New Release: 2022 Leoville & Langoa Barton - Terrific Value

Léoville Barton and Langoa Barton, two of Bordeaux’s best-loved and most popular chateaux, have released their 2022 vintages; each is an outstanding wine with 96-97+ points from William Kelley for the Leoville Barton and 96-97 from Suckling for the Langoa, very highly-rated.

The epitome of traditional and classic Bordeaux, the powerful, structured and age-worthy style of Léoville Barton has won it an army of fans. A recent slight softening of the edges to make it more accessible when younger has been of real benefit, making Leoville Barton a must-buy in the last handful of releases. The 2022 is brilliant and, with a potential high of 97+ points, might end up among the best wine ever made here.

The price also looks good. As the table below shows, this comes in below older vintages with similar scores, making it a compelling buy on release.

Langoa Barton is always one of St Julien’s real value picks and always a touch more opulent, rich and immediate than its stablemate. The 2022 is excellent, and for James Suckling, “Full-bodied and intense with depth and structure”.

Terrific wines and excellent value.

Details are below:

2022 Chateau Leoville Barton

£390 per case (6*75cl) in bond

£396 per case mags (3*150cl) in bond

96-97+ points William Kelley

One of the stars of the Médoc and a wine likely to equal or surpass its 2019 and 2016 counterparts, the 2022 Léoville Barton unwinds in the glass with deep aromas of cassis, pencil shavings, spices and tobacco leaf, followed by a medium to full-bodied, deep and layered palate that’s vibrant, pure and seamless, with beautifully classy tannins and a long, penetrating finish. The 2022 is a blend of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11.5% Merlot and 5.5% Cabernet Franc; and it’s the first vintage produced in the estate’s new winery, which more than doubled the number of vats, permitting sub-plot by sub-plot harvesting and vinification, along with a number of other technical improvements which translate into enhanced purity and precision.

95-97+ points Lisa Perrotti-Brown

The 2022 Leoville Barton is composed of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11.5% Merlot, and 5.5% Cabernet Franc, ageing in 60% new oak. Deep garnet-purple in color, the glass needs quite a lot of swirling to bring out evocative notes of black currant jelly, boysenberry preserves, and juicy plums, plus suggestions of pencil shavings, lilacs, crushed rocks, and cinnamon toast. The elegantly styled, medium to full-bodied palate is very tightly wound with layer upon layer of black fruits and earthy nuances, framed by super-ripe, fine-grained tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and minerally. It will likely require some patience, but it promises to be a knock-out. Yields this year were 30 hectoliters per hectare, which isn’t too bad considering how tiny the berries were this year.

2022 Chateau Langoa Barton

£428 per case (12*75cl) in bond

£440 per case mags (6*150cl) in bond

96-97 points James Suckling

Deep fruit, dark spices and graphite with wide yet polished, linear tannins. Full-bodied and intense with depth and structure. Long and chalky at the end. Big wine.

Offered subject to final confirmation. Available in 2024/2025

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