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| | Vintage | 1996 |  Label 1 of 611 
 | | Type | Red | | Producer | Château Léoville Barton (web) | | Variety | Red Bordeaux Blend | | Designation | n/a | | Vineyard | n/a | | Country | France | | Region | Bordeaux | | SubRegion | Médoc | | Appellation | St. Julien | | UPC Code(s) | 031259001524, 031259006727, 031259043272, 055298007507, 055298967504, 2448874002597, 3258691171746, 3277034831857, 3277034831864, 3660327010815, 3660327011515, 3700266201155, 400009709629, 649944130116 |
| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 92.5 pts. and median of 93 pts. in 604 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Torchy on 4/19/2024 & rated 94 points: April BYO (Bodø, Norway): The wine is dark red. Nose with metallic blackcurrants, tobacco, coffee, and equestrian sports. In the mouth, it tastes of stable, lead, dark dense fruit, as well as something minty. The fruit is concentrated and somewhat angular, which makes me blindly think we are in Pauillac. We weren't! (973 views) | | | Tasted by Marc on 4/7/2024 & rated 94 points: Superb. Structured and mature. Cedar, forest floor, iron ore, iodine, blackcurrant. Very much Cabernet in personality. A dark and slightly feral wine- not just a creamy, cassis and oak style, but rather a wine of huge personality and layered depth. Not as refined as a first growth might be, and less classic for that, but complex and involving. Absolutely no hurry on this wine. (1796 views) | | | Tasted by LIE-user on 3/24/2024 & rated 94 points: Excellent. Perfect now. (1982 views) | | | Tasted by SlapTheBag on 2/25/2024: This wine really came alive when paired with food. Nose had iodine, black currant and maybe a little black pepper. Palate had a little tar and funk to it, and the tannins are still strong giving it a very long finish. (2582 views) | | | Tasted by anthroman on 2/18/2024: A nice showing over dinner. Gave this a 90-minute decant and enjoyed over the following 90 minutes or so. Nose had tar and iodine tones with cassis and some dried flowers. Tarry red fruits and lively acidity on the palate with some tannins still flexing their muscles on the back end. (2066 views) | | | Tasted by Burgundy Al on 2/11/2024 flawed bottle: Good Wine with an Exciting Super Bowl (The Krengels - Bannockburn IL): Magnum badly corked. (2404 views) | | | Tasted by djhammond on 1/30/2024 & rated 88 points: Second bottle in a row from good storage with issues, and from the same case as previous good bottles, I certainly think age is not being kind to this wine. It has lost its fruit and, in spite of a decent nose, is lacking depth and complexity, and is carrying an unpleasant sourness on the finish. (2915 views) | | | Tasted by VinhoVerde on 1/23/2024 & rated 96 points: Medium to dark red color. Vanilla, cassis, spice, and earthy bouquet. (Very complex.) A rich , flavorful wine showing some cedar, dark fruit, excellent concentration and long finish. Decanted for 3 hours.
A superb example of this wine. Classic “left bank” Bordeaux. (2912 views) | | | Tasted by WILDFANG on 1/18/2024 & rated 93 points: Day One: Rich, juicy, and a bit tight, overshadowed by the absolutely wonderful and wide-open 1990. Day Two - a second bottle opened but not drunk on Day One: Deep and earthy on the nose, with cedar and camphor. Recent notes mentioning smoked meats are also on target, together with aromatics Asians would recognize as "pandan" that wafted off with some airing. Earthy notes carry through to the palate, with bright acidity, red fruit, and no rough edges whatsoever, although the tannins are still there. Absolutely classic claret; the entire bottle slid down with no effort whatsoever! (2705 views) | | | Tasted by Stefan75 on 1/11/2024 & rated 91 points: From Mag, still quite tannic after several hours of air, old school and somewhat monolithic - very masculine in a way. Incredible this has only 12,5% alcohol. Drink (with people that enjoy classic claret) or hold. (3097 views) | | | Tasted by Horichdaslicht on 1/10/2024 & rated 96 points: Powerful aroma of blackcurrant with a hint of cedar. Sleek fruit and a lingering finish of great purity (2898 views) | | | Tasted by tomlee on 1/2/2024 & rated 93 points: Crimson in color with some bricking at the edge of the glass. 12.5% ABV. Stunning nose of dark fruits, leather, cigar box, wet leaves and cedar. Lush, supple and more approachable that my last bottle several years ago. Black cherry, currants, cassis, tobacco and earth on the palate. Exceptional length on the finish with mostly resolved tannins. Awesome Bordeaux that I don't feel will get any better but there is certainly no rush here. Best over the next 2-4 years. (2768 views) | | | Tasted by Paul D on 12/25/2023 & rated 91 points: 1/12, excellent cork. Decnated 1/2 hr.
