2005 Leoville Barton uncorked

[jckba]

So I’ve been staring at this unopened, original wood case of 2005 Leoville Barton for the better part of the last 15 years and against my better judgement, I pulled a bottle tonight.

After a two hour double decant, there were faint dark fruited and tobacco aromas hiding behind a wall of impenetrable toasty oak and the palate was just more of the same story. I recorked the bottle, tried it again the next day but it was no different. Bury this one for another decade (or two); rating reserved.

[stefan]

Yeah, 2005 Bordeaux from top estates are really slow to come around. Still, I would have expected that Barton would be showing more now.

[JoelD]

Thanks for taking one for the team on this. I still don't think that the 2000 is ready either. Very brooding and still closed-ish. Most of the surrounding vintages seem to be good to go though.

[Comte Flaneur]

Greetings from Auckland New Zealand where last night Ian - of this parish - invited me over for dinner. Our 2008 Leoville Barton was more backward than I expected - report to come on a separate thread.

[Claudius2]

Not tried the 2005 LB but the same vintage of Langoa Barton is pretty surly and seems to be in need of much time. What surprises me is that I drank quite a few 2005s at tastings and they were tannic but really fruity. My experience was that they closed down soon after and I have decided that I am going to leave them in storage for longer than the 09s and 10s which are opening up now in most cases.
Cheers
Mark

[RPCV]

My experience with the 2005's is that they require a lot more time. A recent 2005 Malmaison was closed and undrinkable even after a double decant. I am beginning to relate this vintage to 1986 where many wines that I cellared and drank never really seemed open.

[jckba]

I think it really begs the question, with all of the improvements in winemaking prowess up until that point, when will these wines from this universally praised 2005 vintage begin to shine?

[JoelD]

I think it really begs the question, with all of the improvements in winemaking prowess up until that point, when will these wines from this universally praised 2005 vintage begin to shine?

A great question, but personally I think that 2005 has the potential to be a combo of 1989 and 1990. Or 1986 and 1990 if you want to look at it that way. All the structure and the minerality that takes a long time to come around for some of the wines. However there is a ripeness and weight to the vintage that reminds me of 1990. I still have high hopes for 2005 Bordeaux (and 2005 red Burgundy for that matter). I am much higher on 2005 than 2009/2010 which I think can be messes from many estates.

Of course, take all of this with a grain of salt as I don't have the experience and time that many have had on this forum to track vintages.

I will say though that a lot of 2000's have really started to come around in the last couple years that were far from ready before. The Barton is still an exception on that front though.

[Claudius2]

Joel
I spent some time in the Medoc during the 2000 vintage and the grapes were in excellent condition coming into the chais BUT the skins were rather thick and the juice was dark and dense in most cases. The winemaking teams liked what they saw but those willing to predict what the wines would be like said they will take some time to come around. I think 2000 ended up more like 1986 than did 2005.

I drank 2000 Leoville Barton at a vertical a few years ago and it was still unready and for that matter I thought the 1995 and 1996 had not peaked. Both the 93 and 94 were nicer to drink as they were fully nature and maybe heading downhill. The 1985 was easily the favorite wine out of 15 or so vintages though the 82 seemed unrepresentative.

My view of 2005 based on quite a few young examples was that they were fruitier than 2000 and overall a better vintage.

I’d rate 2010 above 2000 and 2009. My experiences at a few tastings over the last few years is that 2010 is an excellent vintage without the tannic nature of 00 or 05 but none the worse for it. I have a lot of 09s - 20 odd full cases - and that vintage worries me more as I’ve found it to be less even though it is still a very good vintage overall, but in 2009 the lesser wines like CBs are not that interesting.

In the meantime 2020 is showing heaps of fruit now yet I’d bet on them shutting down as well. They reminded me of 1990 - even with whatever technology changes have happened over those years. The 1990s were so nice young with balance and style - I hope the young vintages are eventually as good.

Cheers
Mark

PS 2005 Burgundies are delicious now. Drank a NSG 1er Cru last week that was maturing well and really complex. Wish I hadn’t had to sell most of them before I moved to Singapore 14 yrs ago.

[Jay Winton]

My experience with the 2005's is that they require a lot more time. A recent 2005 Malmaison was closed and undrinkable even after a double decant. I am beginning to relate this vintage to 1986 where many wines that I cellared and drank never really seemed open.

Based on the bottle of 2005 La Lagune we had on Thanksgiving-with beef tenderloin-I agree. Several hours of aeration and decanting and it still showed as youthful and it almost seemed to close up in my glass. It will be several years before I try another. Excellent potential though.

[Nicklasss]

So the 2005 Léoville Barton not ready? I can stand that as I always thought 2005 was a great vintage, but best wines would need minimum 30 years… as the regular regional Bordeaux can probably make 10-12 years easily.

One wine I thought was ok to drink from 2005 is Lagrange, that is not as concentrated as some other in that vintage.

[JoelD]

So the 2005 Léoville Barton not ready? I can stand that as I always thought 2005 was a great vintage, but best wines would need minimum 30 years… as the regular regional Bordeaux can probably make 10-12 years easily.

One wine I thought was ok to drink from 2005 is Lagrange, that is not as concentrated as some other in that vintage.

I think that I agree with you, Nic. I'm certainly looking forward to BWE 2035, although I think that many of them will be quite accessible by 2030.

I had the Lagrange recently. It was a solid wine, lean and sweet. Not much extraction. It's completely accessible right now but I think that 5-10 years will help it gain some needed complexity and possibly lose a bit of the sweetness.