1999 Leoville Barton: extremely disappointing

[AKR]

I for one have have had terribly experiences with 80’s Barton overall (with a pretty epic number of corked and flawed bottles in particular, but even the taint free ones where generally charmless) and don’t find it worthy of the hype until starting in 1990. I haven’t had any Barton’s after the 08 (except the 14 and 16 on release), but the 90-08 run have been so much better than the pre-90 bottles I’ve had.

I mostly agree with the above. We went through a lot of the 94 Leo. Barton at my wedding!

[robert goulet]

I have the LB '96 '01 and '04 ....I need more '04

[JeanFred]

I had 2006-2007 a couple months ago and both were great Barton and classic claret Bordeaux. 2007 being more accessible 92-93pts than 2006 93-94pts, but 06 a ways more complexe and powerfull.

JeanFred

[stefan]

>>
They were externally perfect, cork, fill, label, etc. In fact strikingly so.
>>

I have sourced bottles that had problems like you describe and the bottles looked perfect. I think the damage comes from extremely high heat for a limited period rather than from storage at too warm a temperature for a long time, because I have some experience with the latter from my own bad storage, and the effects are different.

[Blanquito]

Love to get your final impressions on your bottle of the 99 LB, Bill.

[stefan]

Oh, we were very pleased with it, Patrick. I would not rank it as high as Ian (e.g., I like the 1996 more), but it is excellent for the vintage. Off hand I cannot remember a 1999 from St Julien, Pauillac, or St Estephe that I liked more. The long finish is particularly impressive, and I found no flaws in the wine at all.

[rthomaspaull]

I think the tannins in Leo B demand a lot of patience, probably more than I have at my age, except for old and over-priced vintages. rthomaspaull

[AKR]

Oh, we were very pleased with it, Patrick. I would not rank it as high as Ian (e.g., I like the 1996 more), but it is excellent for the vintage. Off hand I cannot remember a 1999 from St Julien, Pauillac, or St Estephe that I liked more. The long finish is particularly impressive, and I found no flaws in the wine at all.

I liked the 99 Ducru more

[Comte Flaneur]

Oh, we were very pleased with it, Patrick. I would not rank it as high as Ian (e.g., I like the 1996 more), but it is excellent for the vintage. Off hand I cannot remember a 1999 from St Julien, Pauillac, or St Estephe that I liked more. The long finish is particularly impressive, and I found no flaws in the wine at all.

Hi stefan yes it is impressive in the context of what is a decidedly average vintage. We did a 1999 horizontal a couple of years ago here in Blighty and the wines were pretty mixed. One of my favourite 1999s is Ducru, and I have a case but no question the Leoville-Barton is better as the Ducru has a slightly mixed mid-palate - still a lovely wine though.

I find the the 1995 and 1996 Leoville-Bartons have stood still in time like Dorian Gray, if anything I am having more luck with the 1995s (very good one in Nov 2019, next one back to square one, same with LLC) rather than the 1996s. The 1996 has a lot of substance and core but not a lot of charm in my opinion.

[JoelD]

Oh, we were very pleased with it, Patrick. I would not rank it as high as Ian (e.g., I like the 1996 more), but it is excellent for the vintage. Off hand I cannot remember a 1999 from St Julien, Pauillac, or St Estephe that I liked more. The long finish is particularly impressive, and I found no flaws in the wine at all.

Hi stefan yes it is impressive in the context of what is a decidedly average vintage. We did a 1999 horizontal a couple of years ago here in Blighty and the wines were pretty mixed. One of my favourite 1999s is Ducru, and I have a case but no question the Leoville-Barton is better as the Ducru has a slightly mixed mid-palate - still a lovely wine though.

I find the the 1995 and 1996 Leoville-Bartons have stood still in time like Dorian Gray, if anything I am having more luck with the 1995s (very good one in Nov 2019, next one back to square one, same with LLC) rather than the 1996s. The 1996 has a lot of substance and core but not a lot of charm in my opinion.

I have only tried the 1996, but I couldn't agree more with your assessment. Enjoyable but not enough to seek out again. I did find it to be somewhat similar to the 96 Ducru, but I found the ducru to have a little more fruit and little better overall. The 96 Cos was fresher and better than both of those.

[robert goulet]

1996 Cos is a cracker