94
Drinking Period: 2020-2060

Tasting Notes:
What can you say about Anthony Barton? He has made yet another classic wine that will not be approachable for a decade, but will last 50 or more years. The inky/blue/purple-colored 2005 Leoville Barton offers up aromas of forest floor, cedar, spice box, black currants, and background oak as well as smoke. Boasting massive concentration, full body, and exceptional purity, but excruciatingly tannic and backward, this cuvee is meant for those with 19th century tastes, but also exhibits the purity and precision of modern winemaking. Patience is demanded with this beauty as it will take many years to approach any level of accessibility/maturity. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2060+. The Wine Advocate #170 Apr-07.
Parker Points: 94
Drinking Period: 2020-2060

Tasting Notes:
What can you say about Anthony Barton? He has made yet another classic wine that will not be approachable for a decade, but will last 50 or more years. The inky/blue/purple-colored 2005 Leoville Barton offers up aromas of forest floor, cedar, spice box, black currants, and background oak as well as smoke. Boasting massive concentration, full body, and exceptional purity, but excruciatingly tannic and backward, this cuvee is meant for those with 19th century tastes, but also exhibits the purity and precision of modern winemaking. Patience is demanded with this beauty as it will take many years to approach any level of accessibility/maturity. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2060+. The Wine Advocate #170 Apr-07.
Parker Points: 94
Drinking Period: 2020-2060

Tasting Notes:
What can you say about Anthony Barton? He has made yet another classic wine that will not be approachable for a decade, but will last 50 or more years. The inky/blue/purple-colored 2005 Leoville Barton offers up aromas of forest floor, cedar, spice box, black currants, and background oak as well as smoke. Boasting massive concentration, full body, and exceptional purity, but excruciatingly tannic and backward, this cuvee is meant for those with 19th century tastes, but also exhibits the purity and precision of modern winemaking. Patience is demanded with this beauty as it will take many years to approach any level of accessibility/maturity. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2060+. The Wine Advocate #170 Apr-07.
Parker Points: 94
Drinking Period: 2020-2060

Tasting Notes:
One cannot admire enough proprietor Anthony Barton and his classic, potentially long-lived wines that are models of power, elegance, and longevity „ in short, these wines symbolize what makes Bordeaux so world-renowned! Probably capable of rivaling the 2000, the uncompromisingly made, formidably powerful, masculine, and highly extracted 2003 has an inky purple color to the rim, a big, deep personality with a tight but promising nose of forest floor, creme de cassis, smoke, charcoal, licorice, and perhaps even truffle. It is layered, rich, and set for an exceptionally long life, but don't expect to get a lot of joy even in this somewhat overtly styled vintage for at least another 7-8 years. Robert Parker Wine Advocate
Parker Points: 95
Drinking Period: 2012-2030

Tasting Notes:
Absolutely spectacular from bottle, but frightfully closed and backward, with massive power and structure, the saturated purple-colored 2000 Leoville Barton is one of the greatest wines ever made at this estate. The wine has smoky, earthy notes intermixed with graphite, camphor, damp earth, jammy cassis, cedar, and a hint of mushroom. Enormous, even monstrous in the mouth, with tremendous extraction, broodingly backward, dense flavors, and copious tannins, this should prove to be one of the longest-lived wines of the vintage and one of the most compelling Leoville Bartons ever made. However, anyone unable to defer gratification for at least a decade should steer clear of this behemoth. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2040. The Wine Advocate, #146 Apr-03.
Parker Points: 96
Drinking Period: 2015-2040

Tasting Notes:
This impressive wine is a classic. Although backward, it exhibits a dense ruby/purple color in addition to abundant black currant fruit intertwined with spicy oak and truffle-like scents. The wine is brilliantly made, full-bodied, and tightly-structured with plenty of muscle and outstanding concentration and purity. It should turn out to be a long-lived Leoville Barton, and somewhat of a sleeper. However, patience will be required. Wine Advocate # 122 Apr 1999
Parker Points: 92
Drinking Period: 2007 - 2030

Tasting Notes:
In most tastings of the 1989 and 1990 vintages I have had a strong preference for the 1990, but in this tasting the 1989 provided the most charming drinking with its soft, voluptuous texture, big, spicy, cedary nose, sweet, expansive fruit, medium body, and excellent richness and purity. The wine reveals no amber at the edge, but it tastes surprisingly evolved and already delicious. I would not hesitate to drink it over the next 12-15+ years. Wine Advocate # 109 Feb 1997
Parker Points: 90
Drinking Period: 1997 - 2012

Tasting Notes:
In most tastings of the 1989 and 1990 vintages I have had a strong preference for the 1990, but in this tasting the 1989 provided the most charming drinking with its soft, voluptuous texture, big, spicy, cedary nose, sweet, expansive fruit, medium body, and excellent richness and purity. The wine reveals no amber at the edge, but it tastes surprisingly evolved and already delicious. I would not hesitate to drink it over the next 12-15+ years. Wine Advocate # 109 Feb 1997
Parker Points: 90
Drinking Period: 1997 - 2012

Tasting Notes:
Along with many of its Medoc neighbors, the 1988 is a hard, tough, severe style of wine that will last 15-20 years. It exhibits some of the herbaceousness resulting from Cabernet that was picked too early, but otherwise it is well-proportioned, with medium body and fine depth. Will the fruit stand up to the tannins? The finish reveals copious amounts of rich, deep, curranty fruit. This wine may merit a higher rating in 4-5 years, especially if it turns out to resemble the 1966.Last tasted, 6/93.
Parker Points: 88
Drinking Period: 1996-2012