2008 Château Léoville Barton, St Julien, Bordeaux
Description
Very much the epitome of an English gentleman, the charming Anthony Barton must be one of the most reasonable proprietors in Bordeaux. Year after year he leads the quest for prices to come down; if only other châteaux owners would follow suit! The 2008 is loaded with massive, chewy tannins that coat the mouth while the underlying essence of dark, brooding blackcurrant fruit is perfectly complemented by notes of coffee and chocolate. It will take many years for the complexity and depth of this wine to shine through but the long, fulfilling finish is an indication of just how good it will become. This will be a force to be reckoned with when fully mature.
Berry Bros. & Rudd
-
Colour
Red -
Sweetness
Dry -
Vintage
2008 -
Alcohol
13% -
Grape
Cabernet Sauvignon,Merlot,Cabernet Franc -
Body
Full Bodied -
Producer
Château Léoville Barton
Critics reviews
This was always one of the wines of the vintage with currant, cassis and chocolate aromas and flavors. Full body, chewy and polished tannins and a fresh and fine finish. Tight now but so beautiful. Decant a couple of hours before serving.
This is an excellent St-Julien with a brisk attack and a rather lovely restrained, savoury edge to the tightly structured black fruits. It has great texture, and a silkier flesh to the fruit, which has depth and persistence. Fully ripe but not tiptoeing a single centimetre over the line - nor under it, unlike a few in this vintage. A good job.
Drink 2018 - 2035
A fresh, elegant, incredibly classic wine from this estate, the 2008 Léoville Barton shows the concentrated yet focused, masculine style of the vintage. Ample graphite, cassis, violets, and cedarwood notes all flow to a medium-bodied Saint-Julien that has good acidity, present tannins, and terrific purity of fruit. It offers pleasure today, in a firm, classical sense, yet needs another 4-5 years of bottle age to hit maturity and will cruise for another 25+ years.
Drink 2023 - 2048
The 2008 Léoville Barton has a lovely, heart-warming bouquet of ripe blackberry and cedar, touches of graphite, precise and supremely well-focused. Classic Barton. The palate is medium-bodied, fresh and lively with impressive density; it is structured with a firm backbone on the graphite-tinged and tensile finish that suggests that it deserves another 3-4 years in bottle. Excellent.
Drink 2022 - 2045
Cherries, graphite, oak spice, bitter chocolate and cedar. All the classic Bordeaux boxes ticked, and there's plenty of heft in the structure. Should age admirably.
Drink 2018 - 2038
Another blockbuster, long-term wine from proprietor Anthony Barton, this 2008 is among the vintage's biggest, most back-strapping efforts. As with many vintages of Leoville Barton, it is best forgotten for another decade. An inky/purple colour is followed by notes of forest floor, camphor, red and black fruits, and a hint of wood. This brawny, masculine-styled St. Julien possesses a huge body, massive concentration, and mouth-searing tannin levels. However, the tannins are much sweeter than the 2005's were at the same stage, so that should be fine as long as potential purchasers exercise patience.
This impressively pure, classic Bordeaux should be at its finest between 2020 - 2050.
Bright ruby. Sexy, ripe nose combines cassis, Cuban cigar tobacco, licorice and minerals. Sweet, tactile and intense, with concentrated, sharply delineated flavours of dark fruits and minerals. Densely packed, ripe and deep. Offers a lovely combination of silky texture, firm structure and the aromatic lift and nuance of the vintage's best examples. Should age gracefully for at least 15 years.