Community Tasting Note

• JimHow Likes this wine: 98 points

  December 16, 2022 - Omg... 2014 Leoville Barton... With the possible exception of the 2002, the greatest Leoville Barton ever? This wine is stunning. Immaculate. So pure. 13.5% but it might as well be one of those 11.5%-ers we see occasionally from an era gone by, like from some vintage from the 1950s. I've had many a Barton. It has for decades ranked among my top 3-4 favorite estates since the earliest days of my passion for Bordeaux, which is now in its fourth decade. (The Langoa Barton has provided great joy over the years as well.) We have seen many changes in Bordeaux over the years, but Leoville Barton is "constant as the Northern Star, of whose true fixed and resting quality there is no fellow in the firmament." I gave the 2014 Calon Segur 100 points because it "blew me away." I score this 2014 Leoville Barton 98+ points, because I celebrate its understatedness.... It does NOT blow me away.... But I mean that as the ultimate compliment. I say to you that in some ways a lower score can be a higher achievement.... 2014 Leoville Barton is "better" because it is NOT a 100 point wine. It is NOT a Robert Parker wine. The universe is complicated. 100 is not always better than 98+. The smoothness of the tannins, the structure combined with elegance. The lingering finish. Light on its feet, drinking well now and for at least another thirty years, the whole nine yards. The 2014 vintage is a throwback to the golden era of Bordeaux, the decade of the 1980s. 2014 is 1988-like, one of my favorite Bordeaux vintages ever. Great bouquet, pure rich St. Julien purple color. I have always said that the greatest pinpoint in our solar system for the production of wine grapes is at that bend in the road on Route D2, at the stone wall where Pauillac meets St. Julien, where Latour and Léoville Las Cases meet, the neighborhood of Pichon Baron, Pichon Lalande, and the neighbors to the south, including that constant northern star, the soul of Bordeaux, Chateau Leoville Barton. To me this is EVERYTHING I look for in Bordeaux. The ultimate St. Julien. Breathtaking in its understatedness, the 2014 Chateau Leoville Barton.
  Rating: 98+ points.
  
  www.bordeauxwineenthusiasts.com

  18 people found this helpful 7,362 views

9 Comments

• Motz commented:

  12/16/22, 5:22 PM - Bravo!

• Bugiman commented:

  12/17/22, 1:30 AM - Best tasting note on Cellartracker I have ever read!

• racerchris commented:

  12/17/22, 9:10 AM - Hear hear!

• WineGuyDelMar commented:

  12/17/22, 7:16 PM - How long did you decant this?

• JimHow commented:

  12/18/22, 5:38 AM - Hi WGDM, I basically popped and poured with some supermarket roasted chicken during a power outage storm here in Maine. It was one of those situations where the bouquet filled the area immediately upon uncorking.

• mkolbu commented:

  1/12/23, 1:13 AM - Thanks for a lovely tasting note!

• edjBoca commented:

  1/25/23, 6:55 PM - Thanks so much....

• junglejuice commented:

  4/19/23, 1:05 PM - Amazing note!
  
  Did you recommend decanting?

• JimHow commented:

  4/19/23, 4:43 PM - Thanks JJ, I popped and poured and it was great from beginning to end but it's of course young and I don't see where an hour of decanting would hurt. A great wine in a great vintage.

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