Chateau Leoville Barton 2005

"Power and elegance merge effortlessly in this superb wine. Its pure black currant fruit is tightly coiled, supported by just the right amount of firm tannins. Great aging potential. A triumph."

97 Points

Wine Enthusiast

"Delivers breathtaking aromas of blackberry, currant, licorice and flowers. Full-bodied, with a solid core of fruit and supersilky tannins. Dark chocolate, currant, berry and licorice follow through. This is racy and beautiful. Best after 2015. 20,375 cases made."

96 Points

Wine Spectator

"Another prodigious, but brutally tannic, offering from the affable Anthony Barton, the inky/blue/black-hued 2005 Leoville Barton exhibits a sensational perfume of charcoal, burning embers, underbrush, cedar, creme de cassis, and subtle toasty oak. Painfully concentrated (much like the 2000 was at the same stage), with full body, admirable purity, and several boatloads of muscular tannin, this St.-Julien is built for 50-60 years of cellaring. Its purity and precision are typical of today’s winemaking, but Barton is certainly not making a wine for near-term gratification. This is another 2005 that will require enormous patience. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2065."

94 Points

The Wine Advocate

"Deep ruby. Wonderfully perfumed nose offers cassis, minerals, tobacco, flowers, mocha and truffle. Bright, mineral-driven and concentrated, with terrific underlying backbone giving energy and definition to the dark berry, mineral and chocolate flavors. There's a floral lift here that's exhilarating to find in the very ripe 2005 vintage. Finishes very long and classy, with a firm tannic spine. An outstanding vintage for this wine."

94 Points

International Wine Cellar

"Deep, dense and optimally ripened curranty fruit is teamed with neatly fit oak and hints of dried flowers in the sweet and very involving aromas of this lovely young Saint-Julien, and, while is arguably shows a touch of "California" ripeness, it is classically structured with finely fit tannins that will take time to resolve. It should be reaching its stride in five or six years, but it might not show its best face for twice that time."

93 Points

Connoisseurs' Guide