CHÂTEAU LANGOA BARTON
2015 3ème Cru Classé Saint Julien
54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc. A bright purple-edged ruby. A wholesome, appetising attack, tastes ever so slightly savoury, umami. Tastes 'good for you' in a completely edible way, while remaining pure and refreshing on the red and black fruit, and a touch of meat jus savouriness. This wine stood out in a wide-ranging tasting for its complex yumminess. Rating: 92-93 L&S (Apr 2016)
* This is a pre-shipment/primeur offer. All orders are accepted under the TERMS of this offer which differ from the terms of the rest of the site.
The 2015 Langoa Barton has a classy bouquet with cedar- and tobacco-infused black fruit along with a little sous-bois that emerges with time. The palate is medium-bodied, taut and crisp, with pliant tannins and plenty of graphite toward the finish that is endowed with fine density and satisfying length. The 2015 is excellent. Tasted blind at the 2015 Bordeaux Ten-Year-On tasting at Farr Vintners. Drinking range: 2027 - 2050 Rating: 94 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jun 2025)
Still majoring on primary fruit aromatics at 7 years old. There is a precision and a silkiness to the tannins and structure that means the black cherry and raspberry fruits remain taut and almost austere at first, before deepening out through the mid palate, gathering together richer nuances of oyster shell, cocoa bean, espresso. Great texture and depth of expression, and will really benefit from another 3 to 5 years in bottle. 70% new oak. Drinking range: 2034 - 2042 Rating: 94 Jane Anson, Decanter (Mar 2022)
The 2015 Langoa Barton has a precise, understated but focused bouquet of pure blackberry and wild strawberry fruit laced with graphite and crushed stone. It becomes more floral with time, revealing incense and a touch of lavender. The medium-bodied palate offers supple tannin and beautiful, irresistible black fruit. This is silky-smooth and velvety in texture, with a sensual and very persistent finish. You could broach this now, although it deserves time in bottle. Yet another Saint-Julien that has improved over the last year. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting. Rating: 93 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jul 2019)
Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, the 2015 Langoa Barton is scented of cedar and Marmite toast with black fruit and fertile earth notes. The medium-bodied palate is oaky with a good fruit core, fine-grained tannins and nice freshness on the finish. Rating: 90 Lisa Perrotti-Brown, RobertParker.com (Feb 2018)
What a nice surprise the 2015 Langoa-Barton is. Racy, silky and forward, the 2015 will drink well with minimal cellaring. Succulent red cherry and pomegranate fruit are nicely lifted by floral and spice notes that add aromatic intensity and layers of flavor. Silky tannins add to the wine's considerable immediacy and sheer appeal. Drinking range: 2020 - 2035 Rating: 93 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Feb 2018)
fresh and vibrant style, with streaks of pastis-soaked plum and boysenberry fruit coursing through, carried by graphite and licorice snap notes. Drinking range: 2019 - 2038 Rating: 93 James Molesworth, The Wine Spectator (Jan 2018)
Both the Barton wines are impressive in 2015, with this one just the lighter of the two. It’s still got plenty of structure and oak, but the elegance of the patrician Cabernet is very pure and transparent here. Drinking range: 2022 - 2030 Rating: 93 Tim Atkin MW, www.timatkin.com (May 2016)
This is 54% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Cabernet Franc (picked September 28th to October 5th) with 38% Merlot (picked September 19th to the 22nd). Alcohol 13%. Quite pretty, pure, dusty red-cherry fruit on the nose, ripe, with a little sweet blackcurrant too. The palate is gentle, medium-bodied, with a low-key texture, all rather suppressed and wrapped up by its oaky frame at the moment. This is pure, quite characterful, but rather gentle in style. It has a fairly firm grip over the top of the fruit at the moment, very ripe and polished tannins, with the fruit somewhat loose and juicy in comparison. It has a rather rich, tannin-infused finish, with sweet blackcurrant perfume here. Rating: 15.5-16.5/20 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2016)
Fine fragrance and fruit: shows the purity and depth of a classic vineyard with nothing exaggerated. Discreet but full of character; in perfect balance. Drinking range: 2022 - 2035 Rating: 92 Steven Spurrier (Apr 2016)
