Leoville Barton with Damien Sartorius Barton

Comte Flaneur · Post by **Comte Flaneur** » Wed May 06, 2020 9:21 pm

Damien, with 67 Pall Mall, hosted a vertical tasting of Leoville Barton tonight on Zoom from Ch. Mauvesin. He is Lillian’s son and Anthony’s grandson. Well presented and articulate the estate is in safe hands. There is no danger of Leoville-Barton going over to the dark side. Lillian has brought him up well.

We started off with the lighter wines and worked our way up to the more structured wines.

1999 - elegant, beautiful, sublime, such finesse and class with dark fruit and violet aromas - 94

2007 - initially slightly high toned, bright red fruits, not at all belying a weaker vintage, light on its feet, classy and even sexy; frankly a revelation - 92

2001 - tannins, alcohol, acidity and aromas in perfect harmony; this example still has quite an impressive grip and even bite that I have not associated before with this vintage; excellent but, in my opinion, lacked the charm of the 99 and the sexiness of the 2007 - 92

2002 (my ringer) - bright, red fruited, slightly raspy, exhilarating attack; the tannins are still dancing in your face which gives this wine a pleasing rigour, grip, tension and nervosity. I like this a bit more than the 01 but the 99 is still my front runner - 93

2005 - Big Boy, warmer vintage, not so clearly Leoville Barton, and you can detect the higher alcohol. Riper and hotter, much more heft, big tannins, big structure, but with some tertiary aromas starting to emerge...but it really needs double Blanquitoing - difficult to score, but I would say 92+ with the potential for 94, but right now the first four are more pleasurable.

2009 - this is a great wine; the tannins are finer and it has a seductive opulence to it but everything is held in check with superb purity of fruit, style and class. A much better bet than the 2005. 96+ now potential for more, fantastic wine. A modern day 1982.

2010 - less open for business than the 09. Big and austere with plenty of graphite in entry, allied to cassis and black pastille fruits. A wine with impeccable balance it has more freshness than the 2009 but really it is difficult to choose between them. 96+ with potential for higher.

It is difficult to chose between the 09 and 10. They are different but worthy additions to any cellar. The 2009 is the more approachable of the two, and Damien prefers the 2010, because it is more classical. Right now I lean to the 2009, but happy to own a case of the 2010.

Which brings me perhaps to the most important point in this thread. Leoville Barton is in very safe hands. Damien clearly has a passion for Bordeaux and is fully committed to the ethos of Leoville Barton carried down the generations through Anthony and Lillian.

He made some interesting points in his presentation:

90% of the wine is made in the vineyard. Without good grapes you cannot make good wine. Good wine is not made in the winery! Well said...(as you folks would say, amen, bro...)

What are the characteristics of Leoville-Barton?

- Austerity in youth
- Backbone of acidity
- Initially sharp and not over-ripe tannins
- Black fruit, blackberry, cassis and red fruits
- Graphite
- Freshness and elegance
- Judicious use of new oak, on average 60%
- Not picking too late (many estates pick too late because global warming allows them to choose)

What is his opinion of other vintages of Leoville Barton?

- The 2000 is finally opening up but is not in his opinion a great wine, merely excellent and he prefers the 2001 (I was surprised to hear that)
- The 2006 and 2008 are tannic and austere and not ready yet. I agree with him on the 06 but not on the 08.
- He is happily drinking the 2011, 12...and 13 but the 14 is far too young to broach now.

Comte Flaneur · Post by **Comte Flaneur** » Wed May 06, 2020 9:40 pm

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Comte Flaneur · Post by **Comte Flaneur** » Wed May 06, 2020 9:41 pm

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Comte Flaneur · Post by **Comte Flaneur** » Wed May 06, 2020 9:42 pm

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Comte Flaneur · Post by **Comte Flaneur** » Wed May 06, 2020 9:42 pm

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JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Wed May 06, 2020 9:43 pm

These Zoom tastings are great but it’s kind of like watching the Korean Baseball Organization without fans in the seats.

