Auction update: Château Léoville Barton

From wine writers to merchants and collectors, Château Léoville Barton is one of those wines that attracts goodwill – thanks to a winning mix of quality and value.

CHÂTEAU LÉOVILLE Barton, a ‘super second’ growth on the Left Bank of Bordeaux, is a benchmark for Saint-Julien.

Lauded by critics such as Jancis Robinson MW and Steven Spurrier, and classified since 1855, it more than ticks the prestige box. In terms of price, it was one of few châteaux not to increase prices significantly in the early 2000s, when the practice was ‘du jour ’ – and it is regularly cited on lists of where to find good value in Bordeaux.

Château Léoville Barton has been owned by the same family since 1826, and is now on its 10th generation. The year 2022 marked the end of an era for the château, with the death of ‘le gentleman de Bordeaux’, Irish-born owner Anthony Barton. His daughter Lilian took over in 2010, having worked in the family business for 30 years.

Lilian’s children Mélanie and Damien Barton are now at the helm, with Mélanie as the first oenologist in the family (and one of few female oenologists in classified Bordeaux) and Damien responsible for the day-to-day running of the business. With big boots to fill, they have heavily invested in sustainability and a new winery, which was finished in time to age the 2021 vintage.

There was no château or winery on-site for most of the estate’s long history; vinification and ageing were carried out at neighbouring Château Langoa Barton, which remains the family home. The new cuverie hosts vats of varying sizes, ranging from 80 to 200 hectolitres, which allows the team to separate parcels, with the end result being more precise winemaking and more consistent wines. Has this investment borne any vinous fruit? Several successful en primeur campaigns attest to the fact that it has done. Despite a decidedly lukewarm primeurs season in Bordeaux this spring, Léoville Barton sold out on iDealwine. It was praised by critics, with db Bordeaux correspondent Colin Hay calling it a “very accomplished” wine that “merits a place in any well-stocked cellar”. It sold for €78.10 per bottle, a 13% drop in price since 2023, and largely in line with the trend towards price correction in fine wine this year.

On the secondary market, Château Léoville Barton currently fetches an average of €105 in 2024 on iDealwine, all vintages included. When one looks at the upper end of the scale, prices climb above €300 for particularly memorable vintages (such as 1990) and almost to €1,000 for a historic and ultra-rare vintage such as 1945, which fetched €949 in 2023.

Léoville Barton has been on the receiving end of considerable praise from wine writers and critics in recent decades. The late Steven Spurrier named the 1989 vintage as one of this top Bordeaux wines of all time (he served it at a dinner in 2004 to celebrate four decades as a wine professional); Jancis Robinson cites the château as a consistently top-performing Bordeaux over a period of 10 years. The number of awards it has received is striking, but it can’t be explained away by the rapport that writers may have enjoyed with the English-speaking owners, because French wine critics are just as complimentary. Taking a deep-dive into current price estimates for these wines at auction, 1989 Léoville Barton is estimated at €128; the 2003 vintage would be expected to fetch €113, and the 2016 vintage sells for around €100.

Now more than 20 years old, the 2003 vintage promises another two decades before passing its peak

For the 2003 Bordeaux vintage, the exceptional year that was predicted during the primeur campaign resulted in wines that varied hugely. Some wines reached their peak before fading quickly where some did maintain the acidity that is so key to longevity. Only châteaux on exceptional terroir, and only those with skilled winemakers managed to make a memorable, age-worthy wine. Scoring 98 points from several publications, it doesn’t take long to guess into which camp Léoville Barton falls. Praise from critics was rapturous for the wine and for Anthony Barton himself. Now more than 20 years old, the 2003 vintage promises another decade before passing its peak, and offers considerable value at auction. The illustrious 2000 vintage currently achieves about €138 at auction on iDealwine.com, and prices had risen 40% over 15 years before softening slightly in the current, post-Covid price correction (they peaked in 2022 at around €160). Few would be surprised to hear of a legendary vintage like 2000 selling for three times its initial price. This is why examining a tricky Bordeaux vintage such as 2003 reveals much more about the reputation of the château, and the prospects of a wine on the secondary market, than a ‘safe bet’ year. As both of these vintages, from the lesserknown 2003 to the more famous 2000, become older and rarer on the secondary market, we can expect both to increase in value once more.

There is little doubt from the glowing reports of the wine trade that Léoville Barton is simply the darling of wine critics. From anaylsing the château’s performance on the secondary market, there appears to be ample space for it to become the choice of discerning wine enthusiasts too.