Currants and dark fruits with hints of licorice. Full and silky with ripe tannins and berry. Cigar tobacco and berry. Sweet tobacco. This is a wine that shows serious depth of fruit and refined tannins. Better in 2016.

Rich yet firmly structured this is a very classic St.-Julien that's generous and polished with so much energy driving the long plush finish. Delicious now, but should hold for many years. (Horizontal Tasting, London, 2019)

Mint leaf, marzipan, fennel, smoked earth, fig, freshly grated black truffle, and a ton of cassis fruit. This is young but complex, with a bright future. The only wine in the vertical that is above 14% in alcohol, a...

A minerally red with blueberry and blackberry character. Stones, too. Medium body, fine tannins and a crisp finish. Layered and pretty. Second wine of Gruaud-Larose. Better in 2017.

(JS 98-99 points) This is incredibly classic in style with so much currant, lead pencil, crushed stone and sweet tobacco. It’s full-bodied with minerally, stoney and powerful tannins. It goes on and one. Real Las Cases...

(95–97 points) Barrel Sample. Loaded with juicy acidity and layers of spice. The wine is packed with fruit that contrasts with the firm tannins that lie in the background giving a polished structure to this ageworthy...

Inky plum in colour, firm tannins, Cabernet dominant at 10 years old, savoury and balanced and one to look out for, a totally brilliant, delicious Léoville Barton that I cannot recommend highly enough for lovers of...

<strong> # 12 on Wine Enthusiast's Top 100 Cellar Selections of 2011</strong>; A dense beautifully structured wine. It shows intense ripe fruit with balanced acidity. It's the fine tannins that give it such...

(91-93 points)Barrel sample. Rich and smooth, with tannins that are ripe, some spice and also intense acidity. The blackcurrant character is dominant. ROGER VOSS

Flowers, tobacco, spice, currants and black raspberries define the aromatic profile. On the palate, the wine is medium-bodied, almost light on its feet with sweet black currants, peppery cherries, chewy blackberries, dark...

(WE 95–97 points) Cabernet Franc has replaced much of the Merlot normally in this wine with Cabernets Sauvignon and Franc equaling 95%. This impressive wine is dominated by structure, by intensity and by elegant tannins...

Didier Cuvelier had taken over in 1979 and was undertaking a huge replanting programme, so the 1980s at this estate were a time of serious change that slowly but surely came through in the wines. At this point in time the...