Terrific intensity of dark berries, almost peppery blackcurrants and violets with attractive and integrated, spicy oak and an earthy edge. The palate has a super powerful and long, linear core with plenty of fruit flesh strapped in tight for a long and thrilling ride into the finish. A blend of 86 per cent cabernet and 14 per cent merlot. Try from 2024.

A brilliant young wine, the 2016 Léoville Barton unwinds in the glass with aromas of cassis, dark berries and cigar box mingled with subtle hints of loamy soil. Medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, it's seamless and exquisitely balanced, with beautifully refined tannins, bright acids and a long, penetrating finish. Its structural refinement is such that it's far from forbidding to open right now, yet patience will be richly rewarded. - William Kelley

This is so vivid as it brims with pastis-soaked plum, blackberry, black currant and blueberry paste flavors, all carried by a perfectly integrated brambly spine. Tar and ganache notes give the finish an extra kick while everything stays within the mouthwatering roasted apple wood frame. Both regal and rambunctious, this is St.-Julien to a T. Best from 2025 through 2040. 11,667 cases made. — JM

Deep purple-colored and a classic Saint-Julien with its pure crème de cassis, graphite, liquid rock, and essence of lead pencil shavings, the 2016 Château Léoville Barton is full-bodied, concentrated, and backward, with bright acidity and ripe yet certainly present and building tannins. This old-school, classic Léoville Barton has a fine thread of acidity keeping the wine focused and fresh. It’s a beauty, but mostly potential at this point, although it does have beautiful fruit. Savvy readers will hide bottles at the back of their cellar, and I wouldn’t start to think about opening bottles for a least a decade. It’s going to be incredibly long-lived. The blend of the 2016 is 86% Cabernet Sauvignon and 14% Merlot, brought up in 60% new French oak.

Deep in color the wine offers intensity, vibrancy and length. The wine is all about its big, juicy blast of ripe fruit. It is full-bodied, tannic, joyous and classic. If you can wait about 15 years, this is going to be a knockout! Read more at:https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/wine-tasting-note/?vintage=2016&wine=Chateau%20Leoville%20Barton Read more at:https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/wine-tasting-note/?vintage=2016&wine=Chateau%20Leoville%20Barton

The 2016 Leoville Barton is deep garnet-colored. It charges out of the gate with powerful notes of blackcurrant pastilles, stewed plums, and blueberry compote, followed by wafts of lilacs, dark chocolate, and licorice. Medium-bodied, the palate is built like a brick house with a solid wall of firm, grainy tannins and lovely tension supporting the taut, muscular black fruits, finishing long with fantastic purity of fruit. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown

The Barton family's flagship wine benefits hugely from the age of the vines. This wine is ripe and concentrated, rich in tannins but with the wonderful black fruits that can be conjured from this vineyard. It will age well and is likely to be ready to drink from 2026.