Almost timid on the nose, this wine is so polite. After you … Quite a bit of acidity compared with some. Very straight-backed rather than full of pleasure. Just depends on your preferred style - but this certainly builds towards an impressive finish. Drinking range: 2027 - 2042 Rating: 17 Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2016)
The 2015 Langoa Barton is a blend of 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot and 8% Cabernet Franc picked between 19 September and 5 October, matured in 60% new oak. It has a slightly smudged bouquet at first, a mixture of red and black fruit, a little sous-bois and tobacco developing in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with gently grippy tannin, veering more towards red fruit here, but laced with tobacco and cedar notes. The finish is austere and perhaps mean at the moment, so hopefully it will develop more flesh by the time of bottling. I must confess that I cannot remember tasting Langoa next to Léoville Barton at this stage and finding such a disparity between the two wines, attested by tasting the 2014s just afterwards and finding them closer together in terms of quality. Drinking range: 2021 - 2035 Rating: 88-90 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Apr 2016)
The 2015 Langoa Barton is fleshy, open-knit and absolutely delicious. Sweet red cherry and pomegranate are pushed forward, while hints of violet, lavender and spice add freshness and lift to the succulent finish. The gracious, feminine side of Saint-Julien comes through in spades. This is very nicely done. Rating: 90-93 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Apr 2016)
Very fresh, with a sleek frame around bright red currant and plum notes. Shows really good cut through the finish. Rating: 90—93 James Molesworth, The Wine Spectator (Apr 2016)
Very ripe and fruit with lots of mature berry and plum character. Full body, round tannins and a savory finish. Juicy. Rating: 92-93 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Mar 2016)
Château Léoville Barton
Saint Julien Deuxième Cru Classé 1855
The story of the Irish Bartons in Bordeaux started as early as 1725, when Thomas Barton arrived in Bordeaux. Thomas worked as a merchant, mostly investing his gains in Ireland, as at the time property of foreigners was forfeit to the French crown on the owner’s death – but he did own Château le Boscq in Saint Estèphe at one point. When ‘French Tom’ died at the grand age of 85 in 1780, all his property went to his son William, who was clearly a more difficult character. The wine business was handed to William’s fourth son Hugh, as the older brothers all inherited estates in Ireland. Hugh took on, in 1786 at the age of 20, a wine business turning over £2.5M. Having married Anna Johnston, the daughter of another Anglo-Irish family in Bordeaux, he managed it effectively until he as his wife were thrown into prison in 1793 during the revolution. Hugh and Anna were unexpectedly freed later that year. As their assets had been seized, and presumably fearing for their lives, they moved back to England and Ireland, although keeping close ties with Bordeaux. The company continued to flourish despite all this, and in 1821 Hugh was able to buy Château Pontet Langlois, which he renamed Langoa Barton. Shortly after, in 1826, he also bought a part of the Léoville estate, which became Léoville Barton. Hugh's original intention, so it is said, in purchasing a portion of the Léoville estate was to sell it back to the Marquis de Las-Cases-Beauvoir who had fled France during the Revolution. The Léoville estate had been seized with an eye to selling it off, but in the end only Hugh’s quarter of it was sold and when the emigré Marquis returned without sufficient means to buy it back, Hugh’s part stayed with the Barton family, becoming Château Léoville Barton. Hugh also bought land in Kildare county and built Straffan House, where Anthony Barton was born in 1930.
The Bartons continued to live mostly in England and Ireland until Ronald Barton arrived in Bordeaux in 1924. Ronald’s father had bought out his cousins, so Ronald inherited the whole of both properties, and he was keenly interested in the vineyards and wines. His career was interrupted by the war, and there was much to do to bring the property back to good order after it, but the success of some of the great vintages of the post-war period like 1948, 1949, 1953, 1955 and 1959 are monuments to what he achieved. Ronald handed over the two Châteaux to his nephew Anthony in 1983, three years before his death.
