Château Léoville Barton - Saint-Julien 2009

Wine Advocate

94 / 100

par Neal Martin le 01/01/2013

Served blind at the Southwold 2009 tasting. There is a lot of fruit concentration on the nose of the Leoville Barton 2009 with lifted, ebullient blackberry, dark plum and graphite billowing with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with ripe black fruits and a veneer of creamy oak that is nicely integrated into the fabric of the wine. This is forward and generous, but does not fall short on flavour and complexity. Very fine. Tasted January 2013.

Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar

93 / 100

par Stephen Tanzer le 31/07/2012

Bright ruby-red. Red- and blackcurrant, licorice, chocolate mint and sexy oak tones on the nose. Dense, solidly built and youthfully backward, with strong acidity and a medicinal quality leavening the sweetness of this plush, seamless wine. Most impressive today on the very long finish, which features a firm spine of dusty tannins, hints of cedary oak and dark chocolate, and lovely lift. Should evolve positively over the next two decades. 93 (+?) points

Wine Advocate

93 / 100

par Robert Parker le 29/02/2012

Head and shoulders above its stablemate, Langoa Barton, proprietor Anthony Barton’s 2009 Leoville Barton is another massive, excruciatingly rich, tannic, potentially long-aged wine. Meant for consumers with old fashioned tastes, it boasts a dense opaque purple color as well as a bouquet of licorice, forest floor, unsmoked cigar tobacco and a hint of earth. The wine reveals tremendous denseness and richness, a broad, savory mouthfeel and elevated tannins in the finish. However, there is a sweetness to the tannins and no trace of bitterness and astringency, always a sign of a top vintage as well as fully mature grapes. Still a monolithic baby, this 2009 should be forgotten for at least a decade, and consumed over the next 30-50 years. (93+ points)

Jamessuckling.com

96 / 100

par James Suckling le 15/02/2012

Very floral, with fresh mushrooms and currants on the nose. Full body, with powerful tannins, yet polished and refined. Lovely length. Vibrant acidity. Well structured. Try after 2018.

Wine Enthusiast

98 / 100

par Roger Voss le 01/02/2012

A major success of the vintage. The wine exhibits extreme richness of the fruit, with all its sweet blackberry flavors. It also has underlying firm structure, density and solid tannins. Bring in the acidity at the end, and this is both impressive and ready for long-term aging.

Wine Spectator

95 / 100

par James Molesworth le 11/01/2012

This is powerful Cabernet, with gutsy weight, but polished feel to the fresh plum, warm blackberr sauce, bittersweet ganache and roasted apple wood notes. Long and tarry through the finish, but still invigorating despite its heft. Will need some time to round fully into form. Best from 2017 through 2035. -J.M

Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar

91-94 / 100

par Ian D'Agata le 30/06/2010

(a blend of 77% cabernet sauvignon, 22.5% merlot and 0.5% cabernet franc; 13% alcohol) Deep ruby. Sexy, exotic aromas of spicy blackcurrant, cedar, sweet tobacco and coconut hint at great depth and complexity. Then floral on the palate, with chewy, dense, rich flavors of black fruits, tobacco and chocolate nicely lifted by a distinct flintiness. Initially sweet and voluptuous, this turns slightly dry and chalky on the long, pure, sassafras-and spice-accented finish. A delicious if very young Leoville-Barton-and at a rare-for-the-vintage 13% alcohol.

Le Figaro

94-96 / 100

par Bernard Burtschy le 30/06/2010

Robe impressionnante. Superbe nez de cassis. En bouche, l’attaque est dense avec un milieu de bouche complexe, le tout est agrémenté de belles notes de cuir, le vin est long avec une magnifique matière veloutée, immense finale d’épices et de cuir.

TAST

94 / 20

par Bettane & Desseauve le 30/06/2010

13% alcohol. 77 CS, 22.5M, 0.5CF A dense, darkly coloured, almost brooding effort from Anthony Barton, this is very good, but not as exceptional as the 2005. It’s massive and masculine, with powerful cassis fruit, lots of oak and very firm, dry tannins. The wine will take at least a decade to soften and develop in bottle. My only concern is that the tannins are a little four-square. 20+ years.

timatkin.com

94 / 100

par Tim Atkin MW le 30/06/2010

13% alcohol. 77 CS, 22.5M, 0.5CF A dense, darkly coloured, almost brooding effort from Anthony Barton, this is very good, but not as exceptional as the 2005. It’s massive and masculine, with powerful cassis fruit, lots of oak and very firm, dry tannins. The wine will take at least a decade to soften and develop in bottle. My only concern is that the tannins are a little four-square. 20+ years.

