2014 Château Léoville Barton, St Julien, Bordeaux

Tasted blind. Some polish, charm and rigour too. Just what I want of a St-Julien! Very vibrant. Dry finish but I think it will all come right as there is just so much going on there. Wonderfully long. Intense.

Drink 2025 - 2045

The 2014 Léoville Barton has a seductive and beautifully composed bouquet with ample brambly red fruit, sous-bois, and light pencil shavings scents. This has real finesse. The palate is well balanced with fine tannins, a keen line of acidity and more salinity than its peers. What feels like top-quality new oak smooths the finish but does not impose itself. This is a classy Saint-Julien from the Barton family.

Tasted blind at the Southwold 10-Year-On tasting.

The 2014 Leoville Barton is one of the must-buys of the vintage. Now in bottle, it has a very pure bouquet that gains intensity in the glass, laden with blackberry and raspberry coulis scents, cold wet stone, a wonderful mineralit that becomes more conspicuous with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with tensile tannin, a fine line of acidity that lends this precision and nervosit. There is class and sophistication in situ, not a powerful Loville Barton, but beautifully poised. This is just a brilliant forerunner to the 2015 and it should represent great value.

Drink 2020 - 2050

Intense nose of vanilla and blackcurrant; very elegant. Showing purity of fruit. The attack is strong, with firm tannins and impressive concentration without seeming too extracted. Spicy, complex and vibrant, this is balanced, with a long zesty finish.

Drink 2020 - 2040