1995 Château Léoville Barton
Community Tasting Note
Remony wrote:
90 Points
Tuesday, September 5, 2017 - Deep colour, no watering. Subdued nose, good red berry flavours, but weak in the mid-palate. Julia detected acetone, but I did not. I wondered about mild TCA, but half a dozen bottles from the same case in 2012 were very similar, so I conclude that this is simply no more than a moderately good wine for its class and reputation. 1995 has been a consistently disappointing red bordeaux vintage for me.
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Comment posted by PSPatrick:
1/8/2018 5:06:00 AM - I agree, with your conclusion on 1995 Bordeaux in general and your disappointment with the 1995 LB in particular. I have more often been disappointed by 1995s than rewarded, unfortunately, even if there are a few very nice 1995s (e.g. Grand-Puy-Lacoste and Talbot). And like you I just had a disappointing experience with the 1995 LB which was tight upon opening, disharmonious, unrewarding and drying towards the end. Decanting (and in my case also drinking over a period of three days) helped the wine to open up, but it also resulted in the wine feeling a little thin from day two. A let down and not up to the usual LB standard to me.
Comment posted by Remony:
1/8/2018 3:02:00 PM - Sadly, PSP, I have had similar experiences with Leoville Las Cases, Cos d'Estournel, Branaire Ducru and Pichon Lalande 1995. After four poor vintages, I think the market was simply too keen to extol 1995 on the left bank, and it hasn't lived up to the hype. On the other hand, 1996 has, and in my opinion 1998 on the right bank, and in Pessac-Leognan, is also lovely.
Comment posted by PSPatrick:
1/9/2018 6:05:00 AM - I guess you are right about the impact of market demand on the acclaim of the 1995 vintage. And in the early years, the fruit probably covered many of the structural deficiencies. Other than the 1995 Talbots (which fortunately show well), I have not tried any of my other 1995s yet (luckily, only a few bottles of Clerc Milon, Pontet Canet, Gruaud Larose, Saint Pierre).
I still love drinking the 85s, 86s, 89s and 90s and have thereof not tried that many 1996s and 1998s yet, maybe 12 or 15, but what I have liked most of what I have tried so far. From memory, 1998 Clinet stood out. I am already a little afraid of running out of my mid to late 80s bottles, but I guess there is always another bottle and the 1996s and 1998s might serve well as replacements when time comes.