2022 Château Léoville-Barton, Cru Classé St-Julien

Balanced, elegant, built to last, with campfire smoke, turmeric, cloves, blackberry, cassis, cherry pit, graphite and mint leaf. As with the Langoa, this has more exuberance and spice than usual, but the tannins kick in pretty quickly, providing intensity, and balance. The concentration of the vintage almost seems to take it from St Julien into Pauillac, and this has the frame and density to age for decades. Highly impressive from Lilian, Melanie and Damien Barton. 60% new.

The 2022 Château Léoville Barton is another pretty, elegant wine from this talented team. A blend of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11.5 % Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc, its ruby/purple hue is followed by a beautiful perfume of ripe red and black fruits, smoked tobacco, graphite, and violets. Playing in the medium to full-bodied end of the spectrum, it has fine tannins, a supple, elegant mouthfeel, and a great finish. It's surprisingly approachable yet I wouldn't be surprised to see this firm up over the course of its élevage.

One of the stars of the Médoc and a wine likely to equal or surpass its 2019 and 2016 counterparts, the 2022 Léoville Barton unwinds in the glass with deep aromas of cassis, pencil shavings, spices and tobacco leaf, followed by a medium to full-bodied, deep and layered palate that's vibrant, pure and seamless, with beautifully classy tannins and a long, penetrating finish. The 2022 is a blend of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11.5% Merlot and 5.5% Cabernet Franc; and it's the first vintage produced in the estate's new winery, which more than doubled the number of vats, permitting sub-plot by sub-plot harvesting and vinification, along with a number of other technical improvements which translate into enhanced purity and precision.

Very polished and poised with blackberry and blueberry character. Medium body with tight and focused tannin tension. Lively finish. Harmonious for the vintage.

The 2022 Léoville Barton is a total model of classicism, even in this warm, dry year. All of the Léoville Barton signatures are present, even if the wine is still coming together. Blue/purplish fruit, lavender, spice, gravel and dried herbs open nicely in the glass, but it is the wine’s energy and overall tension that I find most surprising. This is classic as classic gets. Not interested in making the richest or showiest wines, nor interested in jacking up prices as high as they can be. Readers will find a straightforward (in the best sense of the term) Saint-Julien that captures the best of what Bordeaux can be. Just enough of everything, but not too much of any one thing.