A very successful vintage at this estate, the 2004 Leoville Barton offers a dense, opaque purple color, a big, deep, meaty nose of dried herbs, new saddle leather, licorice, a hint of toasty barrique, and plenty of black currant fruit. It is pure, ripe, slightly austere and tannic, but also substantial in a vintage that rarely produced wines of this size and power. This will be a wine for patient connoisseurs. Anticipated maturity: 2013-2025.