Chateau Leoville Barton St. Julien 2005

BN#177821

Chateau Leoville Barton

The soil of St. Julien is ideal for vines, due to its geographic situation and its climate: every element is present to produce wines of exceptional quality and elegance.

Wine Enthusiast

Power and elegance merge effortlessly in this superb wine. Its pure black currant fruit is tightly coiled, supported by just the right amount of firm tannins. Great aging potential. A triumph.

Score: 97. —Roger Voss, June 01, 2008.

Wine Spectator

Delivers breathtaking aromas of blackberry, currant, licorice and flowers. Full-bodied, with a solid core of fruit and supersilky tannins. Dark chocolate, currant, berry and licorice follow through. This is racy and beautiful. Best after 2015.

Score: 96. —James Suckling, March 31, 2008.

Wine Advocate

Another prodigious, but brutally tannic, offering from the affable Anthony Barton, the inky/blue/black-hued 2005 Leoville Barton exhibits a sensational perfume of charcoal, burning embers, underbrush, cedar, creme de cassis, and subtle toasty oak. Painfully concentrated (much like the 2000 was at the same stage), with full body, admirable purity, and several boatloads of muscular tannin, this St.-Julien is built for 50-60 years of cellaring. Its purity and precision are typical of today’s winemaking, but Barton is certainly not making a wine for near-term gratification. This is another 2005 that will require enormous patience. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2065.

Score: 94. —Robert Parker, April 2008.