Medium/deep garnet core, pale garnet rim. Nose shows dark fruit, bloody meat, touch of tobacco. Medium bodied, middleweight claret, with dark fruit, cedar, tobacco, meaty notes, fine, fine but still slightly firm tannins, fresh acids good length, savoury perhaps still slightly angular finish. (2298 views) | | | Tasted by despore on 10/16/2023: Cork taint, and only got worse with air. (3078 views) | | | Tasted by NickA on 9/15/2023 & rated 94 points: Bordeaux blends Paulée with Lay & Wheeler (The George): If the theme is 'Bordeaux blends', it doesn't get any more classic than this. Complex, à point nose, with notes of ash, truffle, camphor, earth and smoked meat... just great. High acidity and fresh red fruit on the palate, some more smoke, and excellent length. My previous bottle seemed past peak, but this one certainly wasn't. (2858 views) | | | Tasted by rc@ughey on 8/29/2023 & rated 94 points: Best one yet of the three I've opened. Very expressive on the nose and seamless dark fruit on the palate. On the road to maturity, and really enjoyable now, but better still in 5 years. (3300 views) | | | Tasted by bobbubbabs on 8/28/2023 & rated 93 points: Superb, mature BDX. Powerful ‘barnyard’ nose, meant in the most positive sense. Enjoyed at Nice Matin (always tempting just to order from their excellent list, but this was from our cellar) in NYC prior to Jackson Browne show at Beacon Theater. Fine night all around!, (3231 views) | | | Tasted by chatters on 6/30/2023: Coravin fun - Bordeaux (My place, Kent Street): From Coravin. Biscuit toast, blackcurrant, brambles, earth, sweet spice, leather; quite gentlemen's club. A little Autumn leaf and mushroom notes arrive with time. In the mouth it's savoury with slightly dried out dark hued fruits and plentiful chalky tannic burr, finishes quite leather with a touch of toast. Okay. (4093 views) | | | Tasted by Vinumming & Ahhing on 6/30/2023 & rated 92 points: Bordeaux WIMPS #166 30th June 2023 (La Trompette, Chiswick): I like this but have had better bottles of this wine. The nose has some of the usual St Julien cedar with a few additions around the edges there is a little olive salinity, some pickled mushroom and a little crumbled Madeleine sweetness. With some air becomes a lot more classical with lacy blackcurrant fruit more of the cedar and a couple of drops of Quink ink. I like this even if its not at its very, very best. (3050 views) | | | Tasted by iBurg1229 on 6/23/2023 & rated 93 points: 12.5% ABV. Deep garnet appearance. Decanted for 90 min which blew off a lot of the initial pungency and allowed the fruit come forward.
Notes of red bramble fruit, blackberry, plum, dried roses, graphite, cigar box, meat, and sous bois. Medium density on the palate but the weight kept building with more time in air. Crunchy acidity makes you want to keep coming back for more. Tannins well integrated but still very present.
This ‘96 LB is a seriously crafted, gentlemanly, and classical Bordeaux which was a pleasure to drink. It’s absolutely humming right now but can easily go another 5-10 years at this level given its current structure. (3001 views) | | | Tasted by Benoit Hardy on 6/19/2023 & rated 92 points: The nose peppers a lot at the beginning to such an extent that it bothered me. After 10 minutes in the glass, the wine blossoms with undergrowth, cigar, it's earthy. I also found him a rustic aspect but in the good sense of the term.
Expansive mouth with an intense black fruit that mixes with eucalyptus, thyme and some spices. I found the juice very dense with an acidity that I did not expect so high but the balance remains intact. It is complex and already very evolved. Impactful finish on menthol.
Excellent, a textbook Bordeaux, well done, which I found quite masculine in its construction. (3076 views) | | | Tasted by jgreco on 6/8/2023 & rated 93 points: Good to pop one if you have a case, but this is just starting to develop and will get better over the next decade. (2758 views) | | | Tasted by jviz on 5/22/2023 & rated 90 points: This didn’t quite measure up to my expectations. It was well outclassed by the 09 Clape and 15 Beaucastel Jacques Perrin at the table. I tried the remainder of the bottle the following day and it held up just fine, hadn’t changed dramatically, perhaps indicating youth.