Just got out of the supermarket with the other zombies, man it’s depressing. I thought dystopia was supposed to come in like 2895 AD or some such thing? At least that’s what happens in the sci fi movies.

Anyway, rant aside, your report lifts my spirits, Ian. You are right, Leoville Barton is about as synonymous with Bordeaux as they come. And I’m pleased to see it is in good hands. Sounds like the 2002 held its own. Any discussion about pricing? It’s still a bargain relative to the other wines but at $100+ it is getting beyond my range. Not that I’m buying much more post 2016. I bought one bottle of the 2016.

Gerry, do you know whether they have any more 2016 Leoville Barton in the New Hampshire system? If never made its way into the online inventory.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Wed May 06, 2020 9:44 pm

So how did that work, Ian, you bought those little bottles?
Sounds like a fun little event.

Comte Flaneur · Post by **Comte Flaneur** » Wed May 06, 2020 9:58 pm

They posted the samples Jim, it cost £110; the samples were a decent size - it worked pretty well, made my evening!

I also included in the photos a picture of the BWE 2020 France souvenir from Tom and Gail that was not to be...

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Wed May 06, 2020 10:02 pm

Nice! Stay safe out there.

Racer Chris · Post by **Racer Chris** » Thu May 07, 2020 12:15 am

Nice! thanks for sharing.
I opened a bottle of the 2014 a couple years ago for my dad's birthday, and have to say it was far too soon.
I'll hold onto my one bottle of the 2012 until it hits 10 years of age at least. The other 4 2014s I have will sit for another decade or more probably.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Thu May 07, 2020 12:17 am

Yeah I agree Chris, as much as I love those 2014s even I thought the '14 Leoville Barton needed time.
Notwithstanding that, I'm very happy to have 10 bottles in my cellar for consumption in my 70s.

Nicklasss · Post by **Nicklasss** » Thu May 07, 2020 12:43 am

Nice intresting report Ian. When producer is producing wines of that quality in medium vintage, it deserve a lot of respect. Léoville Barton was one of the very nice visit in two thousand fifteen.

I agree Racer, wait min eight years before opening two thousand twelve.

The two thousand in DC this years, i thought it was great and it was not shy to be in company of the Baron and the Lynch.

I would like to have more Barton, from all vintages.

Nic

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Thu May 07, 2020 12:48 am

Agreed, Nicola, 2000 Leoville Barton is one of my favorite vintages of that wine.
I have told the story here of an epic experience with it during a life-and-death time in my life after my divorce, on the coast of the Baja peninsula, back in spring 2004. I'll have to elaborate on that story to you guys sometime.

JoelD · Post by **JoelD** » Thu May 07, 2020 2:19 am

Comte Flaneur wrote:They posted the samples Jim, it cost £110; the samples were a decent size - it worked pretty well, made my evening!

I also included in the photos a picture of the BWE 2020 France souvenir from Tom and Gail that was not to be...

This was a very cool idea. Did they ship you those bottles? Or drop off/pick up somewhere?

I wonder, was there any air that touched the wine when rebottling?

dstgolf · Post by **dstgolf** » Thu May 07, 2020 2:38 am

What a great concept to do a virtual tutored tasting with Q & A from Chateau Mauvesin Barton. Lilian bought this in ?? 2011 in Moulis a run down property that she talked about when we visited and it has been her eldest daughter Melanie's project as an oenologist to bring this into a respectable property. We met her in Montreal this winter and spoke with Lilian who said she was also leading the way now at Langoa while mom concentrated on Leoville. Quite the family story developing and she seemed like a wonderful lady in her early 30s a few yrs older than Damien. Looks like LB will be in good hands kept in the family for some time to come.

Blanquito · Post by **Blanquito** » Thu May 07, 2020 2:49 am

Great stuff as always, Ian.

