Château Léoville Barton
Château Léoville Barton
Château Léoville Barton is a Saint-Julien estate, one of just fifteen Deuxièmes Crus (Second Growths) in the original 1855 Classification. Along with Château Léoville-Las Cases and Château Léoville-Poyferré, Léoville Barton was once part of the vast Léoville estate. The estate we now know at Léoville Barton was purchased by Hugh Barton in 1826. It is still owned by the Barton family, who were originally an Irish descent. The current owner Anthony Barton began running the estate in 1983, along with its sister property Château Langoa Barton.
Certainly no dinosaur, the Bartons simply uphold certain principles which transformed Bordeaux into the world’s most important fine wine region whilst embracing advances to improve the quality of their already exceptional wines. Rarely green-harvesting and sticking firmly to a classical St-Julien profile of marrying elegance with power, Anthony Barton’s daughter Mélanie describes the property’s philosophy as “never to over-complicate things”.
Viniculture
Planted to 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc, the 51 hectares which constitute Léoville Barton are situated on peyrosols and clay-gravel soils in the increasingly sought-after commune of St-Julien. It was perhaps the Château’s inconsistency in decades gone by that hindered its rise to the forefront of the Bordeaux fine wine scene, but these issues have evaporated after Anthony Barton’s leadership and vintage-after-vintage this historic label is one of the best wines in its class.
Many people don’t know that Léoville Barton actually doesn’t have its own château, and the beautiful façade depicted on its label is actually that of Château Langoa Barton! Léoville Barton's 116 acres (47 ha) of vineyards are located in the central part of the appellation along the Gironde river. The soil composition is mostly gravel with a subsoil of clay. The plantings are 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, and 8% Cabernet Franc.
