Reading the thread about wine critics reminded me of an anecdote. As I wrote in my previous post, we had dinner with Anthony Barton in 2001. One of the wines served was Léoville-Barton 1990, which was too young and as he readily agreed, not at its best. He chuckled and apologised, making a self-deprecating joke I forget, before commenting:
“Hmm, wine critics, eh? What does this taste like? Léoville-Barton of course, what else could it taste like? It’s a wine, not a bloody fruit salad!”
The first bottle of wine I ever bought was the 1985 Leoville-Barton for $22.99 around 1993 and it got me hooked. The first case of a single wine I ever bought was a futures purchase of the 1995. I can’t imagine my wine journey without Leoville-Barton as a part of it. RIP Anthony.
Decided to open up a 2003 Leoville Barton tonight to pair with a rack of lamb.
RIP Mr. Barton.
-J
His daughter had already been managing the estate for awhile and it’s even transitioned to the grandkids in recent years, so this won’t change anything, or at least nothing that wasn’t going to change anyway.
Class and classic never go out of style. Barton always held that line. A personal fave of mine. RIP to a winemaking legend.
Sad news indeed. My first Bordeaux ever and still my favorite. I purchased similarly to Mike in 1993, but there was one bottle of ‘82 in the box of ‘85s…
Such lovely wines, and I am happy to hear that the wines may stay the same.
We met him about 14 years ago when we happened to have a day between two back to back conventions in Boca and that day happened to correspond to the UGC presentation at Daniel Boulud’s restaurant. He was a great raconteur, thoroughly engaging, and very approachable when I walked up to him to chat after the meal. I have some 2003 and will open on in his honor soon.
What time shall we arrive? 