2009 Leoville Barton

Dense purple red, finely concentrated blackcurrant Cabernet nose with many layers of complexity, shows freshness above the controlled intensity of pure vineyard fruit, still shut in but a very great expression to come. Drink 2017-40

Licorice, berry, grape and currant on the nose turns to crushed fruit. Full-bodied, with very fine tannins, pretty fruit, currant and mineral. A balanced and pretty wine. Not quite the intensity and blockbuster style of the 2005, but excellent

Tasted at the château and the UGC. A blend of 22.5% Merlot, 77% Cabernet Sauvignon and 0.5% Cabernet Franc, delivering 13.1% alcohol. 84IPT. A dark garnet/purple colour. The nose is very well defined, taut at first but unwinding with aeration, crisp blackberry leaf, boysenberry, a touch of iodine and subtle hints of shellfish. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine tannins, a sense of tautness here, like a coiled spring, silky smooth, surfeit with freshness, very poised on the sorbet-like, almost Burgundian finish with that sense of transparency that allows the terroir to show through. Superb. Tasted March 2010