98pts James Suckling - #32 Top 100 Wines of France 2025 & #81 Top 100 Wines 2025

Shows restraint in this opulent year. Quite complete and refined, and you immediately pick up a bit of sweetness from the fruit of this vintage, but it is not over the top. A lot of finesse and length, with structured, dusty tannins. A no-brainer buy from the vintage. 60% new oak. 83% cabernet sauvignon, 11.5% merlot and 5.5% cabernet franc. 

98pts Jeb Dunnuck

Cassis, graphite, smoky tobacco, violets, and a wonderful sense of minerality all emerge from the 2022 Château Léoville Barton, a riveting Saint-Julien that shows the style of this estate while bringing the richness and depth of the vintage. Full-bodied, concentrated, and powerful, it has enough tannins to warrant a decade of cellaring and will have 30+ years of prime drinking. I’d put this up with the finest Léoville Barton I’ve tasted, as well as with the truly greats of the vintage.

97pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 2022 Léoville Barton is performing brilliantly in bottle, wafting from the glass with aromas of cassis, pencil shavings, pen ink, cigar box and spices. Medium to full-bodied, suave and velvety, it's dense and concentrated, with terrific energy and persistence. As readers will remember, 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 that translate into enhanced purity and precision.

97pts Vinous - #23 Top 100 Wines of 2025

The 2022 Léoville Barton, the second vintage made in the new winery, was the first to be completely gravity-fed instead of using pumps. It has a magnificent bouquet that fulfills my admittedly lofty expectations given its showing from barrel, blessed with an almost pixelated quality that previous vintages perhaps lacked. The nose is very precise with pure black fruit and fine mineralité. Elegant and poised, the medium-bodied palate features finely chiseled tannins and just the right amount of bitterness on the finish. Very persistent—a Saint-Julien you just don't want to finish. This ranks among the finest in the appellation.

97pts Wine Spectator

Violet and iris notes hint at its purity, while the cold cast iron– and charcoal-accented structure warns that patience is required. In between is a core that offers sleek refinement, with shimmering cassis, plum and black cherry puree. Tightly drawn through the pinpoint finish, but everything is in proportion. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
Highly Recommended

97pts Decanter

Richly concentrated on the nose with evocative aromas of blackcurrant, tobacco, vanilla, chocolate, clove and violets. Punchy and alive, this has both strength and elegance giving smooth, silky tannins with fleshy fruit and high acidity. It manages to marry quite a muscular frame with beautiful freshness and focus to give a round mouthfeel with plenty of flavour and kick. It's on the opulent side with concentrated blackcurrants and cherries but has a cooling, minty undercurrent too. I like this a lot. Not as openly friendly at this point as some but it's extremely well executed and has great ageing potential. 

97pts Wine Enthusiast

This is a beautifully textured wine, with its fruit and tannins in harmony. Its intensity is matched by its balance, giving a ripe, layered and elegant wine with a fine future.

Tasting Notes

Dense garnet-red colour. Discreet roasted nose, with black fruit and cloves. Fresh attack on the palate, with hints of eucalyptus. The wine is firm, dense and concentrated, full of sparkle. The wine's structure is capable of defying the passing years, a wine for laying down.

Winery Notes

The Barton family's passion for wine is reflected in the elegance and consistency of Château Léoville Barton. This estate was classified as a 2nd Grand Cru Classé in 1855 and lies within the iconic terroir of Saint Julien in the Médoc.

Blend: 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11.5% Merlot and 5.5% Cabernet Franc.