I absolutely loved the 2015 Léoville Barton and this has everything you could want from a Left Bank Bordeaux. Cassis, smoked earth, graphite, tobacco leaf, and thrilling amounts of minerality all emerge from this inky colored, full-bodied, power-packed, brut of a Saint-Julien that holds everything together and stays pure, balanced and elegant on the palate. It has a lot of tannins, yet more than enough fruit. The 2015 is a blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon and 14% Merlot, brought up in 60% new French oak, and it needs 7-8 years of bottle age and will shine for 2-3 decades. Bravo!
97 points, Jeb Dunnuck (Nov 2017)
Rich, generous and elegant, this is a very dense wine but with great black fruits to balance this structure. The elements are already coming together to create another great wine from this property. Drink from 2026.
97 points, Roger Voss, Wine Enthusiast (Feb 2018)
This is a very focused Barton with ultra-fine tannins that are so polished and chalky. It drives through the center palate with currant and berry character. Full-bodied, polished and straightforward with driving tannin. Love the texture. Class. Yes. Drink in 2021.
96 points, James Suckling (Feb 2018)
The 2015 Leoville Barton has a medium to deep garnet color. It is a little shut down and reluctant to play, eventually offering scents of baked blackberries, blackcurrant cordial, and cedar chest, followed by hints of crushed rocks and smoked meats. The medium-bodied palate is tightly wound with bright, energetic fruit and compelling freshness, supported by ripe, grainy tannins, finishing long and lifted.
96 points, Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Independent (Nov 2022)
Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2015 Leoville Barton offers up notions of warm red currants, black raspberries and dark chocolate with wafts of cigar box, violets and bay leaves. Elegant, medium-bodied and sporting great freshness, the taut, tightly wound palate of intense red fruits and floral accents is well-framed with firm, grainy tannins, finishing on a lingering mineral note.
95 points, Wine Advocate (Feb 2018)
The 2015 Léoville Barton has one of the richest bouquets in the appellation, boasting almost ostentatious blackberry, raspberry and bilberry scents on the nose, suffused with crushed limestone and light graphite aromas. The medium-bodied palate is taut and crisp, delivering a fine bead of acidity and freshness from beginning to end. Mainly black fruit here, with suggestions of leather and mocha toward the finish. Superb. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting.
95 points, Neal Martin, Vinous (Jul 2019)
This delivers some serious wow, dripping with warm fig, blackberry and boysenberry reduction notes, along with melted black licorice and fruitcake flavors. Shows ample grip but remains beautifully polished, letting the fruit sail on. Don't worry though, as long echoes of roasted apple wood and tar signal that this is built for the long haul. Best from 2025 through 2042. 11,667 cases made.
95 points, James Molesworth, Wine Spectator (Mar 2018)
Elongated tannins, a slow build through the palate, showing the finessed side of Barton compared to the monumental 2016. Plenty of deep brambled cassis and blackberry fruits, a crunch of pomegranate, crayon and graphite, and a juicy finish that is standing of the edge of its drinking window, and will deliver for the next decade. Tasted separately to the rest of the horizontal. 60% new oak.
95 points, Jane Anson (Feb 2025)
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