Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Powerful tannins are the hallmark of this concentrated wine. With a big structure, it is pushing the envelope, yet the Saint-Julien elegance manifests itself in the balanced fruit and deliciously fresh acidity. Barrel Sample 93-95
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James Suckling
Lovely aromas of chocolate and currants with bright cherries. Full body, tight and compacted tannins and a fresh and fruity finish. Crisp acidity. Linear and refined. Start drinking in 2021.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Langoa Barton was impressive in barrel and this bottle-showing completely vindicated that initial enthusiasm. It has an impressive bouquet with redcurrant, blackberry and cedar aromas, with a hint of violet as it opens in the glass. This is lovely. The palate is medium-bodied with succulent ripe black cherry and raspberry fruit on the entry. It comes across as a playful, joyous, exuberant Langoa Barton that is almost sensual on the long finish. What a great 2014 Saint Julien from team Barton! Form an orderly queue and load up on this gem.
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Wine Spectator
This has a well-built core of cassis, blueberry and plum sauce flavors, coated with a ganache edge and kept honest by a graphite accent through the finish. Dense but plush, showing admirable ripeness for the vintage. Best from 2020 through 2035.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Darker cherries, currants, tobacco, leafy herbs, and underbrush all emerge from the 2014 Château Langoa Barton, a blend of 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc that continues to show well. Medium-bodied on the palate, it offers a layered texture, outstanding balance, and fine tannins. This juicy, elegant, and complex Saint-Julien will drink beautifully over the coming decade or so.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
An icon of balance and tradition, St. Julien boasts the highest proportion of classed growths in the Médoc. What it lacks in any first growths, it makes up in the rest: five amazing second growth chateaux, two superb third growths and four well-reputed fourth growths. While the actual class rankings set in 1855 (first, second, and so on the fifth) today do not necessarily indicate a score of quality, the classification system is important to understand in the context of Bordeaux history. Today rivalry among the classed chateaux only serves to elevate the appellation overall.
One of its best historically, the estate of Leoville, was the largest in the Médoc in the 18th century, before it was divided into the three second growths known today as Chateau Léoville-Las-Cases, Léoville-Poyferré and Léoville-Barton. Located in the north section, these are stone’s throw from Chateau Latour in Pauillac and share much in common with that well-esteemed estate.
The relatively homogeneous gravelly and rocky top soil on top of clay-limestone subsoil is broken only by a narrow strip of bank on either side of the “jalle,” or stream, that bisects the zone and flows into the Gironde.
St. Julien wines are for those wanting subtlety, balance and consistency in their Bordeaux. Rewarding and persistent, the best among these Bordeaux Blends are full of blueberry, blackberry, cassis, plum, tobacco and licorice. They are intense and complex and finish with fine, velvety tannins.