1981 Château Léoville Barton

Community Tasting Notes (10) Avg Score: 89.8 points

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  8/8/2022 - Jontypont Likes this wine:

  Drinking well: soupçon of coffee, raskily nose, diligent finish.

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  2/17/2021 - DanielOsman Likes this wine: 90 Points

  Given the other notes was here was very pleasantly surprised at this. Bought to drink on 40th birthday. Decanted for 1 hour before drinking but really this continued to open for about 2 hours. Was at peak at 3 hours and then began to fade at 4 hours. Nearly all tertiary now with a fine cherry fruit tread behind it. Cedar wood, graphite, tobacco. No tannins now. It's very fine. Smooth and quite soft. Would love to know what was like 10-15 years ago. 90 points reflects age.

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  1/13/2018 - csimm wrote: 85 Points

  Livermore AVA + Wente Dinner with a ton of other wines: Diluted red currant, sandalwood, cedar, mulch, and dry dirt. Some interesting flavors that carried themselves in a balanced and ultra-feminine capacity. Elegance taken to the next level - fragility over finesse. More than a bit past its prime (if it had a prime?). Extraordinarily light on its feet, to the point that mid-palate was linear and fairly watery. Flavorless and weak on the back end, with little-to-no finish.
  
  Indeed, this has some redeeming qualities for the IPOB crowd, but it missed the mark a bit on my cyclops palate. Even as a BDX, this pushed the envelope of being too delicate and forgettable. The other wines at the table had a field day with this frail namby-pamby, like a pack of Bengal tigers using a kitten for a stretchy toy.

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  10/26/2015 - skurtz Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Decanted for 2h. Luxuriant sandalwood and cedar on the nose and palate. Cherry, mushrooms, just fantastic complexity.

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  10/18/2014 - Tim Heaton Likes this wine:

  I can only imagine what this was like 10 years ago, still, on the night, a very nice surprise. Lots of rich earth, and toothy tertiary notes that run on the masculine, earthy side of the equation. A prizefighter that's nearing his last days, but not ready to give up quite yet. Medium bodied, dark-ish, full of surprises. Before this one, I couldn't have recalled (told?) you anything about the '81 vintage in St Julien ('82 and '83, well, duh), so this was a great education. If you see one at auction with a good fill, buy with confidence. 11,5% abv., thru 2017. recommended
  
  Audoze 2 hours, served non-blind.

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