Château Léoville Barton - St.-Julien 2018 (750ml)
Price: $137.00
| Producer | Château Léoville Barton |
| Country | France |
| Region | Bordeaux |
| Subregion | St. Julien |
| Varietal | Bordeaux Blend |
| Vintage | 2018 |
| Sku | 1005634 |
| Size | 750ml |
Falstaff: 98 Points
Dark ruby purple reflections faint brightening on the rim.
Wine Spectator: 97 Points
Cassis crushed plum and steeped blackberry fruit is all packed into this wine along with tar violet and roasted apple wood notes plus a terrific tug of warm earth. Shows lots of energy in reserve with a tightly knit finish pulling everything together. Cellaring required. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Best from 2026 through 2040. 11600 cases made.
Jeb Dunnuck: 97 Points
This estate has been on fire in recent vintages and the 2018 Château Léoville Barton is up there with the best of them. Based on 82% Cabernet Sauvignon and 18% Merlot that was brought up in 60% new French oak this classic flawlessly balanced straight-up awesome Saint-Julien has loads of cassis and mulberry fruits as well as notes of freshly sharpened pencils leafy tobacco chocolate and earth. Rich medium to full-bodied and concentrated on the palate it has building tannins and healthy acidity yet the fruit is pure perfectly ripe and wonderfully integrated with all the wine's components. As is normal with this cuvée it closes down with extended air and is going to take a solid 8-10 years of bottle age to reach the early stages of maturity. It's going to evolve for 30-40 years in cold cellars.
Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider: 97 Points
With a dark, inky, purple accented hue, the perfume pops with all its ripe, blackberry and currants, accompanied by cigar box, forest floor, herbs, cedar and cigar wrapper notes. Full-bodied, concentrated, powerful, yet refined, the finish is deep, long and intense. Wait at least a decade before pulling a cork. It is going to be difficult to pick the best vintage of Leoville Barton from the 2009, 2010, 2015, 2016 and 2018 but it is going to be fun tasting them together over the next several decades. The wine blends 82% Cabernet Sauvignon and 18%.
James Suckling: 97 Points
Sweet berries blackberries raspberries and violets follow through to a full body with extremely creamy polished tannins that caress the palate. It?s really long and polished. Gorgeous finish. Drink after 2025.
Jane Anson: 97 Points
A brilliant Léoville continuing to impress as it has every time I have tasted it. The width and depth of the ripe tannins is matched pace for pace by an elegance to the cassis bilberry blackcurrant fruit. As it opens cocoa bean smoked earth charcoal graphite and woodsmoke come spiralling out of the glass and this is just gorgeous. Easily one of the wines of the vintage not just in St Julien but across Bordeaux. 70% new oak. Technical director François Brehant consultant Eric Boissenot.
Wine Enthusiast: 97 Points
In this wine fine and rich tannins partner with powerful black-plum and black-currant fruits. Densely textured while also having swathes of rich fruits the wine shows both a firm side and one that offers total deliciousness. As it matures both these aspects will come together. Drink from 2027. Roger Voss
Decanter: 96 Points
Well-polished blackcurrant, cassis and bilberry, everything pretty silky and firm. Not fully showing its generosity at this point but no question that it is going to get there soon. Clear charcoal, graphite and woodsmoke as it opens up. A ton of life ahead, and an appealing sense of mint freshness. Lives up to its en primeur promise - this is L??oville Barton at its most confident. (Drink between 2026-2040)
Vinous: 96 Points
The 2018 Léoville-Barton is a gorgeous exotic wine. Crème de cassis lavender menthol licorice and cloves race out of the glass. The 2018 marries the natural opulence of the year with a pretty classic sense of structure making for one of the more compelling wines of the year. I would give this a good decade in the cellar. There is much to look forward to. I especially admire the energy and poise here. (Drink between 2030-2058)
Wine Advocate: 94+ Points
Deep garnet-purple in color the 2018 Léoville Barton needs a little swirling to coax out delicate notions of fresh blackberries mulberries and cassis plus touches of pencil shavings clove oil charcoal and black truffles. The medium to full-bodied palate delivers a great intensity of earth and mineral-laced black fruit flavors supported by firm ripe grainy tannins and seamless freshness finishing on a lingering ferrous note. Give it a good 4-5 years in bottle and drink it over the next 20 years+.
Vinous Media
The 2018 Léoville-Barton is a gorgeous, exotic wine. Crème de cassis, lavender, menthol, licorice and cloves race out of the glass. The 2018 marries the natural opulence of the year with a pretty classic sense of structure, making for one of the more compelling wines of the year. I would give this a good decade in the cellar. There is much to look forward to. I especially admire the energy and poise here. (Drink between 2030-2058)
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