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Château Léoville Barton is in the Saint Julien appellation of the Médoc and achieved Second Growth status in the 1855 Bordeaux Classification.
Together with the other ‘Léovilles’ - Las Cases and Poyferré - Château Léoville Barton belonged to the Domaine de Léoville during the 18th Century. Hugh Barton, a Bordeaux wine merchant of Irish descent, purchased Léoville Barton in 1826 having acquired neighbouring property Langoa in 1821 which was later renamed Château Langoa Barton. Léoville Barton has no château building since the family already had the elegant property of Langoa Barton whose façade adorns the label.
Léoville Barton and sister property Langoa Barton remain family-run. Lilian Barton Sartorius took over from her father Anthony Barton in 2010 having worked alongside him for 30 years, and tenth generation Mélanie Barton Sartorius, as the first oenologist in the family, became Technical Director of the family’s third property, Château Mauvesin-Barton, in 2013.
The estate’s 51 hectares of vineyard are planted with Cabernet Sauvignon (74%), Merlot (23%) and Cabernet Franc (3%) on gravel soils with clay-gravel subsoils that offer excellent growing conditions. Seventy-five per cent of production is destined for the ‘grand vin’ and the remainder for the second wine, La Réserve de Léoville Barton, made from younger vines and from ‘lesser’ plots.
Focus on organic practices has led to 20 hectares now being farmed organically. The entire harvest is picked by hand and the juice fermented in temperature-controlled wooden vats. Both the ‘grand vin’ and La Réserve are aged for 16 to 18 months in oak barrels of which 60% are new each year.
Traditionally tannic when young, recent vintages of Léoville Barton confirm this property is at the height of its Second Growth status, producing bold, powerful wines that are balanced by fruit and finesse.