2020 Château Léoville Barton, St Julien, Bordeaux
- Red
- Dry
- Full Bodied
Not ready
- Jane Anson MW
- 94/100
- Antonio Galloni
- 94-96/100
- Neal Martin MW
- 94-96/100
- Jeb Dunnuck
- 95-97/100
- Jancis Robinson MW
- 18/20
- Michael Schuster
- 93-94/100
- Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW
- 93-95/100
- James Suckling
- 96-97/100
Product: 20201012361
Description
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Cabernet Sauvignon 85.5%, Merlot 14.5%
Lilian Barton Sartorius, ninth-generation vintner at Ch. Léoville-Barton, states ruefully that they didn’t make much wine in 2020. In common with many Médoc properties, yields were down, reduced to 34 hl/ha. However, the wine that was made delivers immense colour and concentration. It’s extravagantly perfumed, with aromas of pencil shavings, sweet cherry, and blackcurrant cordial. There is a burly feel to the tannins, which have great intensity. The mid-palate has a lovely brightness, which runs into subtle spicy notes of clove and star anise. The finish is long. All in all, a very persuasive Barton.
Drink 2028-2050.
Colour Red
Sweetness Dry
Vintage 2020
Alcohol % 13.5
Maturity Not ready
Body Full Bodied
Producer Château Léoville Barton
Critics reviews
Jane Anson MW 94/100
Packed full of black chocolate shavings, liquorice, cocoa bean, concentrated cassis and bilberry fruits. Good quality, will bed down and age extremely well, with depth and character but also classicism. As with many in this corner of the Médoc peninsula in this vintage, the austerity to the tannins is very much to the fore right now. May be upscored when in bottle.Drink from 2029 to 2045jane_anson_mw, Decanter (April 2021)
Drink 2030 - 2055
Antonio Galloni 94-96/100
The 2020 Léoville-Barton marries the richness of the vintage with the classically restrained style that is so typical of Léoville-Barton. Graphite, licorice and dark spice are all laced throughout a core of inky dark fruit. The 2020 is powerful and linear, with tons of depth lying in reserve, just waiting to emerge. I won't be surprised if Léoville-Barton is one of the last Saint-Juliens to enter its prime. Drink from 2030 to 2055antonio_galloni, Vinous.com (June 2021)
Drink 2030 - 2055
Neal Martin MW 94-96/100
The 2020 Léoville Barton was picked September 15–16 and matured in 70% new oak. It is one of the best vintages that I have encountered in barrel. Wow! This shoots from the glass with beautifully defined black fruit, mineral-rich aromas, pixelated with laser-like focus. The palate is medium-bodied with chiseled tannins, a perfect line of acidity, layers of vibrant, vivacious black fruit and a very persistent finish that is pure class. If you don’t have this in your cellar, then there will be a Léoville Barton–shaped hole to fill. Drink from 2028 to 2055Neil Martin, Vinous.com (May 2021)
Drink 2030 - 2055
Jeb Dunnuck 95-97/100
Deep purple – almost blue – in color, the 2020 Château Léoville Barton offers up an exotic, vibrant, perfumed nose that carries loads of pure cassis fruit interwoven with violets, sappy green herbs, and floral aromatics. Rich, medium to full-bodied, and concentrated, this thick, chewy, powerful Saint-Julien has good acidity, building, firm, yet ripe tannins, and a great finish. My money is on this requiring 15 years to come anywhere close to maturity. It doesn’t get any more classic Barton than this.jeb_dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com (May 2021)
Drink 2030 - 2055
Jancis Robinson MW 18/20
Cask sample taken 6 April. 85.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14.5% Merlot. Aged for 18 months in barrel (60% new). Lustrous purple. Minerally, stony, saline nose. Really remarkably opulent on palate entry which almost distracts from those massive tannins underneath. There's just a suggestion of vintage port tannins here (not the sweetness). Very fine winemaking indeed. I have to admit I was tempted to swallow this, it was so majestic. I don't remember being as bowled over by a Léoville Barton at this early stage before. Lovely, confident, persistent finish. Such grace!Drink 2030 - 2055jancis_robinson_mw MW, JancisRobinson.com (April 2021)
Drink 2030 - 2055
Michael Schuster 93-94/100
Inky purple; dense, closed, raw blackcurrant and subtle gravel; concentrated, medium- to full-bodied, muscular wine, firm in acidity and firmly tannic, a clear long-term prospect, but without the sinews of 2010, for example; crisply ripe blackcurrant in flavor, long to taste across the palate, with a notable tenacity rather than sheer size. Elegance, complexity, finesse, and length. A sort of 1996 with more matter? This will probably need a decade and a half to really mellow and bouquet.Drink 2030 - 2050Michael Schuster, The World of Fine Wine (May 2021)
Drink 2030 - 2055
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW 93-95/100
The 2020 Léoville Barton reveals a deep purple-black color, springing from the glass with vivacious scents of crushed black cherries, cassis and black raspberries, plus hints of cinnamon toast, wild sage, red roses and sassafras. The medium to full-bodied palate is packed with muscular black fruits, framed by grainy tannins and loads of freshness, finishing long and perfumed.Drink from 2026 to 2047Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (May 2021)
Drink 2030 - 2055
James Suckling 96-97/100
A full-bodied red that builds on the palate with lots of blackberry and blueberry character, as well as chocolate. Mineral and graphite undertones. Chewy, yet very integrated. Excellent, as expected.james_suckling (April 2021)
Drink 2030 - 2055
About this wine
Chateau Leoville Barton
Château Léoville Barton is the smallest portion of the great Léoville estate and has been owned by the Barton family since 1826. There is no château and the wine is made at Langoa Barton.
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