I think BWE should retire Leoville Barton’s number, a wine we all agree is worthy of enjoyment, collection, admiration.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Thu May 07, 2020 3:11 am

As we look to retire the number of Leoville Barton, are we looking at the Tony Oliva/Al Kaline/Rod Carew of Bordeaux, or are we inthe Frank Robinson/Carl Yastrzemski/Cal Ripken range, or are we perhaps even reaching for Hank Aaron/Ken Griffey/Willie Mays?

Blanquito · Post by **Blanquito** » Thu May 07, 2020 3:45 am

JimHow wrote:As we look to retire the number of Leoville Barton, are we looking at the Tony Oliva/Al Kaline/Rod Carew of Bordeaux, or are we inthe Frank Robinson/Carl Yastrzemski/Cal Ripken range, or are we perhaps even reaching for Hank Aaron/Ken Griffey/Willie Mays?

Good question, BD. There’s the Hall and then there’s the inner circle of the Hall and then the inner, inner circle of the Hall. I guess I’d lean toward Frank Robinson/Carl Yastrzemski/Cal Ripken range. Leoville Barton, the Cal Ripken of the Medoc?

jckba · Post by **jckba** » Thu May 07, 2020 3:59 am

... which would leave Billy Ripken to be the Langoa Barton of the Medoc

Nice report Ian and thanks for sharing.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Thu May 07, 2020 4:16 am

I always thought Cal Ripken and his .276 career batting average were overrated by his iron man status, Blanquito, I think that is diminishing the status of Leoville Barton. I think Frank Robinson is more appropriate, a level above Yaz and Ripken but obviously not the Babe or Henry.

Blanquito · Post by **Blanquito** » Thu May 07, 2020 4:27 am

jckba wrote:... which would leave Billy Ripken to be the Langoa Barton of the Medoc

Nice report Ian and thanks for sharing.

Lol, nice one JC!

Blanquito · Post by **Blanquito** » Thu May 07, 2020 4:39 am

JimHow wrote:I always thought Cal Ripken and his .276 career batting average were overrated by his iron man status, Blanquito, I think that is diminishing the status of Leoville Barton. I think Frank Robinson is more appropriate, a level above Yaz and Ripken but obviously not the Babe or Henry.

Works for me.*

*I thought Cal was overrated too, until I read some fantastic columns** by Joe Posnanski and David Schoenfield at ESPN who, using sabermetric stats like WAR, laid out convincing cases for why Cal was one of the greatest shortstops of all time, irrespective of the Streak.

**A little hard to believe, but some of the best and most consistent journalism, of any genre, I’ve had the pleasure of reading for the last 20 years has come from baseball columnists.

greatbxfreak · Post by **greatbxfreak** » Thu May 07, 2020 7:47 am

Ian,

I had a great, great visit to Leoville Barton in October last year. I and Alex were invited to so-called Gerbaude lunch, meaning chateau owners giving lunch to thanks to all people involved and participating in harvest. https://www.greatbordeauxwines.com/harv ... rvest-2019

Leoville Barton is so, so classic Bordeaux as you can imagine. Never overblown, never over-extracted. Incredibly stylish and true to the soil.

Last Saturday, some friends and I celebrated the liberation of Denmark (4th May 1945 by the Brits) and the guy who organized the tasting, opened 1940 (!!) and 1943 (!!) Leoville Bartons, the latter from magnum. 1940 Leoville Barton was simply spectacular, virile, lots of life and with a lot of truffles. 1943 was great too, even it was not so dazzling as 1940.

It was a crazy, crazy evening with many 1945s and the showstopper of the show was Corbin 1945!

My Tns will be published at the end of this weekend together with pictures.

Comte Flaneur · Post by **Comte Flaneur** » Thu May 07, 2020 10:53 am

Look forward to reading your notes Izak. Would you say that LB made better wines in the 1940s than today?

