Community Tasting Note

djhammond Likes this wine:

Sunday, May 19, 2019 - Last tasted 6 months ago, this is entering its prime drinking window, and is displaying secondary and tertiary notes. I would hope that the tannin will continue to soften, particularly towards the end of the wine, but apart from this it is in an absolutely sweet spot. The nose is deep with blackcurrant, cherry and plum with hints of vanilla in the background, but it has a old leather mustiness of a wine two decades older, and is almost Pomerol in its profile. However, on the palate its left bank heritage asserts itself, with robust tannin which is perfectly balanced, and an exceptional depth with multi level layers of complexity. The finish is 60 seconds plus and totally harmonious. However, I do think that the finish is perhaps one aspect that could improve as the tannin can intrude on the final stages of the wine. With the 2000 not yet ready, this is by a long margin the best Leoville Barton drinking, easily outperforming the 1982 and 1990, and also one of the top wines from 2003. As mentioned previously a long aeration is recommended and also to allow time in the glass. In terms of its lifespan, at this stage I could not make a judgement, but my instinct is that this probably needs to be drunk over the next decade to enjoy it at its best.

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