reserve de Leoville-barton 2019

The second wine of a Second-Growth St-Julien legend — the same Barton family cellar, in the excellent 2019 vintage, at everyday money.

La Réserve de Léoville Barton is the second wine of Château Léoville Barton, the storied St-Julien estate the Barton family has owned since 1826 — ten generations of one Irish-Bordelais dynasty. Drawn from the estate's younger vines on the same gravel slopes running down to the Gironde, it's an early-drinking window into the Grand Vin at a fraction of the cost, and 2019 was a genuinely excellent Left Bank vintage.

Second-growth cellar work and a top vintage, priced like a village wine. Jane Anson scored the 2019 a 92 and called it a smart buy → the Grand Vin costs several times more → at $60.99 this is Second-Growth St-Julien pedigree you can actually drink young.

• Cabernet Sauvignon-led St-Julien blend with Merlot and Cabernet Franc
• Second wine of Château Léoville Barton (2nd Growth, 1855)
• Barton family estate since 1826 — ten generations
• The excellent 2019 Left Bank vintage; 12 months in oak

"Attractive, with personality and texture… muscular tannins have juice running through them… lift and tension while remaining appealingly unfussy." — Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux. Translation: loganberry and blackberry fruit, chewy but juicy tannins, and real St-Julien polish in a wine you can open now.

A ten-generation family estate, a Second-Growth cellar, and a top vintage — in the bottle you reach for on a Tuesday. Exactly how you learn what St-Julien tastes like without waiting a decade.