Classic notes of tobacco leaf and blackcurrant, this 96 is a tall, rich vintage, perhaps not unlike 2000 with its darkened fruit profile and broad structure. The acidity is balanced and this wine was fine, but it lacked richness and generosity along with any complexity or exoticism. My advice would be to hold. And, this was n=1 from auction, so I myself won’t hesitate to grab another and follow it over time, loving the estate as I do. (3179 views) | | | Tasted by beef1020 on 4/2/2023: Perfect cork, wonderfully developing tertiary notes. Wine has plenty of life ahead. (3370 views) | | | Tasted by jkscully on 3/26/2023: Not super sophisticated for a Bordeaux, but dark fruits (plum, blackberry) with slate, savory vegetable flavors, earthy clay, and spicy jalapeno and minerals on the finish. This had plenty of life left and when you hit it just right, the tannins broke apart and danced around in your mouth in a delightful way (less air was better—just about 15-30 minutes). I love the acid and lower alcohol on this. (12.5%). Best in Zalto Bordeaux glass and Riedel Oregon Pinot glass. The smaller glasses were better for this.
Ok match with Beef stew, but this was a perfect match with Persian lamb rib chops cooked over an open flame. The smoky and exotic flavors of the Persian lamb chops were just the right thing with and the lithe and ethereal body of the wine helped elevate the fod (compared to heaviness of the Washington State Bordeaux from Delille that I had a few weeks ago).
I was in Charlottesville a few months ago to visit my parents and I tried a 2007 Barbroursville Octagon that I think could have stood up to this wine just fine in a side-by-side blind tasting (just an observation—I don’t know if I’m praising VA wine or dissing on Bordeaux). This was less sophisticated than I wanted it to be (which was a little disappointing), but it was still super enjoyhable and pretty fantastic, especially in terms of the food pairing. (3355 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By John Kapon
Vintage Tastings, Chicago Recap (11/2/2011)
(Leoville Barton) Login and sign up and see review text. | By Jancis Robinson, MW
JancisRobinson.com (2/17/2011)
(Ch Léoville Barton St-Julien Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Jancis Robinson, MW
JancisRobinson.com (9/26/2006)
(Ch Léoville Barton St-Julien Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Jancis Robinson, MW
JancisRobinson.com (9/8/2006)
(Ch Léoville Barton St-Julien Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Jancis Robinson, MW
JancisRobinson.com (3/30/2006)
(Ch Léoville Barton St-Julien Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Chris Kissack
Winedoctor, January 2003
(Chateau Léoville-Barton St Julien) Subscribe to see review text. | By Chris Kissack
Winedoctor, January 2003
(Château Léoville-Barton St Julien Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Jancis Robinson, MW
JancisRobinson.com (6/28/2002)
(Ch Léoville Barton St-Julien Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Chris Kissack
Winedoctor, April 2001
(Chateau Léoville-Barton St Julien) Subscribe to see review text. | By Stephen Tanzer
Vinous, May/June 1998, IWC Issue #78
(Chateau Leoville Barton Saint Julien) Subscribe to see review text. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Vintage Tastings and JancisRobinson.com and Winedoctor and Vinous. (manage subscription channels) |
| Château Léoville Barton Producer website - Read more about Chateau Leoville BartonRed Bordeaux BlendRed Bordeaux is generally made from a blend of grapes. Permitted grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and rarely Carménère.Today Carménère is rarely used, with Château Clerc Milon, a fifth growth Bordeaux, being one of the few to still retain Carménère vines. As of July 2019, Bordeaux wineries authorized the use of four new red grapes to combat temperature increases in Bordeaux. These newly approved grapes are Marselan, Touriga Nacional, Castets, and Arinarnoa.
Wineries all over the world aspire to making wines in a Bordeaux style. In 1988, a group of American vintners formed The Meritage Association to identify wines made in this way. Although most Meritage wines come from California, there are members of the Meritage Association in 18 states and five other countries, including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Israel, and Mexico.France Vins de France (Office National Interprofessionnel des Vins ) | Pages Vins, Directory of French Winegrowers | French Wine (Wikipedia)
Wine Scholar Guild vintage ratings
2018 vintage: "marked by a wet spring, a superb summer and a good harvest"
2019 vintage reports
2021: "From a general standpoint, whether for white, rosé or red wines, 2021 is a year marked by quality in the Rhône Valley Vineyards. Structured, elegant, fresh and fruity will be the main keywords for this new vintage."
