Léoville Barton 2005

Tasted blind. Healthy deep crimson. Clean, intense nose. Lots of ripe if slightly simple blackcurrant fruit. Dusty end. No charmer! A mouthful of minerals. But there is life here too.Drink 2020-2040

Deep ruby. Wonderfully perfumed nose offers cassis, minerals, tobacco, flowers, mocha and truffle. Bright, mineral-driven and concentrated, with terrific underlying backbone giving energy and definition to the dark berry, mineral and chocolate flavors. There's a floral lift here that's exhilarating to find in the very ripe 2005 vintage. Finishes very long and classy, with a firm tannic spine. An outstanding vintage for this wine.

Sweet vanilla fruit, crushed black fruit. Appealing. Sweet, floral perfumed oak, good depth and ripe, very attractive with good length to balance oak. Drink from 2016. Awarded 4 stars.

Came nineteenth out of 184 wines

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.

Fantastic aromas of currants, black licorice and berries. Fresh flowers. Light smoke. Big and velvety with loads of fruit. Long. Gorgeous. Sexy. Love it. Seems like another 2003; wait and see.

Deep garnet-brick in color, the 2005 Leoville Barton wafts out with evolved notions of cigar box and dried cherries on the nose, giving way to touches of underbrush, spice box, and fragrant earth. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has a sturdy, chewy frame with a lively line lifting the mature flavors, finishing on a lingering, stewed-tea note. No need to hold on any longer to get maximum pleasure, this makes for pleasant drinking right now and should hold steady for another 10-15 years+.

Blackish crimson. A much subtler nose than the Langoa. Rigorous, dry, sleek and polished although, as with the Langoa, there is a very slight hint of sweet oak. The finish here is completely dry, however. Very classic and no hurry whatsoever to drink this polished leathery wine. 13%Drink 2025-2045

Looks very youthful. Tight, concentrated and very focused. Luscious texture and a wine that slides across the palate. There is masses of tannin on the finish but it is ripe enough. This could be Barton. Very youthful but convincing. Bone dry in Barton style compared with the sweetness of Ducru-Beaucaillou

Lively crimson - looks very youthful. Light, mineral notes on the nose. Fine tannins at first, becoming dominant on the mid palate. Very tight and fine-tuned. Reined in. Far from opulent with lots of dryness on the finish. Dry, grainy tannins. Extremely solid and earthbound. Set for the very long term. Langoa is more expressive for the moment but may not last as long. Drink 2018-30