Château Léoville Barton 2022, St Julien
Recommended
IN BOND
Delivery 2025
Appellation - St Julien
Owner - Anthony Barton and family
84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc
Second wine – La Réserve de Léoville Barton
Annual production – 250,000 bottles
Tasting notes
One of the stars of the Médoc and a wine likely to equal or surpass its 2019 and 2016 counterparts, the 2022 Léoville Barton unwinds in the glass with deep aromas of cassis, pencil shavings, spices and tobacco leaf, followed by a medium to full-bodied, deep and layered palate that's vibrant, pure and seamless, with beautifully classy tannins and a long, penetrating finish. The 2022 is a blend of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11.5% Merlot and 5.5% Cabernet Franc; and it's the first vintage produced in the estate's new winery, which more than doubled the number of vats, permitting sub-plot by sub-plot harvesting and vinification, along with a number of other technical improvements which translate into enhanced purity and precision.
96/97
William Kelley, Wine Advocate (266), April 2023
Very polished and poised with blackberry and blueberry character. Medium body with tight and focused tannin tension. Lively finish. Harmonious for the vintage.
95/96
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, April 2023
The 2022 Leoville Barton is composed of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11.5% Merlot, and 5.5% Cabernet Franc, ageing in 60% new oak. Deep garnet-purple in color, the glass needs quite a lot of swirling to bring out evocative notes of black currant jelly, boysenberry preserves, and juicy plums, plus suggestions of pencil shavings, lilacs, crushed rocks, and cinnamon toast. The elegantly styled, medium to full-bodied palate is very tightly wound with layer upon layer of black fruits and earthy nuances, framed by super-ripe, fine-grained tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and minerally. It will likely require some patience, but it promises to be a knock-out. Yields this year were 30 hectoliters per hectare, which isn’t too bad considering how tiny the berries were this year.
95/97+
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent, May 2022
