The Barton & Guestier company is one of the oldest and most important Bordeaux wine trading houses. The origin lies in the year 1725, when Thomas Barton (1694-1780), who was of Irish origin and came to Bordeaux in 1722, founded a wine trade. He had a serious falling out with his son William (1723-1799), who founded his own company. His son Hugh Barton (1766-1854) married Anna, the daughter of the rich wine merchant Nathaniel Johnston. He had to leave France during the French Revolution after a short imprisonment in 1793. From the connection with the company Daniel Guestier, which he entered into in 1792, the important trading house Barton & Guestier was founded in 1802. For more than 15 years he tried unsuccessfully to acquire the Château Lafite. Finally, in 1821, he bought the Château Langoa, which he renamed to today's Château Langoa-Barton, as well as in 1826 a part of the Château Léoville in the neighbourhood, which was now called Château Léoville-Barton. He was succeeded by Nathaniel Barton (1799-1867), who got into trouble due to the phylloxera catastrophe. His grandson Ronald Barton (1902-1986) made Château Langoa-Barton his residence. During the Second World War, this was occupied by the Germans in 1940. Finally, in 1954, half of the Barton & Guestier house was taken over by the American multinational Seagram and subsequently in its entirety. Ronald's nephew Anthony Barton (* 1930) founded his own trading house and took over both wine estates in 1986. The family until today kept their old nationality and religion. See also under biggest wine companies in the world.
