The word ‘Terroir’ means a lot more than just “soil” which is however its primary significance, but it does also include notions of climate, topology and geology. Although some wine producers particularly in the New World tend to discount ‘Terroir’ as an important factor in the quality of a wine, the vineyards of Langoa and Léoville Barton have no other explanation for the differences in character of the two wines.These can only be explained by differences of ‘Terroir’ since other important factors such as grape varieties , vine culture and wine making are virtually the same on both proprieties. It is also interesting to note that the analyses of the wines show little variation in terms of alcohol, acidity, tannin etc., yet the two wines do have their own personality and show distinctive contrasts in bouquet and palate. The soil of both vineyards is basically gravelly with clay sub-soil ; the depth at which the clay is to be found and other soil characteristics vary from one part of the vineyard to another making it even more difficult to define exactly what are the major differences in the two vineyards.

Saint Julien first became famous for its Bordeaux wine back in the 17th century. At that time, St Julien was in the stage of development, to become a major Bordeaux wine producing appellation in the Left Bank when the entire area of the Medoc was discovered and populated by wealthy aristocrats. Coinciding with creating the famous vineyards we know today, the new landowners quickly began erecting massive showpiece chateaux throughout the region. Many of the original Saint Julien estates are still standing today and can be easily noticed while driving down the famous D2 highway.