2023 Leoville Barton
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Tasting Notes
This offers a very delicate and classical nose with rich dark berry fruit and pencil shavings. The tannins are so subtle, with lovely structure, yet offering a silky, velvet mouth-feel. This is a vibrant Leoville Barton, offering fresh, precise and lively palate, with hints of leather and blackberry. There is a lot of weight that really steams through at the end, this is a very elegant St Julien that will age effortlessly. Aged in 60% new oak. Blend: 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc
Critic Scores
Average Score
James Suckling
William Kelley, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
The 2023 Château Leoville Barton is another terrific wine from this château, and it plays in the fresh, vibrant, lively style of the vintage beautifully. Utterly classic blackcurrants, ripe tobacco, graphite, and cedar pencil notes define the aromatics, and this beauty is medium to full-bodied, has terrific concentration, the pure, focused, mineral-driven style of the vintage, building yet ripe tannins, and a great finish. It has plenty of acidity as well as tannins and is built for the cellar. The blend is 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, and 3% Cabernet Franc, raised in 60% new oak. Harvest dates were the 12th of September to the 2nd of October.
Black cherries, mint, cigar box, flowers, and cassis form the core of the perfume here. On the palate, the concentrated wine offers a big, chewy mouthful of black currants, spice, peppery herbs, and sea-salt. The finish has real staying power. The wine is the quintessential description of a modern version of a classic vintage. The wine is a blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, and 3% Cabernet Franc, 13% ABV. The harvest took place September 9 - October 2. The length of picking is the key to the success of the vintage here.
The 2023 Leoville Barton is deep garnet-purple in color. It features fragrant scents of violets, fertile loam, and rose oil leading to a core of redcurrant jelly, cassis, and licorice with a touch of cardamom. The medium-bodied palate is tense and tightly wound at this youthful stage, like a taut spring ready to pop. Firm, fine-grained tannins and a racy backbone adeptly support the vibrant fruit, finishing long and perfumed. The blend is 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, and 3% Cabernet Franc, aged in barriques, 60% new.
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About the producer
Ch. Léoville Barton is a Second Growth Saint-Julien estate, one of the three famous Léoville estates (along with Léoville Poyferré and Léoville Las Cases). Owned by the Barton family (along with Ch. Langoa Barton), it produces classically structured Claret that ages beautifully.