2005 Chateau Leoville Barton Bordeaux RP--94 WS--96

Wine Spectator: 96 Points
Score: 96 Release Price: $130 Current Auction Price: $131 Country: France Region: Bordeaux Issue: Mar 31, 2008 Delivers breathtaking aromas of blackberry, currant, licorice and flowers. Full-bodied, with a solid core of fruit and supersilky tannins. Dark chocolate, currant, berry and licorice follow through. This is racy and beautiful. Best after 2015. 20,375 cases made.--JS

Robert Parker: 94 Points
Wine Advocate # 176 Apr 2008 Robert Parker 94? Drink: 2020 - 2065 $100-$330 (135) Another prodigious, but brutally tannic, offering from the affable Anthony Barton, the inky/blue/black-hued 2005 Leoville Barton exhibits a sensational perfume of charcoal, burning embers, underbrush, cedar, creme de cassis, and subtle toasty oak. Painfully concentrated (much like the 2000 was at the same stage), with full body, admirable purity, and several boatloads of muscular tannin, this St.-Julien is built for 50-60 years of cellaring. Its purity and precision are typical of today�s winemaking, but Barton is certainly not making a wine for near-term gratification. This is another 2005 that will require enormous patience. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2065.