La Revue du Vin de France

18,5-19,5 / 20

le 31/05/2010

Le profil du 2009 évoque le 1989, selon Anthony Barton. Nous pensons qu'il sera supérieur, avec une plus grande définition de fruit encore. C'est le jeune Léoville Barton le plus gourmand que nous ayons vu. Son fruit est savoureux et très expressif, sa bouche nette, avec des tanins polis. Un régal!

Le Point

17,5-18 / 20

par Jacques Dupont le 06/05/2010

Nez frais, fruits noirs, cerise noire, bouche sensuelle, douce élégante, très fraîche, vive, bien fruitée, serrée, séveuse, longue, bien vive. O=2017 G=30 ans

TAST

19 / 20

par Bettane & Desseauve le 30/04/2010

Énorme matière, grande densité de texture, tanin noble, grande suite en bouche, un colosse au développement certainement prodigieux dans les trente prochaines années !

Wine Advocate

91-93 / 100

par Neal Martin le 30/04/2010

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.

Wine Enthusiast

96-98 / 100

par Roger Voss le 30/04/2010

Ripe, sweet but also intensely juicy; a delicious wine, full of sweetness and rich complexity. The new wood element is there, neatly bringing out the beauty of the fruit.

Wein Wisser

19 / 20

par René Gabriel le 30/04/2010

Sattes Purpur-Granat, mit lila Schimmer. Hochfeines, vielschichtiges Bouquet, viel rote Kirschen und Cassis von sehr reifem, würzigem Cabernet, feiner Zedernund Edelholztouch. Im Gaumen wieder sehr fein, delikates St.- Julien-Parfüm, klare Frucht, fein stützendes Vanillin, elegant und lang. Vom Körper her ein eher mittlerer Barton, von der Finesse aber ein ganz grosser. Nur weil er keine Bombe ist, sollte man ihn also nicht unterschätzen, denn dieser Léoville wird in 10 und auch noch in 40 Jahren ein grosser, tänzerischer Barton sein. 2019–2050

Falstaff

94-96 / 100

par Peter Moser le 30/04/2010

Feine balsamisch-ätherisch unterlegte Frucht, kandierte Orangen, Cassis, sehr attraktives Bukett. Stoffig, hochelegant, seidige Tannine, sehr ausgewogener Körper, feine Heidelbeeraromen im Abgang, sehr gute Länge, großes Entwicklungspotenzial.

Wine Advocate

93-95 / 100

par Robert Parker le 28/04/2010

This behemoth possesses massive extraction, an opaque purple color, huge density, extreme tannins, and a nearly endless finish. Everything is there, but the highly extracted style and off the chart tannins ensures that no one over the age of forty will ever see this wine hit full maturity. Nevertheless, there is a lot to admire, and it-s good to taste a wine that will not be ready to drink for 30+ years. No compromise! (Tasted two times.) Drink 2010-2040. (93-95+) points

Periodic Review of Wine

95-97 / 100

par Alan Duran le 28/04/2010

Another giant in the making and reminiscent of such big efforts as the 2005, 2003 and 2000! The densely saturated ruby/purple color is accompanied by amazing perfumes of graphite dust, beautiful blackberries, cassis, blue flower, and stone. It is massively rich, full-bodied, dense, and texturally large due to the gobs of fruit. Do not overlook its intricate structure and broad-shouldered flavor of black cherries and cassis. The backward, old-school style will require 7-9 years of patience. Another remarkable effort by Anthony Barton, with distinguishable length and tannin. Impressive! Maturity period 2018-2050+

Anthony Rose

94-96 / 100

par Anthony Rose le 26/04/2010

Dense ruby colour, intense mulberry and dark fruits nose, big and rich, this is quite powerfully constructed with plenty of acidity and tannin, and fine blackberry and damsony fruit quality, a slight chewiness and dryness of texture on the back palate but no doubting the structure and backbone; a tad on the muscle-bound at this stage of its development, but I’m sure there’s plenty of flesh and backbone for balance, long term.

Wine Spectator

92-95 / 100

par James Suckling le 09/04/2010

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.

Decanter Magazine

19 / 20

par Steven Spurrier le 09/04/2010

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

Jancis Robinson

17 / 20

par Jancis Robinson le 07/04/2010

An intense nose with some strange oak note? Sweet, light, polished start. Pretty sinewy. A bit austere. Needs a lot of time. Deliberately slimline? But a very good complex undertow. A very slow burner. (17+) Drink 2018-2034