History

At 27, Thomas Barton left his native Ireland and his home town of Curraghmore in County Fermanagh, which had seen him grow up. He did his professional education with his maternal uncles Thomas and William Dickson who were important merchants and who already traded extensively with France. This is why he was sent to France in 1722, first to Montpellier, then to Marseille. This career did not therefore predestined him to become a wine merchant, but when in 1725 he arrived in Bordeaux, one of the most important ports on the Atlantic coast, he showed his interest in wine and soon decided to found his first company in wine trading. He also founded a family, or rather a dynasty, which to this day remains the longest family continuity among the Grands Crus Classé of 1855.

Terroir

The 50 ha of Château Léoville Barton, planted in gravel soil on a subsoil made up of clay, include a high proportion of old vines in order to obtain the best possible quality. The distribution of the grape varieties is 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc. These are the traditional grape varieties of the Médoc.

Vinification and aging

The harvest is carried out entirely by hand. After destemming, the berries are carefully sorted, crushed and placed in thermo-regulated wooden vats, according to their plots. The alcoholic fermentation lasts from 7 to 10 days and the extraction is always respectful of the juice by adjusting the number of pumping over according to the vintages and the vintages. The maceration lasts about 3 weeks, then the barrels are run off batch by batch. The wine is then aged between 16 and 18 months in French oak barrels, 60% of which are new, in a cellar maintained at 15 degrees.