2022 - Langoa Barton, Saint-Julien

The blend is 56.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot and 2.5% Cabernet Franc, and the élevage was in 60% new oak. Lots of matchsticky cedar and leathery fruit on the nose of this 2022 from Langoa, with a rather charming sense of sandy mineral evolution when tasted with the UGCB, showing more focused and pure at the château, with very fine and dark fruit, currant and rose petal scents, as well as dark notes of truffle, vanilla pod and crushed oyster shell. The palate is delightful in its delineation and freshness though, with lots of polished and saline dark fruits, with a delicious salted edge giving them freshness, and a great harmony of tannin and flavour. This is very impressive;after a low-key start on the first tasting, the second and third encounters clearly communicate its cellaring potential, which is considerable. Such harmony and ripeness of structure here, in an impressive St Julien. The alcohol on the label is 14%. Tasted three times.

The 2022 Langoa Barton has turned out superbly in bottle. Offering up aromas of cassis, blackberries, pencil shavings and violets, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and multidimensional, with velvety tannins, lively fruit and a long, penetrating finish. Seamless, integrated and intense, Langoa's more morcellated vineyards means that this estate has, if anything, gained even more from the Barton family's new vat room than its big brother Léoville Barton, as each parcel can now be fermented separately, optimizing its potential. This is the best young Langoa Barton I can remember tasting.

The last few years have seen Langoa, in classically understated Barton way, turning into a barnstormer, with the value that was once reserved for Léoville. It's great in 2022, with its slightly cooler terroir really coming into its own. Luscious black cherry, sandalwood, campfire, crayon, crushed rocks, this is stuff, almost ready to go but will clearly deliver for decades.

The 2022 Langoa Barton has a showy nose, blackberry and blueberry fruit, quite floral in style with well-integrated oak. The palate is medium-bodied with plush, very ripe tannins. Thankfully, the acidity maintains freshness but this is another Saint-Julien that feels dictated by the summer heat and detracts from its complexity. I believe there are better bottles to be found. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting in London.

Full bottle 1,340 g. 56.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot, 2.5% Cabernet Franc. Deepest crimson with purple-crimson rim. Open and scented with cassis and the merest hint of cedary leafiness as well as subtly sweet oak. Big, rich, firmly, chewily tannic and with a bite of freshness on the finish. Chewy but smooth in texture, the oak not as dominant as when James Lawther tasted it en primeur. Not at all flashy yet deeply satisfying and whole-hearted. Fills the mouth with fruit and yet has a clean aftertaste. (JH)