He will hate me saying this, but Anthony Barton — now in his late eighties — is the grand old man of Bordeaux. Co-owner with his daughter, Lilian Barton-Sartorius, of the fabled Châteaux Léoville & Langoa Barton, Anthony represents the eighth generation of his family in Bordeaux, the links having first been forged in the 1720s when Thomas Barton (‘French Tom’) left Ireland for the Gironde to found the wine-shipping firm of Barton & Guestier.
Anthony, too, left Ireland for Bordeaux (in the 1950s) and is famed for his easy-going, French-polished, Irish charm, his unshakeable integrity and for producing the most fairly priced fine wines in the region. I can also attest to the fact that he’s a forgiving sort. When I first met him 15 years ago, I quailed somewhat as he and my late father had a tremendous falling out over something footling (my father could and would fall out with anyone and anything), but Anthony batted my concerns away and was affable charm incarnate.
The great man set up Les Vins Fins Anthony Barton in 1968 to produce and sell wines from the family estates as well as from carefully selected winegrowers elsewhere in Bordeaux. The range has recently been revamped and the wines are better than ever. Thanks to the good offices of Laura Taylor of Private Cellar, I’m delighted to be offering a small selection of them here, to be shipped over especially for Spectator readers in mid February.
All four wines boast the same attention to detail as those of Léoville & Langoa do (Anthony wouldn’t put his name to them if they didn’t) and they’re easy-going and accessible in style and price. As AB once told me: ‘I take winemaking very seriously, but believe wine drinking should be fun.
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