Musigny 151 · Post by **Musigny 151** » Thu May 07, 2020 11:46 am

The 2000 Barton was always a little bit of an outlier; I sense a certain austerity with most of the wines, while the 2000 is more accessible, richer and more concentrated. I opened a bottle a few months ago, and loved how it had evolved, with the beginnings now of some really interesting tertiary complexity.

Blanquito · Post by **Blanquito** » Thu May 07, 2020 3:00 pm

An interesting sub-question is which is everyone’s favorite vintage of L. Barton?

I have had bad, even terrible luck with 80’s Barton, with 3-4 corked bottles of the 82 and some meh bottles of the 86 and 89 which may have subpar storage. The 85 was really good the one time I had it, though.

I’d have to say the 1990 is my favorite Barton, bit I’ve not tried the 2000 that I recall. Others are too young for me to evaluate.

Jay Winton · Post by **Jay Winton** » Thu May 07, 2020 3:32 pm

I've had the 2006 a couple times over the last few months. I liked the wine but it seemed more mature than is should have been. Stored at room temperature in Florida so that may be the reason.

greatbxfreak · Post by **greatbxfreak** » Thu May 07, 2020 4:04 pm

Ian,

Why should I think LB made better wines in the 1940s?? A rather confusing question to ask.

I've never before tasted 1940 and 1943 vintage from Bordeaux.

I love wines from LB!

Comte Flaneur · Post by **Comte Flaneur** » Thu May 07, 2020 4:45 pm

You said they were spectacular Izak

Comte Flaneur · Post by **Comte Flaneur** » Thu May 07, 2020 5:18 pm

Blanquito wrote:An interesting sub-question is which is everyone’s favorite vintage of L. Barton?

I have had bad, even terrible luck with 80’s Barton, with 3-4 corked bottles of the 82 and some meh bottles of the 86 and 89 which may have subpar storage. The 85 was really good the one time I had it, though.

I’d have to say the 1990 is my favorite Barton, bit I’ve not tried the 2000 that I recall. Others are too young for me to evaluate.

Patrick

The 1982 is one of my last favourite Leoville Bartons. It has been fully mature for a long time but most bottles I have tried have been underwhelming.

I like the 1978 much better but that is subject to a lot of bottle variation. I don’t remember trying many older vintages from the 70s or earlier decades.

In the 1980s my top three are 1985 and 1988 which are very similar, quintessentially elegant clarets, and the 1989, which is a bigger wine, but outstanding. The 1986 is a pretty hit and miss, old school, tannic monster.

In the 1990s I have decided the best vintage is 1999, though good bottles of the 1990 are superb. But the 1999 like the 1985 epitomises what this estate is all about. Both the 1995 and 1996 can be frustrating, given how backward they can be. The 1994 is drinking well but took forever to come round and I have only one bottle left.

In the 2000s it is a very close contest between the 2004 and 2009, the former being more classic Barton. Until yesterday 2010 or 2004 was probably my favourite vintage but 2009 might be.

So I don’t really have a favourite. At this precise moment in time the pecking order, excluding post-10, of vintages I can remember having would be something like:

2009/2004/2010/1999/1985/1988/1989/1990/2002/2008/1978/2000/2007/2001/1994/2006/1995/1996/2005/1986/1982/1987/
2003

Blanquito · Post by **Blanquito** » Thu May 07, 2020 5:58 pm

This makes me happy. I really enjoyed the 08 on release, but the wine I bought was the 09 landing some splits for $55.

AlohaArtakaHoundsong · Thu May 07, 2020 6:02 pm

I have the 02 and the 04 and besides those two I am pretty sure I have drunk the 98.

I will pull one soon, maybe even tonight. The subjective fact is that I don't recall being moved much by the two younger wines. It think I liked the '98, but my recollection is hazy. And this all points to my current feeling, which is that I don't get excited thinking about this estate. I will give it props for being true to something and also for being reasonably priced in its peer group but I find it inelegant or something. I probably just don't have enough experience with it, or with more mature vintages. I get excited thinking about Beychevelle and Branaire but not so much Leo B. Which is discomforting because a lot of people like it and I feel I am missing out on a stalwart/exemplar.

