2005 Leoville Barton
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Tasting Notes
Deep ruby red, this is great stuff, broad-shouldered, laced with aniseed, liqourice, touches of bitter black chocolate, muscular tannins and a luscious fruit core. Lip smacking stuff, with 2005 energy and excitement. Gets more serious as it opens, revealing black pepper spice, sage, rosemary and white pepper. A wonderful wine, one to sink into. You can easily wait to drink this, and it will reward another three to five years in bottle, then go for decades. If you do open it, give it a long carafe. 50% new oak.
Critic Scores
Average Score
Robert Parker
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The 2005 Léoville-Barton is clearly one of the wines of the vintage. Powerful and strapping in the glass, the 2005 is a big, big wine. Huge swaths of tannin wrap around a core of inky black fruit, new leather, spice, gravel, mocha and licorice. The wine's sheer density is impressive, but its balance is even more compelling. I might be temped to give this another few years in the cellar. Readers lucky enough to own it will find a thrilling, potent Saint-Julien that overdelivers big time. I loved it
Leoville Barton’s 2005 has an inky ruby/purple color and shows fairly high tannin levels, but the balance is slightly better that the Langoa Barton, which is very hard. This is probably a 30-year wine and needs at least another 20 years of cellaring, and while the tannins are high, they are balanced more thoroughly and competently. With deep cassis and red currant fruit, the wine is earthy, spicy, medium to full-bodied, and needs at least another decade. Drink it between 2025 and 2050. Jun 2015, www.robertparker.com
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About the producer
Ch. Léoville Barton is a Second Growth Saint-Julien estate, one of the three famous Léoville estates (along with Léoville Poyferré and Léoville Las Cases). Owned by the Barton family (along with Ch. Langoa Barton), it produces classically structured Claret that ages beautifully.