Château Leoville-Barton, Saint-Julien Grand Cru, Bordeaux 2016

At the age of 27, Thomas Barton left his native Ireland and the town of Curraghmore, County Fermanagh, in which he had grown up. A career as a wine merchant was not an obvious choice for him, yet when he arrived in Bordeaux in 1725, one of the major ports on the Atlantic coast, he developed an interest in wine and decided to create his first wine merchant company. He also began to build his own family, or rather dynasty, a dynasty which remains the longest-standing family legacy of all the 1855 Grands Crus Classés.

His company soon began to flourish thanks to his trade contacts and loyal customers in Ireland. He was a man of strong character and an irritable yet very honest businessman. By 1737 he had already made a small fortune and was highly regarded by the Bordeaux locals who nicknamed him ''French Tom''. In 1743 he asked his only son, William, to join him in his business although William was perhaps not of the same stature and the two failed to see eye to eye.

At this time, a law known as the ''Droit d'Aubaine'' (a type of Windfall Law) stated that all assets belonging to a foreigner who passed away in France would become the property of the French Crown. It is for this reason that he never purchased vineyards in France, instead choosing to invest his profits in Ireland. His grandson, Hugh, was the first member of the family to own vineyards in Bordeaux. It is still Irish owned to this day!