The 2018 Léoville-Barton is a Bordeaux Blend red wine hailing from the St Julien sub-region of Bordeaux, France. This vintage is characterized by its deep garnet-purple color and a robust 14.0% alcohol content. The wine is sealed with a traditional cork closure, adhering to classic winemaking techniques.
James Suckling from jamessuckling.com awards this wine a stellar 97 points, noting its "sweet berries, blackberries, raspberries, and violets" that lead to a "full body with extremely creamy, polished tannins." He commends its long, polished finish and suggests it will be best enjoyed after 2025.
Wine Enthusiast's Roger Voss, also giving it 97 points, emphasizes the wine's "fine and rich tannins" that are well-integrated with "powerful black-plum and black-currant fruits." Voss highlights its dense texture and suggests the wine will mature beautifully, recommending to drink it from 2027.
Lisa Perrotti-Brown of Robert Parker's Wine Advocate rates it at 94 points (94+), describing the wine's "fresh blackberries, mulberries and cassis" with subtle hints of "pencil shavings, clove oil, charcoal, and black truffles." She mentions the firm, ripe tannins and a lingering ferrous finish, advocating for 4-5 years of cellaring, with a drinking window extending over the next 20 years.
Decanter's review by Jane Anson gives it 96 points, praising the wine's "complexity and concentration" and calling it a "great St-Julien" with a potential for exceptional aging. Anson notes the wine's "cassis, graphite, and liquorice flavors" and its "glass-staining extraction."
Jeb Dunnuck, from jebdunnuck.com, also awards it 97 points, calling it "classic, flawlessly balanced, straight-up awesome Saint-Julien." He highlights the wine’s "loads of cassis and mulberry fruits" and "freshly sharpened pencils, leafy tobacco, chocolate, and earth" notes. Dunnuck predicts it will evolve over the next 30-40 years.
Wine Spectator's JM matches the 97-point consensus, mentioning "cassis, crushed plum, and steeped blackberry fruit" along with "tar, violet, and roasted apple wood notes." The review underscores the wine's "energy in reserve" and tight-knit finish, with an optimal drinking window from 2026 through 2040.
Jeff Leve from TheWineCellarInsider.com, also giving it 97 points, describes a "dark, inky, purple accented hue" and a perfume of "ripe blackberry and currants, accompanied by cigar box, forest floor, herbs, cedar, and cigar wrapper notes." He emphasizes its full-bodied, concentrated, yet refined profile and advises waiting at least a decade before opening.
In summary, the 2018 Léoville-Barton is highly praised across the board for its rich fruit flavors, complex structure, and excellent aging potential. With multiple 97-point reviews, it stands out as one of the top wines of its vintage, promising a long and rewarding evolution in the bottle.