2019 Château Léoville Barton, St Julien, Bordeaux

84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot. Barrel sample.

A graceful wine but with plenty of reserve. Great depth and purity of fruit. Refined cedar and cassis nose. Vibrant palate with a juicy quality to the fruit, plentiful tannins and a texture that is silky and smooth. Fresh, long and persistent. The absolute in harmony. Drink 2030 – 2050.

A pure, focused red with blackberries and blackcurrants. Very floral, too. Medium-to full-bodied, tight and fine-tannined. Pretty clarity and balance to this. Less muscular than the 2018, but very attractive all the same.

Medium to full intensity in colour, this is glass-staining ruby and yet another hit from an estate that is making seriously great wine right now. Mint and eucalyptus are clear, tension and grip held through the palate. This has shoulders and swagger to the tannins, pure cassis hit of fruit and some lovely black chocolate and slate overtones along the way. Strays almost to Pauillac in terms of the weight of the tannins, but it's brilliant. Drinking Window 2029 - 2045

The 2019 Léoville Barton is a different kettle of fish compared to its sibling Langoa. It has a complex bouquet of blackberry, sous-bois, tobacco and minerals, much more introverted yet exceedingly complex. The palate is exquisite in terms of balance, laden with intense black fruit laced with orange zest, that citrus element counterbalancing the tannic grip and structure. There is a sense of completeness to this Léoville-Barton, certainly on par with the best vintages in recent years. A formidable yet charming Saint-Julien in the making. 2026 - 2065