TN: 1985 Château Léoville Barton

[Baby Chickpea]

1985 Château Léoville Barton (St.–Julien)
70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot. Beautiful mid red colour, with very little hints of brown or ageing. Excellent for an 1985. Nose is deep, with rich blackberries, hints of cedar and ash, thyme and coriander. Still quite youthful. Very focussed. Bit of an alcohol ‘kick’ at the end. Palate? Nice wine. Good length. Quite chalky, in fact very chalky tannins on the finish. Rich wine and seems quite atypical for an 85 given its power. Drinking very well now but I remain concerned that the fruit may not outlive the tannins. Very dry finish. Very good but will never be exceptional.
90 / 100

[Justin B.]

Great note danny. How much does the current release sell for these days do you think?

[707]

Thanks for the notes Danny. My last bottle of this was corked, nothing one can do about Frog corkies mores the pity.

[Baby Chickpea]

Justin - current release I think is about $110 for the 2003.

Steve - Yep, my bottle from late October was also corked. TN here

[bacchaebabe]

I bought some of the 2003 for $122 en primeur

[JamieBahrain]

Sorry guys.

Is the 93 vintage of this wine OK? Truckloads of it up my way for about $90 Aussie.