The 2015 Leoville Barton has been uncorked....

[JimHow]

A rugged week for your beloved benevolent dictator, time to try something interesting....

[Nicklasss]

You da man!

Nic

[Gerry M.]

I've been itching to pop a 375ml for a while, you just convinced me too tomorrow night.

[JimHow]

I dunno. I was really prepared to love this wine. I wanted to give it 100 points.
It is clearly a very serious wine. The label says "only" 13%, but call me skeptical.
I found it syrupy. Tannic. Alcoholic. "Big."
Yet again, another big, burly 2015.
Don't go on my opinion, I just am truly coming to the conclusion that 2015 is not a JimHow kind of vintage.
I tried this to see if I might buy a few more as part of the NH liquor store 15% off sale.
I think I'll stick with my three remaining bottles, which I will drink in my late seventies.
I do think this will age well, which I suppose is a significant plus.
But the roundness, syrupy, oaky, sugary, sweet character of this wine is just not my cup of tea.
Yeah, there's the ticket, this has tea notes to it that are unbecoming. It is very 1995-like.
Give me the 2014 Leoville Barton over this any day of the week.
Hey, don't go on my opinion, others I'm sure will love it.
For me, I'll give it 90 points. I do think it will improve somewhat.

[Comte Flaneur]

I am surprised by that Jim.

Sometimes these wines have quite a lot of ‘baby fat’ in their youth - sweetness and apparent flabbiness - especially in the bigger riper vintages.

I was completely flummoxed by that when I tasted 2000 Ch Margaux and Pichon Baron at a similar age. It really threw me. These wines, now in their adolescence, are now, of course, simply magnificent.

Some of us used to preach that it was a cardinal sin to drink wines around this age (guilty!) because typically the wines are at their most awkward. But I am not sure to what extent that still applies given that the tannins these days are typically so refined.

I predict you will end up liking this vintage. But I also predict you will like the 2016 vintage more.

[JimHow]

You're probably right, Ian. This Leoville Barton will clearly age and evolve for a long time.
What vintage or combination of vintages would you most compare 2015 to?

[Comte Flaneur]

I would say the vintage it most closely resembles is probably 2009 Jim, but it may not have the awesome concentration of that vintage and may be racier.

This article contains opinions from the winemakers.

https://www.decanter.com/learn/vintage- ... rs-297373/

As it notes in 2015 the fruit tends to dominate the acidity and the tannins...could be why you are detecting a new worldliness about these wines.

[Nicklasss]

You still da man!

At UGC Montréal in January, I thought the wine was excellent and the best Saint-Julien that day. But I don't know how they prepared the wine : maybe 24 slow-ox or 6 hours decanting or... but the wine was very fruity and big, while being complex and excellent.

And don't open a 2015 Léoville Poyferré if you're just ok with the Barton. The Poyferré is even darker and more concentrated in it fruit

I think 2011 is one of the top "pop n pour" vintage. Seems like 2015 is not.

Nic

[AKR]

Are you having some food when enjoying this?

It seems like it would be too sandpapery at this stage without something to balance that.

I'm waffling on what to open for tonight with a NZ ling cod



WineCops will probably issue a citation for red wine with white fish though.

(Fortunately, I know some interweb lawyers)

[stefan]

That fish looks red enough to me, Arv.

[Racer Chris]

I think 2014 is a Jim How kind of vintage, while 2015 needs age to reach its best expression.

Tonight I finished a '14 Ch. Capbern after opening it last night. It too is a big wine, lots of blackberry and cassis, with spices, bold tannins and good acidity.
Very St. Estephe, and still too young, but very approachable and really nice on the second day.

I'd be willing to bet the L-B will show more St. Julien character if you give it a really long decant, or wait 5-10 more years to open it.

[danzur]

I opened a 2014 tonight after a long, messy business trip. Opened 90'minutes before dinner and decanted. This is not in a good place right now. For sure it will be at in time. The acidity is sticking out. Tannins obvious and poking out too. Plenty of fruit and structure, but disjointed today. Not terribly surprising, but I should of have saved this one for later

[JimHow]

I drink red Bordeaux with fish.

[dstgolf]

Jim,

I thought the 2010 La Tour Carnet went pretty good with fish in Bordeaux even if Nic was revolted at the thought and wouldn't even try it!! Not my first choice to pair with a white fish but we still enjoyed the pairing. Salmon, char, trout go great with red Burgundy and I suspect Bordeaux would work as well. We usually just get stuck in our ways and it's hard to change.

[AKR]

Mrs. WineCop made me drink my St Emilion while I was cooking

The fish was gobbled up with NV Roederer Estate, the California stuff.

We go through that like the kids go through milk.

And I'd have to say that NZ Ling cod is fabulous.

It's more like halibut than cod.

Alabaster white, and a firm texture.

I put an egg bound bread crumb/almond flour crust on it

Then pan sautee it, and finish it in the oven.

No sauce.

Pretty darn good, although nothing compares to the pan fried skate at long since closed NYC French restaurant Le Singe Verte.

[Nicklasss]

Red Bordeaux with fish : I guess that for a reason (age, disease, other...), when you start loosing your smelling and tasting capacity, you may start to enjoy red Bordeaux with fish. And unfortunately, still not my case.

;-O

Nic