Château

Château Langoa Barton

shah-TOH lahn-goh-AH bar-TOHN
How to read this

Capitals mark the stressed syllable. “ahn” and “ohn” are nasal vowels: say them through the nose, with no n. The French r comes from the back of the throat. The recording is the reference.

The third growth of Saint-Julien the Bartons bought in 1821, 5 years before Léoville, in the family without a break ever since, and the house where both Barton wines are made.

Appellation
Saint-Julien
On Instagram
@bartonwine

The château

Thomas Barton left Ireland in 1722 and reached Bordeaux in 1725 to go into the wine trade. His descendant Hugh Barton bought Langoa in 1821, for 650,000 francs, and a piece of Léoville in 1826; the family has held both ever since, and Langoa, bought 5 years earlier, is the family house and the cellar of both wines. William Franck, whose Traité sur les vins du Médoc first appeared in 1824, already had Barton in place that year, under the name the estate was losing, Pontet-Langlois, ranked a third growth at 1,500 to 1,800 francs the tonneau (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels); his edition of 1853 spelled out the change: Langoa, Barton, ci-devant Pontet.

Ronald Barton, born in London in 1902, came to Bordeaux in 1924. Anthony Barton left Barton & Guestier in 1967 to set up his own merchant house, Les Vins Fins Anthony Barton, and took over the properties in 1983; his daughter Lilian Barton Sartorius succeeded him, the 9th generation of the family in Bordeaux. The 10th is at work now: Damien Barton Sartorius runs the properties, and Mélanie Barton Sartorius, who joined in 2013 as the first enologist among the Bartons, is technical director at Mauvesin Barton.

The 20 hectares are gravel over a clay subsoil, with plots that look out over the Gironde, planted at 9,100 vines a hectare and 37 years old on average: 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc. The blend follows the year, 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc in 2021, 52, 40 and 8 in 2024. The wine spends 16 to 18 months in French oak, 60% new, and about 80,000 bottles are made a year.

At a glance

Appellation
Saint-Julien
Classification
Troisième Cru Classé 1855; Michelin Guide, 1 grape (2026)
Owners
The Barton family, since 1821
Direction
Damien Barton Sartorius
Vineyard
20 hectares; 9,100 vines a hectare; vines 37 years old on average
Soil
Gravel over clay, with plots overlooking the Gironde Terroir of Saint-Julien →
Cellar
16 to 18 months in French oak, 60% new
Production
About 80,000 bottles a year
In history
A third growth as Pontet-Langlois, already under Barton, in 1824

Sources

Institutions
Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, Langoa Barton; Conseil des Grands Crus Classés en 1855, the classified growths
Its own publications
Château Langoa Barton: the terroir, the dynasty, the wine

Revised October 10, 2026. How I choose sources

The record

Château Langoa Barton is a Troisième Cru Classé of the 1855 Classification, in the Saint-Julien appellation.

The 1855 Classification was published on April 18, 1855, drawn up by the brokers of the Bordeaux exchange for the Exposition Universelle in Paris.

In the Michelin Guide’s first Bordeaux selection, announced on September 8, 2026, it took 1 grape of a possible 3, one of 37 estates at that mark.

Sources: Conseil des Grands Crus Classés en 1855 · The Michelin Guide, Bordeaux grape selection

Private

By invitation only.

Also appears in

Tastings

1

Château Langoa Barton 1995, Saint Julien

March 17, 2026

Château Langoa Barton 1995, Saint Julien

Houses in its story

On from here

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