Château Langoa Barton
Then is it the quality? No, again both have been perfectly ‘sound’, ah but that’s it! Over the last few years they haven’t stood out from the crowd enough. This year they both do, and I think the simple reason is the style of the vintage. It is not a flamboyant, dramatic vintage like 2009 or 2010.
It is classic and that is why classic wine makers have come to the fore and ended up back on my shopping list again. Ch. Langoa Barton, the feminine seductress, using its sweet, dense red fruit core to entrap and entice. Ch. Léoville-Barton in contrast, a yang to Langoa’s yin. Rich, dense, unforgiving, powerful black fruit dominant. This is a really profound brace this year.
Simon Staples, Berrys’ Fine Wine Director
Case price (Bottle 12 x 75cl)
Bottle 12 x 75cl 2cs
Bottle
£44.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl 1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl 1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl 1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl 1cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 2cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Blend: Cabernet Sauvignon 55%, Merlot 37%, Cabernet Franc 8%
Imperial 1 x 600cl 8cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 2cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl 1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl 1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl 2cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl 1cs
54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 2cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl 1cs
Blend: 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc
Bottle 6 x 75cl 31cs
Simon Staples, BBR Fine Wine Director, June 2007
Bottle 12 x 75cl 1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl 1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl 1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl 1cs
Château Langoa-Barton, 3rd Classified Growth, was the first of the two Bordeaux wine estates bought by Hugh Barton in the 1820s, the other being Léoville-Barton, 2nd Classified Growth.
Hugh Barton was a descendant of an Irish family which settled in Bordeaux in the 18th century and which has a long and distinguished history in the region’s wine trade. Both properties are still family-owned and run and together represent the longest tradition of unchanged ownership in the Médoc. Anthony Barton is the current proprietor but is gradually passing the reins to his daughter Lillian.
Langoa Barton has 20 hectares of vineyards (Cabernet Sauvignon 71%, Merlot 21%, Cabernet Franc 8%) lie on gravelly-clay soils. Vinification includes 18 months' maturation in oak barriques (50% new). Langoa Barton is vinified and matured in exactly the same way as Léoville-Barton and any difference between them must be put down to variations in the soils and exposure of their respective vineyard blocks.
Both Langoa and Léoville wines are models of typical St Julien restraint and elegance, and Anthony’s fair pricing policy, always with an eye to the long term , has won him many loyal friends amongst his customers. For years, Langoa Barton was considered slightly lighter and more forward than Léoville. However, in the last decade it has become noticeably deeper in colour and richer and more concentrated on the palate. Langoa Barton is now often the equal of Léoville.