2022 harvest: idealwine.info | wine-searcher.comBordeaux Bordeaux Wine Guide
Vins Bordeaux (Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux)
History of Bordeaux
History of 1855 Bordeaux Classification
"2009 is all about ripeness, with wines impressively packed with ripe fruit and high alcohol levels. They are showy, in-your-face, and full of pleasure. The 2010s have the fruit and alcohol levels of the 2009s, but with a compelling freshness on the finish that balances the fruit and provides a perfect sense of structure." - Ben Nelson
"2016 is a landmark vintage in certain spots of Bordeaux and it should be remembered as one of the most inspired campaigns of the last 40-50+ years." -Jon Rimmerman
"The quality of red Bordeaux in 2016 was universally lauded – although the response to the en primeur campaign was muted. Quantity was high too, with the equivalent of 770 million bottles of wine produced. An exceptionally dry summer with cool nights eventually, thanks to mid September rain, resulted in small, thick-skinned, ripe grapes, and the wines are marked by high tannin and acidity, with superb aromatic fragrance." - Jancis Robinson
"2017 was complicated, but there are some excellent wines. Expect plenty of freshness and drinkability from wines that will offer excellent value, and others that will rival 2016 in terms of ripeness and ageability. But they are likely to be the exception not the rule, making careful selection key." - Jane Anson
"In the past, a vintage such as 2022 may have been overripe, raisined and low in acidity but 2022 had a sneaky little reservoir in its back pocket - a near perfect marriage of cool/cold/rain the previous winter and the previous vintage that literally soaked the soils (a key to why 2022 is not 2003...or 1893)." - Jon RimmermanMédoc Vins du Médoc (Conseil des Vins du Médoc) - Read More about the Medoc
VdB
The eight precisely defined appellations of the whole of the Médoc (from Blanquefort Brook to the north of the Bordeaux built-up area, almost to the Pointe de Grave) may claim the Médoc appellation. But there is also a specific territory in the north of the peninsula which produces exclusively wines with this appellation. In the great majority, the Médocs come from the north of the peninsula. The great individuality of this region is that the number of vines has increased more recently here than elsewhere, apart from a few isolated spots where vines have grown for many years. Today, the size of the small estate has brought about the development of a powerful co-operative movement. Four co-operatives out of five belong to the group called Unimédoc which ensures aging, bottling and marketing a large proportion of their wines.St. Julien VdB
Read more detailed information on St. Julien and its wines The seventeenth century pioneers Traces are to be found of a Saint-Julien de Rintrac, perhaps Saint-Julien's earliest name, as from the thirteenth century. But we have to wait until the seventeenth century pioneers, urban and rural aristocrats, discover the exceptional merits of these terroirs.
Traces of this system still exist today in the structure of estates within the appellation: by the side of the two villages of Beychevelle and Saint-Julien, the large estates are heavily preponderant, representing more than four fifths of the total surface of vineyards.
The terrain is practically identical over all the commune. Only the proximity of the estuary, sometimes close, sometimes further away, can cause slight variations in climate. In fact, Saint-Julien-Beychevelle's layer of gravel takes the form of a huge rectangle over 3 miles long and 2 miles wide. And the alluvial deposits are particularly well fragmented into ridges of Garonne gravel of the early Quaternary. Accordingly, the vines are safeguarded from stagnant water.
The wines from the Saint-Julien appellation may be recognized by their unparalleled bouquet, particularly harmonious and mild. They have a fine deep colour and combine the finesse of their aromas and a solid constitution. They have body, are very rich in flavour and have a delicious and delicate bouquet.
Production conditions (Decree dated November 14, 1936)
In order to have the right to the Saint-Julien appellation of controlled origin, red wines must:
- come from the commune of Saint-Julien and from precisely defined parcels in the communes of Cussac, and Saint-Laurent, "excluding the parcels situated on recent alluvium and sand on impermeable subsoils",
- satisfy precise production conditions: grape-varieties (Cabernet-Sauvignon, Cabernet-Franc, Carmenère, Merlot Noir, Petit Verdot, Cot or Malbec), minimum of sugar (178 grammes - 6.27 oz. - per litre of must) degree (an acquired 10°5) base yield (45 hectolitres per hectare). |
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