The Château was built in 1758 by Monsieur de Pontet. Beneath the private apartments lie the crypted vaulted cellars in which silence reigns eternal.The most renowned vintages of Léoville Barton are left to age in the peace and quiet of these cellars to reach their ultimate potential.After the French Revolution, and thanks to the Droit d'Aubaine (Windfall Law) in France, Hugh Barton, an Irish merchant of Bordeaux wines, fulfilled his dream of becoming a landowner in Bordeaux when he purchased vineyards in the Médoc region. Pierre-Bernard de Pontet sold the ''Langoa'' estate to Hugh Barton in 1821 which the latter renamed ''Château Langoa Barton''. This was some time before the famous 1855 classification and it was in fact the building's architecture, elegant façade and harmonious proportions that won Hugh over.Four years later, in 1826, Hugh purchased a quarter of the former Léoville domaine, the collapse of which was due in part to the French Revolution and in part to a complex inheritance settlement. In buying what would later become Léoville Barton, Hugh only actually purchased the domaine's vineyards since he had no need for the winemaking facilities, already having those at Langoa.
The meaning of the word terroir goes above and beyond its primary definition which is the soil. The concept of the terroir also encompasses the notion of climate, topology and geology.The terroir at Léoville Barton is composed of one of the most beautiful outcrops of Garonne gravel, facing the Gironde, in the heart of the Saint Julien appellation, 40 kms north of Bordeaux in the Médoc region. The terroir at Léoville Barton is characterised by its gravel of varying heights which was left by the river over the centuries. Combined with the influence of the men who have nurtured the soils over the years, the terroir is what makes these red wines amongst the most famous in the world. The gravelly clay subsoil helps to regulate the climatic variations of the vintage.The 1855 ClassificationLéoville Barton already belonged to the Barton family when it was classified as a 2nd Grand Cru Classé Saint-Julien in the 1855 classification. Along with Mouton-Rothschild, the family is proud to be the longest-standing family of winemakers in Bordeaux.The 1855 classification was initially established with the aim of presenting the wines of the Gironde at the Universal Exhibition of Paris at the request of Emperor Napoleon III. The responsibility of writing the classification was given by the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce to the Association of Trade Merchants of the Bordeaux Stock Exchange. Its mission was to devise an official classification based on many years of experience and according to the quality of the Terroir and the reputation of each Château.The Classification was published on the 18th April 1855 and represented the realities of the market and its evolution over more than a century. Almost 160 years later, the 1855 Classification remains a key reference point and an authority in the wine world.
The 50 hectares (124 acres) of vines at Château Léoville Barton are planted in gravelly soils with a clay subsoil and include a high proportion of old vines to ensure optimum quality. The planting ratio is composed of 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc, the traditional Médoc grape varieties.
The work carried out in the vineyards consists of several stages of manual labour throughout the year and in all weather conditions. Pruning in winter is a very complex process that requires precision, experience, knowledge and agility. After tying the vines using a local wicker, the next stage is raising the wires in spring to ensure that the vigorous young vines are well supported and guided in their growth.The vines have an average age of 40 years and the oldest plot dates back to 1953. Complantation (the process of replacing missing or defective vine stocks) is carried out every year to maintain a high planting density of 9100 vines per hectare.The protection of the vines and the surrounding environment is of key concern at Chateau Léoville Barton. Since 2012 over 12% of the surface under vine at the domaine has been cultivated using organic methods, without the use of synthetic products. This percentage is increasing every year.A variety of environmentally respectful practices are used at the domaine. Château Léoville Barton has opted for a sustainable approach to vine growing involving limiting input of external influences, using organic fertilisers (natural and plant-based products), ploughing all the vineyards, no phytosanitary emissions, sorting waste and the use of biodegradable staples etc...The harvest is always carried out exclusively by hand to preserve the quality of the clusters and allow the estate to carry out an initial sorting. We work with a team of almost 120 people every year at this crucial moment for the vintage.
During the harvest at Château Léoville Barton, the grapes are brought to the vat-house where they are de-stemmed before being sorted on an optical sorting table and then transferred to temperature controlled wooden vats. The imposing vat-house is the perfect illustration of the traditional approach to wine making at Château Léoville Barton.The fermentation process generally lasts a few days during which the juices are pumped over the top of the vat twice a day in order to keep the cap of skins moist and enable the juices to absorb the colours, tannins and aromas from this marc. When the maceration process is complete, the next stage is running off the wine i.e. transferring the wine to French oak barrels in which it will be left to age for 18 months. 60% of the barrels used are new oak and sourced from a range of different coopers.Several different procedures are carried out during the 18 month ageing process, the first of which is topping up. This involves keeping the barrels full in order to prevent the wine from coming into contact with the air.The next stage is racking the wines. This process is carried out every three months using the candle method which has remained unchanged for several generations. The aim is to separate the clear wine from the sediment (lees) that form in the bottom of the barrels due to gravity.The last traditional intervention is the process of fining the wines using egg whites. The Oenologist will choose to use between three and six egg whites per barrel. This technique takes place 14 months through the ageing process and consists of separating the egg white from the yolk by hand and then introducing only the whites into the barrels. The proteins in the egg whites attract the floating particles and clarify the wine. A special post-fining racking is performed after 45 days to remove the egg white and sediment.The alchemy of blending is usually complete by the end of January. It is at this stage that the tasting profile of the vintage is determined in the tasting room at Château Léoville Barton. The Barton family, the Technical Director and Eric Boissenot, the Consultant Oenologist, taste the different batches and varieties to fine tune the final wine and reflect the very best of each plot.The bottling takes place at the château in Saint Julien in the month of June, using own facilities of the estate.