France, Bordeaux

Hugh Barton acquired the estate of Château Pontet-Langlois (and re-named it Langoa-Barton) in 1821, a few years before he then bought a portion of the estate of the Marquis de Léoville Beauvais, which he renamed Léoville Barton. The Barton's ownership of Langoa is the longest ownership by one family of any estate in the Médoc. There was no château to the Loville portion, and the wines were, and still are, made at Langoa. The Bartons had already been a fixture of the Bordeaux wine trade for a hundred years at this stage - Thomas Barton left his native Ireland in 1722 and settled in Bordeaux, eventually buying Château le Boscq in St Estèphe in 1745. His grandson Hugh, who bought the two Barton estates, developed a wine merchant's business with Daniel Guestier (Barton & Guestier), and the Guestier family proved crucial in protecting the Barton's châteaux during both the French Revolution and World War II when the Bartons had to flee France. Langoa Barton's vineyard classed as a 'Troisieme Cru Classé' in 1855, is quite small for this part of the Médoc with only 17 hectares in production. Planted with mostly Cabernet and Merlot, at 9100 vines per hectare, like Léoville itself. Also like Léoville, it is a terroir of deep gravel over clay. The average vine age is around 35 years.