2016 Château Léoville Barton, St Julien, Bordeaux

The blend of the 2016 is 86% Cabernet Sauvignon and 14% Merlot, brought up in 60% new French oak.

Deep purple-coloured and a classic Saint-Julien with its pure crème de cassis, graphite, liquid rock, and essence of lead pencil shavings, the 2016 Château Léoville Barton is full-bodied, concentrated, and backwards, with bright acidity and ripe yet certainly present and building tannins. This old-school, classic Léoville Barton has a fine thread of acidity keeping the wine focused and fresh. It’s a beauty, but mostly potential at this point, although it does have beautiful fruit. Savvy readers will hide bottles at the back of their cellar, and I wouldn’t start to think about opening bottles for a least a decade. It’s going to be incredibly long-lived.

Drink 2029 - 2069

Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com (February 2019)