TN: Chateau Leoville Barton 2004

[Gerhard_P]

Leoville-Barton is made as traditionally as ever …

[Ted_Alexander]

@D@vid Bu3ker

Anthony Barton has maintained one of the most traditionalist regimes in Bordeaux.

He is not Michel Rolland.

No, he’s not. I think some people on this board recognize that.

I agree that LB is for the most part traditional, but not entirely so. I don’t know when Barton began using co-innoculation during fermentation, and surely they are not not immune to the influence of Peynaud.

[J.Durham]

@D@vid Bu3ker

I just love it when people call 2004 a lighter vintage. Maybe it is compared to the global warming monstrosities we are seeing now, but compared to the vintages pre-2000 it’s right there with the level of concentration and will probably age the way Bordeaux has been expected to age - effortlessly for a very long time.

There is a distinct lack of historical perspective around here.

By the way Josh, not really picking on you - the whole thread (and many others) shows a bias towards post-2000 knowledge of Bordeaux.

I guess it depends on what you mean by bdx knowledge. If you mean buying on release and following over the years then sure, '04 was the first vintage I had the opportunity to do that. I still think it was less structured on release than '05, '06, 09, '10 and '11 (only tasted EP). I didn’t buy enough '08 to compare…and I realize comparing to '05, '09, '10 is dumb. I have no idea what '04 tastes like compared to '95, '96, '98-'01 on release. I have back-filled considerably over the years feel that compared to '99 and '01 at similar maturity that’s there’s a hollowness and lack of complexity in the mid-palate–that’s what I meant by lighter(is that a function of the high yields?). Sorry I wasn’t more precise but it’s not always easy to describe.I’m still a big fan of the vintage but I have tempered the peaks I expect the wines to reach. I guess that’s why I’m drinking and enjoying mine.

–100% agree on '04 Reserve de Comtesse. Waiting to get through my 1/2case before getting into the Lalande’s.

[David_Bu3ker]

Hollowness compared to the '99? Not quite sure what you are drinking.

2001 is probably the best drinkers vintage right now, though I see no reason the '04 will not catch up with time.

FWIW, my experience with new release Barton goes back to '94, but I have decent experience with vintages back to the '70s. 2004 is a lovely drink, and selling it short is…well…shortsighted.

[Marc_Frontario]

@StevenB

@Robert Alfert

Fascinating, as you and I share so many similarities on preferences. I love LB in both ripe and more classic years, but believe LB truly shines on the classic years. I recently enjoyed, but was a bit under-whelmed, by the 2000.

I loved the 2000 when I last drank it two years: it was young, but it had a lot of inherent power and persistence while staying incredibly easy-drinking. I don’t own a lot of Léoville-Barton myself, so I usually drink it at friends of mine. I do notice a few differences: one friend from whose cellar the 2000 and 2003 drank recently came buys en primeur and puts the OWCs directly into his really good cellar. Those bottles are impeccable. Another friend of mine served the 2002 and 2004 and both seemed a bit out of balance. He had bought the bottles from a store well after arrival. I would bet on storing differences making big differences in taste. Quite generally, I liked the 2004s drank in the last two years (Montrose, Calon Ségur (incredible), Cos (not my cup of tea), Léoville-Barton, Grand-Puy Lacoste, Troplong Mondot and others). But the same wines from 2001 (if I have had both) appealed more to me.

I must say…I am a big fan of '01 also…the SHL I tasted 6years back haunted me for years, but it was the '01 bahans haut brion that left me stunned …incredible stuff

[Marc_Frontario]

Just tasted '01 d’armailhac also …softer than 2000 but a tasty pauillac profile.

[David_Schliecker]

This thread has me thinking that I might try the 1994 (I have 2) and the 2004 (I have 6) side by side. I am by no means a Bordeaux expert and can probably use the education of trying two similar vintages 10 years apart. If I pull the corks, I’ll report back. I haven’t had the '04 yet and the last '94 was long enough ago that the memory of it has faded.

[Pat_Martin]

How’s the 02 Leoville Barton drinking these days?

[Sanjay_Nandurkar]

Not a great fan of 1994 but 2004 is a good vintage along with 2001. The concentration, depth and structure of the better made wines of this vintage sit well with me. 04 Montrose is beautiful; prefer it to 2001 version. While its the opposite with Cos.

When to drink depends up the amount of fruit you need to enjoy the wine. Some like more primary fruit. In which case its OK to drink the 2001 and 2004 now. Will the wines dry out in another 20 years- some will. The best will still look good in 20 years with more secondary/tertiary characters (if you like wines in that spectrum).