2024 Langoa Barton

The 2024 Langoa Barton is showing beautifully, wafting from the glass with aromas of sweet blackberries and plums mingled with notions of licorice, pencil shavings and lilac. Medium to full-bodied, with lively acids and good depth and density, it's pure and refined. This is a blend of 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 8% Cabernet Franc, picked between 24 September and 5 October.

Floral peony and lilac aromatics on the Langoa, and the fruit character keeps things finessed and soft - think red cherry, cherry pit, tobacco, black tea, thoroughly charming, just a little short on the finished compared to the exceptional 2022 or 2023 vintages. The difference in the blends between the two Barton St Julien wines is significant this year, with just over 50% here of Cabernet Sauvignon compared to over 90% in Léoville. Harvest 24 September to 5 October. 60% new oak, 30hl/h yield.

The 2024 Langoa Barton was picked from September 29 to October 5 and matured in 60% new oak. This is quite closed on the nose—indeed, General Manager Damien Barton had forewarned that for whatever reason, the samples had aromatically clammed up on a sunny day! The palate is medium-bodied with black plummy fruit, touches of graphite and cracked black pepper and nice grip on the mid-palate. The 2024 is not as complex as, say, the 2022, but it has an appealing, linear finish.