Château Léoville Barton

The château

Hugh Barton already owned Langoa when, in 1826, he bought a share of the great Léoville estate and gave it his name. He bought vines, not buildings: Langoa had the cellars, and 200 years later Léoville Barton is still made there, in a wooden vat room, a classified growth without a château. The Léoville was already coming apart. William Franck, whose Traité sur les vins du Médoc first appeared in 1824, showed it cut in 4 that year while still ranking it whole as a second growth, at 2,000 to 2,100 francs the tonneau (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels); by his edition of 1845 the Barton share made 50 to 60 tonneaux. From 1868 on, Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, printed the line that has held ever since: in the hands of M. Barton since 1826, and run from Langoa.

The Bartons have kept it without a break, among the longest single family tenures of the growths of 1855. Anthony Barton settled in Bordeaux in 1951; Lilian Barton Sartorius joined her father in 1978 and led the family châteaux until she handed them to her children, Damien and Mélanie; her daughter Mélanie Barton Sartorius, technical director of Château Mauvesin Barton, takes part in the major decisions in the vineyard. The 50 hectares lie on gravel of several heights left by the river, over clay, planted 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc, with a high share of old vines. The blend is settled each January by the family, the technical director and Éric Boissenot, the consulting enologist, and the wine spends 16 to 18 months in French oak, 60% new. La Réserve de Léoville Barton is the second wine.

The 2004, which I tasted in October 2025, is what this estate does in a cool, claret year: all balance, cassis and cedar, the tannins fine and persistent.

At a glance

Appellation

Saint-Julien

Classification

Deuxième Cru Classé 1855; Michelin Guide, 1 grape (2026)

Owners

The Barton family, since 1826

Direction

Damien Barton Sartorius, with Mélanie Barton Sartorius

Consultant

Éric Boissenot

Vineyard

50 hectares, with a high share of old vines

Soil

Gravel of several heights over a clay subsoil Terroir of Saint-Julien →

Grapes

Cabernet Sauvignon 77%, Merlot 20%, Cabernet Franc 3%

Cellar

Made at Château Langoa Barton, in a wooden vat room; 16 to 18 months in French oak, 60% new

Wines

Château Léoville Barton; La Réserve de Léoville Barton