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Langoa’s impressive new cuverie has unquestionably helped the Barton family and their team to make an exceptionally delightful wine this vintage. Langoa is not a strongly Cabernet dominated wine. With just under 40% Merlot in the blend, it maintains a charm, finesse and elegance that makes it so distinctively different from its more muscular counterpart, Léoville. With elicious smoky chocolate, warm spice and coffee bean, there is a charm and tenderness to this cuvée. The tannins, whilst rounded, provide a tautness and tension giving further integrity to the wine, but the luscious finish leaves you with a smile. Lovely.
The 2023 Langoa Barton was picked from September 12 until October 2 at around 50hL/ha, with some "late" saignée for half the vat–when it has some “serious color,” according to Damien Barton. Two vats were chaptalized out of a total of 42, the highest at 15%, yielding an average alcohol of 13%. Matured in 60% new oak, it has a very perfumed bouquet with black plum, boysenberry and a touch of mint. This is notably forward and unabashed. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins, a sorbet-fresh Langoa with a bright, almost pastille-like finish that lingers in the mouth. Very seductive and vivacious, I appreciate the nascent energy here. Drink 2028-2045.
The 2023 Langoa Barton is packed with dark red cherry, plum, spice, cedar and tobacco. Over the last few years, an updated style of vinification in a new cellar has yielded a bit more mid-palate sweetness, pliancy and resonance than in the past. It will be interesting to see where this goes, but clearly, we have entered into an era of Langoa. Drink 2027-2043.
The 2023 Langoa Barton is a very accomplished wine, the family's new winery having permitted more precise, parcel-by-parcel winemaking as well as gentler handling of the fruit to deliver a wine with all this estate's customary intensity of flavor but more polish and refinement. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of dark berries, cassis and plums mingled with hints of pencil shavings and dried rose petals, it's medium to full-bodied, with an inky core of fruit, vibrant acids and plenty of suave structuring tannin. This classic blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc is sure to number among the intelligent purchases of the en primeur campaign.
There’s depth of fruit here with blackberries, blackcurrants and hints of cedar and tobacco. The tannins are very solid and polished with juiciness and depth. Pristine. Bright acidity. 60% cabernet sauvignon, 37% merlot and 3% cabernet franc.
Langoa has nearly caught up with Léoville Barton in the last couple of vintages. While it doesn’t have as robust a core of Cabernet as its stablemate, which is critical for superstardom on the Left Bank in 2023, it is only a nudge behind. It will drink significantly earlier, so there is no reason to favour one wine over the other. The answer to your unasked question is to buy both and let Langoa lead where Léoville will follow. This is a generous wine with ripe, smooth and open fruit (aided by 37% Merlot), and it is the first time I have written the word ‘exotic’ about this oft-quietly formal wine. These quietly lavish moments suit this vintage because these floral curlicues and discreet fruit indulgences significantly add to Langoa’s appeal, making it a cunning purchase for those seeking wines with a little more immediacy without sacrificing elegance and balance.
Langoa’s impressive new cuverie has unquestionably helped the Barton family and their team to make an exceptionally delightful wine this vintage. Langoa is not a strongly Cabernet dominated wine. With just under 40% Merlot in the blend, it maintains a charm, finesse and elegance that makes it so distinctively different from its more muscular counterpart, Léoville. With elicious smoky chocolate, warm spice and coffee bean, there is a charm and tenderness to this cuvée. The tannins, whilst rounded, provide a tautness and tension giving further integrity to the wine, but the luscious finish leaves you with a smile. Lovely.
St Julien is like the middle child of the Médoc - not as assertive as Pauillac or as coquettish as Margaux. It lies firmly between the two more outspoken communes and as a result produces a blend of them both. St Julien's wines have often been sought out by aficionados for their balance and consistency, particularly in the UK. Yet due to its middle child nature, it can occasionally be overlooked globally and as a result underrated by those markets outside the UK. Despite the fact that it has no first growths, it has several second growths including Léoville Las Cases, Léoville Barton, Léoville Poyferré and Ducru Beaucaillou as well as the celebrated châteaux such as Talbot and Beychevelle.
