Cassis, crushed plum and steeped blackberry fruit is all packed into this wine, along with tar, violet and roasted apple wood notes, plus a terrific tug of warm earth. Shows lots of energy in reserve, with a tightly knit finish pulling everything together. Cellaring required. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. JM

Sweet berries, blackberries, raspberries and violets follow through to a full body with extremely creamy, polished tannins that caress the palate. It’s really long and polished. Gorgeous finish. Drink after 2025.

- James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com (January 2021)

With a dark, inky, purple accented hue, the perfume pops with all its ripe, blackberry and currants, accompanied by cigar box, forest floor, herbs, cedar and cigar wrapper notes. Full-bodied, concentrated, powerful, yet refined, the finish is deep, long and intense. Wait at least a decade before pulling a cork. It is going to be difficult to pick the best vintage of Leoville Barton from the 2009, 2010, 2015, 2016 and 2018 but it is going to be fun tasting them together over the next several decades. The wine blends 82% Cabernet Sauvignon and 18%.

- Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider (March 2021)

This estate has been on fire in recent vintages, and the 2018 Château Léoville Barton is up there with the best of them. Based on 82% Cabernet Sauvignon and 18% Merlot that was brought up in 60% new French oak, this classic, flawlessly balanced, straight-up awesome Saint-Julien has loads of cassis and mulberry fruits as well as notes of freshly sharpened pencils, leafy tobacco, chocolate, and earth. Rich, medium to full-bodied, and concentrated on the palate, it has building tannins and healthy acidity, yet the fruit is pure, perfectly ripe, and wonderfully integrated with all the wine's components. As is normal with this cuvée, it closes down with extended air and is going to take a solid 8-10 years of bottle age to reach the early stages of maturity. It's going to evolve for 30-40 years in cold cellars. Maturity 2021-2061.

- Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com (March 2021)

The 2018 Léoville-Barton is a gorgeous, exotic wine. Crème de cassis, lavender, menthol, licorice and cloves race out of the glass. The 2018 marries the natural opulence of the year with a pretty classic sense of structure, making for one of the more compelling wines of the year. I would give this a good decade in the cellar. There is much to look forward to. I especially admire the energy and poise here. Drinking Window 2030 - 2058.

- Antonio Galloni, Vinous (March 2021)

They are just hitting it out of the park at Léoville Barton at the moment, keeping the relaxed and effortless feel of a great St-Julien but loading up on the complexity and concentration that lies behind it. You don't see all the mechanisms, but you know they are there.This is going to age exceptionally well, but there's a freshness and juiciness to the structure already that suggests it's going to be great fun to drink along the way. It has glass-staining extraction, with plenty of cassis, graphite and liquorice flavours - everything's turned up high. 60% new oak. Drinking Window: 2027 - 2042.

- Jane Anson, Decanter (April 2019)

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2018 Léoville Barton needs a little swirling to coax out delicate notions of fresh blackberries, mulberries and cassis, plus touches of pencil shavings, clove oil, charcoal and black truffles. The medium to full-bodied palate delivers a great intensity of earth and mineral-laced black fruit flavors, supported by firm, ripe, grainy tannins and seamless freshness, finishing on a lingering ferrous note. Give it a good 4-5 years in bottle and drink it over the next 20 years+.

The 2018 Léoville Barton has a classy bouquet, a little timid at first, that just requires a few swirls to unleash blackberry and blueberry fruit and hints of crushed violet and desiccated orange peel. It blossoms wonderfully in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, wonderful depth and balance, and quite citric toward the finish, delivering plenty of energy. An excellent Léoville Barton whose sheer drinkability will please many, though I would afford it 4–6 years in bottle. Drinking Window 2024 - 2045.

- Neal Martin, Vinous (January 2021)

Tasted blind. Second bottle much fruitier on the palate and impressively long. Though there are still some austere tannins on the end. (As is the wont of this slow-maturing wine that always gets there in the end.) (JR)

82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot. Deep ruby colour. Dark and brooding on the nose, with savoury spices and earthy blackcurrant fruit. Superb depth of dark cassis fruit and brilliant retained freshness of acidity. For now, the oak is a little obvious but that is no worry, there is such intensity and such a bold tannic structure that this is best left in the cellar longer than most. Robust, grippy tannins amply frame the fruit and add to the sense of gravitas here. This is a wine that takes the ripe concentration of the vintage and wraps it in house style – freshness and structure. Excellent. (TP)

82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot. 60% new oak. Barrel sample. Black core, purple rim. Sweet intense nose of elderberry and small, wild berries. Extremely wholesome, dense, firm but with lots of fruit at the core. Oak well in check and the tannins finer than many, dry and layered but harmonious. For the long term. Dry and almost chalky on the finish. (JH)