Anthony worked for the merchant company, Barton & Guestier, which had been bought by Seagram, until 1967. After that he started his own company ‘Les Vins Fins Anthony Barton’ – it was only in 1986 that he and his Danish wife Eva were able to move into Langoa and he was able to devote himself to the vineyards. Anthony’s daughter, Lilian Barton-Sartorius, joined him in the merchant business in 1978, sharing and finally taking over the responsibility for the properties too, and in turn her children, Mélanie, the first oenologist in the family, and Damien, (who completed a short stage at the great commercial finishing school of Lea & Sandeman), have joined her. Mélanie is the technical director of the family’s third Médoc property, Château Mauvesin Barton.
The 50 hectare vineyard of Léoville Barton is on one of the most beautiful deep banks of Pyrenean gravels in the Médoc, part of the bank that is closest to the Gironde, continuing southward from Las Cases and Poyferré, with Ducru Beaucaillou beyond, which gives it a free-draining upper layer over a clay base which is good for retaining moisture in the driest conditions. It is planted with 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc, and managed to retain a high proportion of old vines. It was classified as a 2nd Grand Cru Classé on 1855, when it was already owned by the Bartons, making the family one of the oldest continuous owners in the Médoc (with the Rothchilds at Mouton).
Please make sure that you have read the terms of this offer which are different from those of the main website. If you are unclear as to what is involved in primeur purchases please do call us, but see the 'practical notes' below.
Ordering
Prices are per case as listed 'in bond London'.
Pre-Orders are a firm commitment from you to buy the wines you order on release, subject to the price being below the upper price of the estimated band on our website. You may also set your own upper price limit, lower or higher than ours. Pre-orders will be fulfilled subject to availability. Providing this firm commitment to us effectively gives you priority.
Wines listed on the website (after any pre-orders and allocations have been fulfilled) can be ordered in the usual way via the website order form or by email or telephone 020 7221 1982, always subject to stock remaining.
Confirmation
All orders will be confirmed by email and are contractually binding unless written cancellation is received within seven days of the confirmation date, apart from pre-orders which are binding if the release price is below the top estimate or other price you have set.
Invoices are raised at the In Bond price, excluding any duty and VAT which will become payable at the prevailing rates on arrival of the wine if required duty paid.
Payment is required on sight of invoice, by cash, cheque, debit card or credit transfer. We reserve the right to charge 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.
Delivery
- Shipment to our bond (LCB Creek Road) and insurance are included in the in bond price.
- Delivery is free to Lea and Sandeman / Elephant storage accounts, both duty paid and in bond.
- Other deliveries (In Bond and Duty Paid) are also free subject to a minimum order from the offer of £1000, orders below this total will be charged £16.50+ VAT when the wine invoices are issued. We will group deliveries and this is a charge for your entire purchases, not a per-case charge.
- Delivery for 2016 Bordeaux primeurs will probably be completed by October 2019, but we make no guarantee as to specific delivery times, and some of the Sauternes may be later.
Practical notes - how it works
We start a sale in each customer's name and add all their primeur orders to one sale which is invoiced at the end of the campaign (or when the customer wishes) for immediate payment. We and our customers find that having a single invoice for the vintage is the simpler option, but do please note that confirmed orders are still binding as above even if the final invoice has not been issued.
When the wine is shipped, unless previously specified we will assume that delivery is to be to bonded storage with Elephant Storage, but in any case, we will contact you requesting any alternative instructions. If you have another bonded delivery address you would like the wine to go to, please tell us at the time of ordering. If the wines are required duty-paid we will issue invoices at the rates prevailing at the time for the excise duty (currently £25.98 per case) and the VAT (currently at 20%) on the total of the wine cost and the duty.
Half-bottles, Magnums and larger bottles.
One of the additional advantages of buying en primeur is being able to order the wine in the bottle size you want. Even if a wine is only listed in one size, you can order any bottle or case size you want if the property supplies it, but you must order the case/bottle size you require and check that the correct size has been invoiced.
Additional charges are as follows:-
- +£15 per case of 24 half-bottles
- +£15 per case of 6 Magnums (2 bottles equivalent, 1.5 litres each)
- +£35 per individually boxed Double Magnum (4 bottles equivalent, 3 litres)
- +£45 per individually boxed Imperial (8 bottles equivalent, 6 litres) for Salmanazars, Balthazars, Nebuchadnezzars and Melchiors please enquire for availability and price.