2014 Chateau Leoville Barton St. Julien

Inky plum in color, firm tannins, Cabernet dominant at 10 years old, savory and balanced and one to look out for, a totally brilliant, delicious Léoville Barton that I cannot recommend highly enough for lovers of classical, finessed, savory St Julien. One of my wines of the lineup. Black chocolate, cassis, pomegranate, tobacco, cigar box, gliding through the palate, concentrated and intense but delicate and finessed. It's good, so drinkable, with ageing potential.

The 2014 Leoville Barton is one of the must-buys of the vintage. Now in bottle, it has a very pure bouquet that gains intensity in the glass, laden with blackberry and raspberry coulis scents, cold wet stone, a wonderful minerality that becomes more conspicuous with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with tensile tannin, a fine line of acidity that lends this precision and nervosity. There is class and sophistication in situ, not a powerful Leoville Barton, but beautifully poised. This is just a brilliant forerunner to the 2015 and it should represent great value.