Now I will search for some notes I've written and they will probably contradict these statements.

AlohaArtakaHoundsong · Thu May 07, 2020 6:12 pm

AlohaArtakaHoundsong wrote:I have the 02 and the 04 and besides those two I am pretty sure I have drunk the 98.

I will pull one soon, maybe even tonight. The subjective fact is that I don't recall being moved much by the two younger wines. It think I liked the '98, but my recollection is hazy. And this all points to my current feeling, which is that I don't get excited thinking about this estate. I will give it props for being true to something and also for being reasonably priced in its peer group but I find it inelegant or something. I probably just don't have enough experience with it, or with more mature vintages. I get excited thinking about Beychevelle and Branaire but not so much Leo B. Which is discomforting because a lot of people like it and I feel I am missing out on a stalwart/exemplar.

Now I will search for some notes I've written and they will probably contradict these statements.

Is it OK to laugh at your own notes? From the 2002 at age 15:

My main issue with this one is the flavor. There's not a lot of sunshine/joy/love to this. The grapes taste like they were raised in boarding schools and then sent to military academy and never got a lot of unqualified parental love. There's some spiciness and as things evolved over three hours or so I got a little bit more sweetness out of this. But mainly it was very dark, maybe like 80 percent cocoa. So maybe this is one that needs decanting, not to soften structure but to allow some merrier flavors to shine through. Not a favorite at this point.

That is pretty much how I feel. Grapes sent away to boarding schools and never reached emotional maturity. Sorry if you were educated in a boarding school. I may have read too many novels by English authors who didn't have much love for the experience perhaps.

Gerry M. · Post by **Gerry M.** » Thu May 07, 2020 6:27 pm

JimHow wrote:These Zoom tastings are great but it’s kind of like watching the Korean Baseball Organization without fans in the seats.

Just got out of the supermarket with the other zombies, man it’s depressing. I thought dystopia was supposed to come in like 2895 AD or some such thing? At least that’s what happens in the sci fi movies.

Anyway, rant aside, your report lifts my spirits, Ian. You are right, Leoville Barton is about as synonymous with Bordeaux as they come. And I’m pleased to see it is in good hands. Sounds like the 2002 held its own. Any discussion about pricing? It’s still a bargain relative to the other wines but at $100+ it is getting beyond my range. Not that I’m buying much more post 2016. I bought one bottle of the 2016.

Gerry, do you know whether they have any more 2016 Leoville Barton in the New Hampshire system? If never made its way into the online inventory.

It sold out quickly. There was a sku for it, 34097. I looked for it but lost out. Its the one 2016 that I've missed out on completely.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Thu May 07, 2020 11:18 pm

Damn, there were like a dozen on the shelf when I bought the one bottle on sale.
I think this was the WS wine of the year, no?

Gerry M. · Post by **Gerry M.** » Thu May 07, 2020 11:27 pm

That would help explain how it sold out so quickly.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Thu May 07, 2020 11:33 pm

Yep, #1:

https://top100.winespectator.com

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Thu May 07, 2020 11:40 pm

2016 Leoville Barton, Wine Spectator's 2019 wine of the year. Sounds like an excellent choice!

https://top100.winespectator.com/2019/w ... le-barton/

Gerry M. · Post by **Gerry M.** » Thu May 07, 2020 11:49 pm

I'm debating on this one. I may have found a case locally for $119 bottle. I have plenty of 2014 and 2015 that I paid a hell of a lot less for. Is it really that much better?

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Fri May 08, 2020 12:01 am

If you pull the trigger I'll take 6 off your hands but, seriously, no urgency whatsoever.
I still gotta get those 2012 du Tertres from you at some point!
Racer Chris and jckba suggested a Worcester area get together recently.
I plugged that code in the NH inventory and it came up with a $500+ Pavie.